PHP in_array() Function

PHP in_array Function

The in_array() function for php can be quite useful at sometimes. It allows you to check if data is in an array. If there is data, you can customize the next step and if there is no match in array you can execute a different command. In simple English, it is similar to the following expression.

Expression:
“I have an orange. If there is an orange in the bag of fruit, do not add the second orange there. But, if there is not an orange, add my orange to the bag of fruit.

The code below is an example where the in_array() function is used to check an array for a matching row from the database. If it does not find a match, the row is added to the members array. If it does find a match, the loop continues without adding the row to the array.

Advanced Note
The in_array() function can be very useful and perhaps the best method to use when you need to grab the desired data from a table when you cannot sort it through mySQL. For example, in a large database application, there may not be a matching index for the table where you need to select exact data.

include('connect.inc');
$db = public_db_connect();
$command = "SELECT * FROM table_sort WHERE id > 0";
$result = mysqli_query($db, $command);

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$memberID = $row['id'];
$first_name = $row['firstname'];
$last_name = $row['lastname'];
//echo $memberID;

if(in_array($row['id'], $members)){continue;}
$members[] = $memberID.",".$first_name.",".$last_name;
}

print_r($members);

October 11, 2012 by kent