array_merge

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

array_merge — 合并一个或多个数组

说明

array array_merge ( array $array1 [, array $... ] )

array_merge() 将一个或多个数组的单元合并起来，一个数组中的值附加在前一个数组的后面。返回作为结果的数组。

如果输入的数组中有相同的字符串键名，则该键名后面的值将覆盖前一个值。然而，如果数组包含数字键名，后面的值将不会覆盖原来的值，而是附加到后面。

如果只给了一个数组并且该数组是数字索引的，则键名会以连续方式重新索引。

参数

array1

要合并的第一个数组。

...

要合并的数组列表。

返回值

返回结果数组。

范例

Example #1 array_merge() 例子

<?php
$array1 = array("color" => "red", 2, 4);
$array2 = array("a", "b", "color" => "green", "shape" => "trapezoid", 4);
$result = array_merge($array1, $array2);
print_r($result);
?>

以上例程会输出：

Array
(
    [color] => green
    [0] => 2
    [1] => 4
    [2] => a
    [3] => b
    [shape] => trapezoid
    [4] => 4
)

Example #2 Simple array_merge() 例子

<?php
$array1 = array();
$array2 = array(1 => "data");
$result = array_merge($array1, $array2);
?>

别忘了数字键名将会被重新编号！ 

Array
(
    [0] => data
)

如果你想完全保留原有数组并只想新的数组附加到后面，用 + 运算符：

<?php
$array1 = array(0 => 'zero_a', 2 => 'two_a', 3 => 'three_a');
$array2 = array(1 => 'one_b', 3 => 'three_b', 4 => 'four_b');
$result = $array1 + $array2;
var_dump($result);
?>

第一个数组的键名将会被保留。在两个数组中存在相同的键名时，第一个数组中的同键名的元素将会被保留，第二个数组中的元素将会被忽略 

array(5) {
  [0]=>
  string(6) "zero_a"
  [2]=>
  string(5) "two_a"
  [3]=>
  string(7) "three_a"
  [1]=>
  string(5) "one_b"
  [4]=>
  string(6) "four_b"
}

Example #3 array_merge() 合并非数组的类型

<?php
$beginning = 'foo';
$end = array(1 => 'bar');
$result = array_merge((array)$beginning, (array)$end);
print_r($result);
?>

以上例程会输出：

    Array
    (
        [0] => foo
        [1] => bar
    )

参见

User Contributed Notes

ian_channing at hotmail dot com 13-Oct-2017 02:36
array_merge is the equivalent of concat in other languages. I tried to submit a bug that array_concat should be created as an alias to this but it was rejected on the basis they didn't want to polute the namespace and that the documentation should be updated instead. So here's what I put in the bug #73576:

There is no documented array concatenation function. This is a very common function, e.g. Javascript and Ruby have the `concat` function, Python has `+` and Haskell has `++`.

The `array_merge` function is what has be used if you want to concatenate arrays. However it is not mentioned in the documentation (not even in the comments) of that method that that is what should be used.

I propose that `array_concat` be created as an alias of `array_merge`. The concatenation of an associative array is also consistent with trying to merge the hash maps. For example there is a Stack Overflow question on 'concatenating two dictionaries' that is marked as a duplicate of the function 'How to merge two Python dictionaries'. That is, it is consistent that hash map concatenation is the same as hash map merging.

So I believe that `array_concat` is a perfect alias for `array_merge` in terms of numeric arrays and a valid (albeit unnecessary) alias for associative arrays.

This will help almost all developers coming to PHP from other dynamic languages.
titum at lavache dot com 01-Aug-2017 08:56
foreach loop is faster than array_merge to append values to an existing array, so choose the loop instead if you want to add an array to the end of another.

<?php
// Create an array of arrays
$chars = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < 15000; $i++) {
    $chars[] = array_fill(0, 10, 'a');
}

// test array_merge
$new = [];
$start = microtime(TRUE);
foreach ($chars as $splitArray) {
    $new = array_merge($new, $splitArray);
}
echo microtime(true) - $start; // => 14.61776 sec

// test foreach
$new = [];
$start = microtime(TRUE);
foreach ($chars as $splitArray) {
    foreach ($splitArray as $value) {
        $new[] = $value;
    }
}
echo microtime(true) - $start; // => 0.00900101 sec
// ==> 1600 times faster
?>
woodongwong at gmail dot com 26-Apr-2017 06:35
As PHP 5.6 you can use array_merge + "splat" operator to reduce a bidimensonal array to a simple array:

<?php
$data = [[1, 2], [3], [4, 5]];
    print_r(array_merge(... $data)); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
?>

PHP < 5.6:

<?php
$data = [[1, 2], [3], [4, 5]];
print_r(array_reduce($data, 'array_merge', []));   // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

