If you want a quick way to remove NULL, FALSE and Empty Strings (""), but leave values of 0 (zero), you can use the standard php function strlen as the callback function:
eg:
<?php
// removes all NULL, FALSE and Empty Strings but leaves 0 (zero) values
$result = array_filter( $array, 'strlen' );
?>
array_filter
(PHP 4 >= 4.0.6, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
array_filter — Filters elements of an array using a callback function
Description
Iterates over each value in the array
passing them to the callback function.
If the callback function returns true, the
current value from array is returned into
the result array.
Array keys are preserved, and may result in gaps if the array was indexed.
The result array can be reindexed using the array_values() function.
Parameters
-
array -
The array to iterate over
-
callback -
The callback function to use
If no
callbackis supplied, all empty entries ofarraywill be removed. See empty() for how PHP defines empty in this case. -
mode -
Flag determining what arguments are sent to
callback:-
ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY- pass key as the only argument tocallbackinstead of the value -
ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH- pass both value and key as arguments tocallbackinstead of the value
0which will pass value as the only argument tocallbackinstead. -
Return Values
Returns the filtered array.
Changelog
| Version | Description |
|---|---|
| 8.0.0 |
callback is nullable now.
|
Examples
Example #1 array_filter() example
<?php
function odd($var)
{
// returns whether the input integer is odd
return $var & 1;
}
function even($var)
{
// returns whether the input integer is even
return !($var & 1);
}
$array1 = ['a' => 1, 'b' => 2, 'c' => 3, 'd' => 4, 'e' => 5];
$array2 = [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12];
echo "Odd :\n";
print_r(array_filter($array1, "odd"));
echo "Even:\n";
print_r(array_filter($array2, "even"));
?>
The above example will output:
Odd :
Array
(
[a] => 1
[c] => 3
[e] => 5
)
Even:
Array
(
[0] => 6
[2] => 8
[4] => 10
[6] => 12
)
Example #2 array_filter() without
callback
<?php
$entry = [
0 => 'foo',
1 => false,
2 => -1,
3 => null,
4 => '',
5 => '0',
6 => 0,
];
print_r(array_filter($entry));
?>
The above example will output:
Array
(
[0] => foo
[2] => -1
)
Example #3 array_filter() with
mode
<?php
$arr = ['a' => 1, 'b' => 2, 'c' => 3, 'd' => 4];
var_dump(array_filter($arr, function($k) {
return $k == 'b';
}, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY));
var_dump(array_filter($arr, function($v, $k) {
return $k == 'b' || $v == 4;
}, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH));
?>
The above example will output:
array(1) {
["b"]=>
int(2)
}
array(2) {
["b"]=>
int(2)
["d"]=>
int(4)
}
Notes
Caution
If the array is changed from the callback function (e.g. element added, deleted or unset) the behavior of this function is undefined.
See Also
- array_map() - Applies the callback to the elements of the given arrays
- array_reduce() - Iteratively reduce the array to a single value using a callback function
- array_walk() - Apply a user supplied function to every member of an array
add a note
User Contributed Notes 25 notes
Anonymous ¶
11 years ago
Peter Robinett ¶
13 years ago
Because array_filter() preserves keys, you should consider the resulting array to be an associative array even if the original array had integer keys for there may be holes in your sequence of keys. This means that, for example, json_encode() will convert your result array into an object instead of an array. Call array_values() on the result array to guarantee json_encode() gives you an array.
niehztog ¶
15 years ago
In case you are interested (like me) in filtering out elements with certain key-names, array_filter won't help you. Instead you can use the following:
<?php
$arr = array( 'element1' => 1, 'element2' => 2, 'element3' => 3, 'element4' => 4 );
$filterOutKeys = array( 'element1', 'element4' );
$filteredArr = array_diff_key( $arr, array_flip( $filterOutKeys ) )
?>
Result will be something like this:
['element2'] => 2
['element3'] => 3
nicolaj dot knudsen at gmail dot com ¶
7 years ago
If you like me have some trouble understanding example #1 due to the bitwise operator (&) used, here is an explanation.
The part in question is this callback function:
<?php
function odd($var)
{
// returns whether the input integer is odd
return($var & 1);
}
?>
If given an integer this function returns the integer 1 if $var is odd and the integer 0 if $var is even.
