How to insert a php array into another array

Question

Coming from a javascript background, I'm having a little difficulty inserting a php array into another array.

If I have the following:

$common_properties = array(
    'foo' => 'bar',
    'eats' => array(
        'apples' => true,
        'oranges' => true
    )
);

$one = array(
    'name' => 'one',
    'desc' => 'Lorem'
);

$two = array(
    'name' => 'two',
    'desc' => 'Ipsum'
);

How can I make the $common_properties array accessible from $one and $two? I need to pass the resulting array(s) as arguments to a function. For some reason, array_merge resulted in an error.

The desired result should be, for example:

$one = array(
    'name' => 'one',
    'desc' => 'Lorem'
    'foo' => 'bar',
    'eats' => array(
        'apples' => true,
        'oranges' => true
    )
);

Can you be more explicit on what is your final desired result? What did you try and what was your error? — Mihai Iorga
– Mihai Iorga, Commented Oct 6, 2014 at 8:16
@MihaiIorga - yes, my bad - please see amendment for the desired result. — verism
– verism, Commented Oct 6, 2014 at 8:32
what do you mean array_merge() resulted into an error, i think you can just straight up merge them using that function — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented Oct 6, 2014 at 8:41

Aleksei Matiushkin · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-06 08:32:52Z

2

$one = array_merge($one, $common_properties);

print_r($one);
/* ⇨
Array
(
    [name] => one
    [desc] => Lorem
    [foo] => bar
    [eats] => Array
        (
            [apples] => 1
            [oranges] => 1
        )

)
*/

answered Oct 6, 2014 at 8:32

Aleksei Matiushkin

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1 Comment

verism Over a year ago

Ah - I'd previously attempted to pass the entire array_merge function as the argument. php really isn't quite as forgiving as javascript.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-06 08:24:41Z

2

You can do the below to add $common_properties to $one and $two

$one['commonProperties'] = $common_properties;

$two['commonProperties'] = $common_properties;

You can then pass the two arrays ($one and $two) to your method like so function_name($one, $two)

edited Oct 6, 2014 at 8:24

answered Oct 6, 2014 at 8:17

user4097807

2 Comments

GordonM Over a year ago

Also worth mentioning is that if you need to change array properties in $common_properties and have them reflect globally then you might want to assign by reference. Assign by value is fine for read-only or cases where it doesn't matter if $one and $two have different values, but if the state needs to remain in sync than =& is a better choice than =

verism Over a year ago

Thanks - but unfortunately this doesn't yield the desired result. Please see the edit with the output I need.

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