?>
padina 11-Apr-2017 05:10
Static functions of Classes  with Namespace are callables too.

namespace Vendor\Extension\Service;

class SvgFormationService implements \TYPO3\CMS\Core\SingletonInterface
{

    public static function doubleQuote($value) {
        return '"'.$value.'"';
    }

    public static function otherFunc ($value) {
        $tagAttributes = array_map('\Vendor\Extension\Service\SvgFormationService::doubleQuote',$tagAttributes);
    }
}
rameezsoomro dot pk at live dot com 18-Jan-2017 02:17
Array merge will return null if any parameter not an array
<?php
$DB_user_result=  DB::select()->where()->get(); // return null if not found.
$DB_exists_user_info = ['name'=>'Rameez Soomro','Location'=>'Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan'];
print_r(array_merge($DB_user_result, $DB_exists_user_info));  //NULL
?>
Here is function for solution of array_merge
function copied from  http://sdtuts.com/php-array_merge-function-issue/
<?php
function merge_arrays_obj(){
  $func_info = debug_backtrace();
  $func_args = $func_info[0]['args'];
  $return_array_data = array();
  foreach($func_args as $args_index=>$args_data){
    if(is_array($args_data) || is_object($args_data)){
    $return_array_data = array_merge($return_array_data,$args_data);
    }
  }
  return $return_array_data;
}
?>

Code example how to use it
<?php
$array = array('abc'=>'abcparam');
$null_array = null;
$new_arraydata = array('username'=>'Rameez Soomro','usersite'=>'http://sdtuts.com');
$new_arrayOBJ = array ( (object) array('obj_DATA' => 'ABC_OBJ','obj_next_index '=>'ABC_OBJ_NEXT_INDEX') );
$new_array_data = merge_arrays_obj($array,$null_array,$new_arraydata,$new_arrayOBJ);
print_r($new_array_data);
?>
jcmarchi at gmail dot comfive 20-May-2016 01:06
It is not officially documented but it is summarily important information for everyone to know: neither array_merge or array_merge_recursive functions will function correctly if non-array objects  are used as parameters.

You would probably expect these functions to ignore non-array elements, right? However, if one parameter is null it PHP will not only return null for the entire function but will also (not always) raise an error, such as :

    [ Warning: array_merge(): Argument #x is not an array... ]

This error message won't appear if the defective variable is an empty array (an empty array is still an array), but it will result in an undesirable incomplete Array.

There are several solutions for this problem by validating the Arrays before use them in these functions, but the most efficient way is to enforce the element as an array directly in the function itself. I.e.:

$merged = array_merge( (array)$first_array, (array)$second_array );
arifulin at gmail dot com 15-Mar-2016 06:10
public function mergeArrays($arrays, $field)
    {
        //take array in arrays for retrive structure after merging
        $clean_array = current($arrays);
        foreach ($clean_array as $i => $value) {
            $clean_array[$i]='';
        }

        $merged_array = [];
        $name = '';
        foreach ($arrays as $array){
            $array = array_filter($array); //clean array from empty values
            if ($name == $array[$field]) {
                $merged_array[$name] = array_merge($merged_array[$name], $array);
                $name = $array[$field];
            } else {
                $name = $array[$field];
                $merged_array[$name] = $array;
            }
        }
        //have to be cleaned from array 'field' signs to return original structure of arrays
        foreach ($merged_array as $array){
            $ready_array[] = array_merge($clean_array, $array);
        }

        return $ready_array;
    }
kristopolous at yahoo dot com 27-Feb-2016 07:46
I constantly forget the direction of array_merge so this is partially for me and partially for people like me.

array_merge is a non-referential non-inplace right-reduction. For different ctrl-f typers, it's reduce-right, side-effect free, idempotent, and non in-place.

ex:

$a = array_merge(['k' => 'a'], ['k' => 'b']) => ['k' => 'b']
array_merge(['z' => 1], $a) => does not modify $a but returns ['k' => 'b', 'z' => 1];

Hopefully this helps people that constant look this up such as myself.
info at eastghost dot com 05-Sep-2015 10:37
We noticed array_merge is relatively slower than manually extending an array:

given:
$arr_one[ 'x' => 1, 'y' => 2 ];
$arr_two[ 'a' => 10, 'b' => 20 ];

the statement:
$arr_three = array_merge( $arr_one, $arr_two );
is routinely 200usec slower than:

$arr_three = $arr_one;
foreach( $arr_two as $k => $v ) { $arr_three[ $k ] = $v; }

200usec didn't matter...until we started combining huge arrays.