The single ampersand, &, is the bitwise AND operator. The way it works is that it takes the binary representation of the two arguments and compare them bit for bit using AND. If $var = 45, then since 45 in binary is 101101 the operation looks like this:
45 in binary: 101101
1 in binary: 000001
------
result: 000001
Only if the last bit in the binary representation of $var is changed to zero (meaning that the value is even) will the result change to 000000, which is the representation of zero.
webdesign at blackbyrd dot biz ¶
14 years ago
Here's a function that will filter a multi-demensional array. This filter will return only those items that match the $value given
<?php
/*
* filtering an array
*/
function filter_by_value ($array, $index, $value){
if(is_array($array) && count($array)>0)
{
foreach(array_keys($array) as $key){
$temp[$key] = $array[$key][$index];
if ($temp[$key] == $value){
$newarray[$key] = $array[$key];
}
}
}
return $newarray;
}
?>
Example:
<?php
$results = array(
0 => array('key1' => '1', 'key2' => 2, 'key3' => 3),
1 => array('key1' => '12', 'key2' => 22, 'key3' => 32)
);
$nResults = filter_by_value($results, 'key2', '2');
?>
Output :
array(
0 => array('key1' => '1', 'key2' => 2, 'key3' => 3)
);
manwe at inversion dot pl ¶
9 years ago
array_filter remove also FALSE and 0. To remove only NULL's use:
$af = [1, 0, 2, null, 3, 6, 7];
function is_not_null($val){
return !is_null($val);
}
$af = array_filter($af, 'is_not_null');
marc dot vanwoerkom at fernuni-hagen dot de ¶
19 years ago
Some of PHP's array functions play a prominent role in so called functional programming languages, where they show up under a slightly different name:
<?php
array_filter() -> filter(),
array_map() -> map(),
array_reduce() -> foldl() ("fold left")
?>
Functional programming is a paradigm which centers around the side-effect free evaluation of functions. A program execution is a call of a function, which in turn might be defined by many other functions. One idea is to use functions to create special purpose functions from other functions.
The array functions mentioned above allow you compose new functions on arrays.
E.g. array_sum = array_map("sum", $arr).
This leads to a style of programming that looks much like algebra, e.g. the Bird/Meertens formalism.
E.g. a mathematician might state
map(f o g) = map(f) o map(g)
the so called "loop fusion" law.
Many functions on arrays can be created by the use of the foldr() function (which works like foldl, but eating up array elements from the right).
I can't get into detail here, I just wanted to provide a hint about where this stuff also shows up and the theory behind it.
romain dot lamarche at gmail dot com ¶
15 years ago
This function filters an array and remove all null values recursively.
<?php
function array_filter_recursive($input)
{
foreach ($input as &$value)
{
if (is_array($value))
{
$value = array_filter_recursive($value);
}
}
return array_filter($input);
}
?>
Or with callback parameter (not tested) :
<?php
function array_filter_recursive($input, $callback = null)
{
foreach ($input as &$value)
{
if (is_array($value))
{
$value = array_filter_recursive($value, $callback);
}
}
return array_filter($input, $callback);
}
?>
marc dot gray at gmail dot com ¶
9 years ago
My favourite use of this function is converting a string to an array, trimming each line and removing empty lines:
<?php
$array = array_filter(array_map('trim', explode("\n", $string)), 'strlen');
?>
Although it states clearly that array keys are preserved, it's important to note this includes numerically indexed arrays. You can't use a for loop on $array above without processing it through array_values() first.
lisachenko dot it at HUMAN dot gmail dot com ¶
12 years ago
You can access the current key of array by passing a reference to array into callback function and call key() and next() method in the callback function:
<?php
$data = array('first' => 1, 'second' => 2, 'third' => 3);
$data = array_filter($data, function ($item) use (&$data) {
echo "Filtering key ", key($data), '<br>', PHP_EOL;
next($data);
return false;
});
?>
However be careful with array internal pointer or use reset() method before calling array_filter().
jtreminio at gmail dot com ¶
11 years ago
You can use array_filter from within a class to access a protected method from that same class:
<?php
class Bar {
public function foo()
{
$array1 = array("a"=>1, "b"=>2, "c"=>3, "d"=>4, "e"=>5);
print_r(array_filter($array1, array($this, 'naz')));
}
protected function baz($var)
{
return($var & 1);
}
}
$bar = new Bar();
$bar->foo();
?>
ajohnson at speakeasy dot org ¶
21 years ago
I was looking for a function to delete values from an array and thought I had found it in array_filter(), however, I *didn't* want the keys to be preserved *and* I needed blank values cleaned out of the array as well. I came up with the following (with help from many of the above examples):
<?php
function array_delete($array, $filterfor){
$thisarray = array ();
foreach($array as $value)
if(stristr($value, $filterfor)===false && strlen($value)>0)
$thisarray[] = $value;
return $thisarray;
}
$array1 = array ('OtHeR','this', 'that', 'Other','', 9, 101, 'fifty', 'other','','');
echo "<pre>array :\n";
print_r($array1);
$array2=array_delete($array1, "Other");
echo "filtered:\n";
print_r($array2);
?>
Martin ¶
16 years ago
This function trims empty strings from the beginning and end of an array.