PHP 5.6.x
Anonymous 29-Jun-2015 06:48
As PHP 5.6 you can use array_merge + "splat" operator to reduce a bidimensonal array to a simple array:

<?php
$data = [[1, 2], [3], [4, 5]];
print_r(array_merge(... $data)); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
?>
gj@php 01-Jul-2014 11:59
i did a small benchmark (on  PHP 5.3.3) comparing:
* using array_merge on numerically indexed arrays
* using a basic double loop to merge multiple arrays

the performance difference is huge:

<?php

require_once("./lib/Timer.php");

function method1($mat){
    $all=array();
    foreach($mat as $arr){
        $all=array_merge($all,$arr);
    }
    return $all;
}

function method2($mat){
    $all=array();
    foreach($mat as $arr){
        foreach($arr as $el){
            $all[]=$el;
        }
    }
    return $all;
}

function tryme(){
    $y=250; //#arrays
    $x=200; //size per array
    $mat=array();
    //build big matrix
    for($i=0;$i<$y;$i++){
        for($j=0;$j<$x;$j++){
            $mat[$i][$j]=rand(0,1000);
        }   
    }

    $t=new Timer();
    method1($mat);
    $t->displayTimer();
   
    $t=new Timer();
    method2($mat);
    $t->displayTimer();
   
/*
output:
Script runtime: 2.36782 secs. Script runtime: 0.02137 sec.
*/
   
}

tryme();

?>

So that's more than a factor 100!!!!!
Angel I 12-Jun-2014 10:57
An addition to what Julian Egelstaff above wrote - the array union operation (+) is not doing an array_unique - it will just not use the keys that are already defined in the left array.  The difference between union and merge can be seen in an example like this:

<?php
$arr1['one'] = 'one';
$arr1['two'] = 'two';

$arr2['zero'] = 'zero';
$arr2['one'] = 'three';
$arr2['two'] = 'four';

$arr3 = $arr1 + $arr2;
var_export( $arr3 );
# array ( 'one' => 'one', 'two' => 'two', 'zero' => 'zero', )

$arr4 = array_merge( $arr1, $arr2 );
var_export( $arr4 );
# array ( 'one' => 'three', 'two' => 'four', 'zero' => 'zero', )
?>
php at metehanarslan dot com 11-Jun-2014 07:49
Sometimes you need to modify an array with another one here is my approach to replace an array's content recursively with delete opiton. Here i used "::delete::" as reserved word to delete items.

<?php
$person= array(
    "name" => "Metehan",
    "surname"=>"Arslan",
    "age"=>27,
    "mail"=>"hidden",
    "favs" => array(
        "language"=>"php",
        "planet"=>"mercury",
        "city"=>"istanbul")
);

$newdata = array(
    "age"=>28,
    "mail"=>"::delete::",
    "favs" => array(
        "language"=>"js",
        "planet"=>"mercury",
        "city"=>"shanghai")
);

print_r(array_overlay($person,$newdata));
// result: Array ( [name] => Metehan [surname] => Arslan [age] => 28 [favs] => Array ( [language] => js [planet] => mercury [city] => shanghai ) )

function array_overlay($a1,$a2)
{
    foreach($a1 as $k => $v) {
        if ($a2[$k]=="::delete::"){
            unset($a1[$k]);
            continue;
        };
        if(!array_key_exists($k,$a2)) continue;
        if(is_array($v) && is_array($a2[$k])){
            $a1[$k] = array_overlay($v,$a2[$k]);
        }else{
            $a1[$k] = $a2[$k];
        }
       
    }
    return $a1;
}
?>
rajaimranqamer at gmail dot com 28-May-2014 05:26
to get unique value from multi dimensional array use this instead of array_unique(), because array_unique() does not work on multidimensional:
array_map("unserialize", array_unique(array_map("serialize", $array)));
Hope this will help someone;
Example
$a=array(array('1'),array('2'),array('3'),array('4));
$b=array(array('2'),array('4'),array('6'),array('8));
$c=array_merge($a,$b);
then write this line to get unique values
$c=array_map("unserialize", array_unique(array_map("serialize", $c)));
print_r($c);
vladas dot dirzys at gmail dot com 21-Aug-2013 06:11
To combine several results (arrays):

<?php
$results = array(
    array(
        array('foo1'),
        array('foo2'),
    ),
    array(
        array('bar1'),
        array('bar2'),
    ),
);

$rows = call_user_func_array('array_merge', $results);
print_r($rows);
?>

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => foo1
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => foo2
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => bar1
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [0] => bar2
        )

)

However, example below helps to preserve numeric keys:

<?php
$results = array(
    array(
        123 => array('foo1'),
        456 => array('foo2'),
    ),
    array(
        321 => array('bar1'),
        654 => array('bar2'),
    ),
);

$rows = array();
foreach ($results as &$result) {
    $rows = $rows + $result; // preserves keys
}
print_r($rows);
?>

The above example will output:
Array
(
    [123] => Array
        (
            [0] => foo1
        )

    [456] => Array
        (
            [0] => foo2
        )

    [321] => Array
        (
            [0] => bar1
        )

    [654] => Array
        (
            [0] => bar2
        )
)
Janez R. 16-May-2013 05:38
Please note that -1 is a numeric key and will be reindexed.
Less obvious numeric keys are also '-1' (becomes -1) and -1.5 (becomes -1).