It's useful when outputing plaintext files on a page and you want to skip empty lines at the beginning and end, but not within the text.
<?php
function array_trim($array) {
while (strlen(reset($array)) === 0) {
array_shift($array);
}
while (strlen(end($array)) === 0) {
array_pop($array);
}
return $array;
}
?>
You might want to trim each element too.
Al Amin Chayan (mail at chayan dot me) ¶
3 years ago
/**
* Remove key from multidimensional array
*
* @param array $request
* @param array $keys
*
* @return array
*/
function request_filter(array $request, array $keys) {
array_walk($request, function (&$value, $key) use ($keys) {
if(is_array($value)) {
$value = request_filter($value, $keys);
}
});
return array_filter ($request, function ($value, $key) use ($keys) {
return ! in_array($key, $keys);
}, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH);
}
$data = [
'a' => 'A',
'password' => 123,
'data' => [
'b' => 'B',
'data2' => [
'c' => 'C',
'password' => 545,
],
'password' => 321,
]
];
print_r(request_filter($data, ['password']));
Output will be:
Array
(
[a] => A
[data] => Array
(
[b] => B
[data2] => Array
(
[c] => C
)
)
)
njt1982 at yahoo dot com ¶
8 years ago
If you have an array of KV pairs and you want all the items where a value is X, you dont need to make a callback for array_filter. You can use array_intersect:
<?php
print_r(array_intersect(
array(
'a' => 1,
'b' => 1,
'c' => 1,
'd' => 2,
'e' => 2,
'f' => 2,
),
array(1)
));
Array
(
[a] => 1
[b] => 1
[c] => 1
)
?>
The advantage of this approach is you can pass variables into the second array without needing to worry about variable scope and function parameters for array_filter.
iancudanielc () gmail ! com ¶
9 years ago
If you want to pass the key to the callback function before PHP 5.6.0 (when the flag parameter wasn't implemented):
<?php
$result = array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_int');
?>
avl ¶
10 years ago
nice trick:
$array_out = array_filter($array_in, function($var) use($array_other) {
return in_array($var, $array_other) ? true : false;
});
stef at gigamedium dot com ¶
3 years ago
To filter out empty arrays, put the arrays you need filtering in an array and pass through array_filter.
$array1 = [5, 6];
$array2 = [];
$array3 = [7,9];
$array = array_filter(array($array1, $array2, $array3));
print_r($array)
Results in:
Array (
[5,6] , [7,9]
}
JF Sanfacon ¶
2 years ago
Flag ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY and ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH are only available since PHP 5.6
g dot kuizinas at anuary dot com ¶
11 years ago
<?php
function array_filter_recursive ($data) {
$original = $data;
$data = array_filter($data);
$data = array_map(function ($e) {
return is_array($e) ? array_filter_recursive($e) : $e;
}, $data);
return $original === $data ? $data : array_filter_recursive($data);
}
$data = ['a' => 0, 'b' => [], 'c' => [[]], 'd' => [[[[]]]], 'e' => 'foo', 'f' => [[['a']]], [true], [[],['a'], [true, false]]];
$data = array_filter_recursive($data);
?>
darren at dazwin dot com ¶
15 years ago
Regarding comment about trimming empty strings, the code posted will get into an infinite loop if the array is reduced to zero elements. The following might be better:
<?php
function array_trim($array) {
while (!empty($array) and strlen(reset($array)) === 0) {
array_shift($array);
}
while (!empty($array) and strlen(end($array)) === 0) {
array_pop($array);
}
return $array;
}
?>
ajohnson at speakeasy dot org ¶
21 years ago
be careful with the above function "array_delete"'s use of the stristr function, it could be slightly misleading. consider the following:
<?php
function array_delete($array, $filterforsubstring){
$thisarray = array ();
foreach($array as $value)
if(stristr($value, $filterforsubstring)===false && strlen($value)>0)
$thisarray[] = $value;
return $thisarray;
}
function array_delete2($array, $filterforstring, $removeblanksflag=0){
$thisarray = array ();
foreach($array as $value)
if(!(stristr($value, $filterforstring) && strlen($value)==strlen($filterforstring))
&& !(strlen($value)==0 && $removeblanksflag))
$thisarray[] = $value;
return $thisarray;
}
function array_delete3($array, $filterfor, $substringflag=0, $removeblanksflag=0){
$thisarray = array ();
foreach($array as $value)
if(
!(stristr($value, $filterfor)
&& ($substringflag || strlen($value)==strlen($filterfor))
)
&& !(strlen($value)==0 && $removeblanksflag)
)
$thisarray[] = $value;
return $thisarray;
}
$array1 = array ('the OtHeR thang','this', 'that', 'OtHer','', 9, 101, 'fifty', ' oTher', 'otHer ','','other','Other','','other blank things');
echo "<pre>array :\n";
print_r($array1);
$array2=array_delete($array1, "Other");
echo "array_delete(\$array1, \"Other\"):\n";
print_r($array2);
$array2=array_delete2($array1, "Other");
echo "array_delete2(\$array1, \"Other\"):\n";
print_r($array2);
$array2=array_delete2($array1, "Other",1);
echo "array_delete2(\$array1, \"Other\",1):\n";
print_r($array2);
$array2=array_delete3($array1, "Other",1);
echo "array_delete3(\$array1, \"Other\",1):\n";
print_r($array2);
$array2=array_delete3($array1, "Other",0,1);
echo "array_delete3(\$array1, \"Other\",0,1):\n";
print_r($array2);
?>
John Erck: erck0006 at junkyo dot gmail dot com ¶
12 years ago
<?php
// ARRAY FILTER RECURSIVE USING CLASS, STATIC METHOD, AND ANONYMOUS CALLBACK FUNCTION
// NOTE THAT THE CALLBACK HAS ACCESS TO BOTH THE KEY AND VALUE
// THE CLASS (FOR YOU TO COPY)
class ArrayUtil
{
public static function FilterRecursive(Array $source, $fn)
{
$result = array();
foreach ($source as $key => $value)
{
if (is_array($value))
{
$result[$key] = self::FilterRecursive($value, $fn);
continue;
}
if ($fn($key, $value))
{
$result[$key] = $value; // KEEP
continue;
}
}
return $result;
}
}
// EXAMPLE ANONYMOUS CALLBACK FUNCTION
$fn = function ($key, $value)
{
if (strpos($key, 'drop') !== FALSE)
{
return FALSE; // DROP
}
return TRUE; // KEEP
};
// EXAMPLE PRE FILTER TEST DATA
$preFilter = array(
'a' => 'one',
'b' => array(
'example_drop' => 'filter me out',
'example_keep' => 'keep me',
),
'c' => 'three',
);
// EXAMPLE USAGE CODE
echo '// print_r($preFilter);' . "\n";
print_r($preFilter);
$postFilter = ArrayUtil::FilterRecursive($preFilter, $fn);
echo "\n";
echo '// print_r($postFilter);' . "\n";
print_r($postFilter);
/* OUTPUT OPEN
// print_r($preFilter);
Array
(
[a] => one
[b] => Array
(
[example_drop] => filter me out
[example_keep] => keep me
)
[c] => three
)
// print_r($postFilter);
Array
(
[a] => one
[b] => Array
(
[example_keep] => keep me
)
[c] => three
)
OUTPUT CLOSE */
chrisstocktonaz at gmail dot com ¶
14 years ago
I use the following to see if a array consist of scalar values or null, but of course you could mix it up using any of the is_ functions.
<?php
if(count($data) !== count(array_filter($data, 'is_scalar') + array_filter($data, 'is_null'))) {
throw new Exception('Array did not consist of scalar and null values');
}
?>
Maxwel Leite ¶
19 years ago
For any type of array. Basead in redshift code.
<?php
function array_clean ($array, $todelete = false, $caseSensitive = false) {
foreach($array as $key => $value) {
if(is_array($value)) {
$array[$key] = array_clean($array[$key], $todelete, $caseSensitive);
}
else {
if($todelete) {
if($caseSensitive) {
if(strstr($value ,$todelete) !== false)
unset($array[$key]);
}
else {
if(stristr($value, $todelete) !== false)
unset($array[$key]);
}
}
elseif (empty($value)) {
unset($array[$key]);
}
}
}
return $array;
}
?>