'-1a', however, is not a numeric key and you could exploit the fact that '-1a' == -1 evaluates to true in php (just a hint). But as this is not very efficient, operator + may be a better option.

<?php
$arr = array(-1=> "-1", '-2'=> "'-2'", -3.5=> "-3.5", '-4a'=> "'-4a'");
print_r(array(
    $arr,
    array_merge($arr,array()),
    '-1a' == -1,
));
?>

Result:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [-1] => -1
            [-2] => '-2'
            [-3] => -3.5
            [-4a] => '-4a'
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => -1
            [1] => '-2'
            [2] => -3.5
            [-4a] => '-4a'
        )

    [2] => 1
)
Gemorroj 14-May-2012 05:37
The function behaves differently with numbers more than PHP_INT_MAX
<?php
$arr1 = array('1234567898765432123456789' => 'dd');
$arr2 = array('123456789876543212345678' => 'ddd', '35' => 'xxx');
var_dump(array_merge($arr1, $arr2));
//
$arr1 = array('1234' => 'dd');
$arr2 = array('12345' => 'ddd', '35' => 'xxx');
var_dump(array_merge($arr1, $arr2));
?>
result:
array(3) {
  ["1234567898765432123456789"]=>
  string(2) "dd"
  ["123456789876543212345678"]=>
  string(3) "ddd"
  [0]=>
  string(3) "xxx"
}
array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(2) "dd"
  [1]=>
  string(3) "ddd"
  [2]=>
  string(3) "xxx"
}
izhar_aazmi at gmail dot com 29-Feb-2012 05:54
The problem that the array keys are reindexed, and further not working on array values of type object or other mixed types.

Simply, I did this:

<?php
foreach($new as $k => $v)
{
    $old[$k] = $v;
}
// This will overwrite all values in OLD with any existing
// matching value in NEW
// And keep all non matching values from OLD intact.
// No reindexing, and complete overwrite
/// Working with all kind of data
?>
alejandro dot anv at gmail dot com 20-Feb-2012 08:26
WARNING: numeric subindexes are lost when merging arrays.

Check this example:

$a=array('abc'=>'abc','def'=>'def','123'=>'123','xyz'=>'xyz');
echo "a=";print_r($a);
$b=array('xxx'=>'xxx');
echo "b=";print_r($b);
$c=array_merge($a,$b);
echo "c=";print_r($c);

The result is this:

c=Array
(
    [abc] => abc
    [def] => def
    [0] => 123
    [xyz] => xyz
    [xxx] => xxx
)
njp AT o2 DOT pl 22-Nov-2011 01:45
Uniques values merge for array_merge function:

<?php
function array_unique_merge() {
       
        $variables = '$_'.implode(',$_',array_keys(func_get_args()));

        $func = create_function('$tab', ' list('.$variables.') = $tab; return array_unique(array_merge('.$variables.'));');
       
        return $func(func_get_args());
    }
?>

Doesn't work on objects.

Smarter way for uniques values merge array:

<?php
function array_unique_merge() {
      
       return array_unique(call_user_func_array('array_merge', func_get_args()));
   }
?>

Example 1:

$a = array(1,2);
$b = array(2,3,4);

array_unique_merge($a,$b);

Return:
array(1,2,3,4);

Example 2:

$a = array(1,2);
$b = array(2,3,4);
$c = array(2,3,4,5);

array_unique_merge($a,$b);

Return:
array(1,2,3,4,5);

Doesn't work on objects.
w_barath at hotmail dot com 05-Oct-2011 01:42
I keep seeing posts for people looking for a function to replace numeric keys.

No function is required for this, it is default behavior if the + operator:

<?php
$a=array(1=>"one", "two"=>2);
$b=array(1=>"two", "two"=>1, 3=>"three", "four"=>4);

print_r($a+$b);
?>

Array
(
    [1] => one
    [two] => 2
    [3] => three
    [four] => 4
)

How this works:

The + operator only adds unique keys to the resulting array.  By making the replacements the first argument, they naturally always replace the keys from the second argument, numeric or not! =)
craig ala craigatx.com 26-Oct-2010 07:25
Reiterating the notes about casting to arrays, be sure to cast if one of the arrays might be null:

<?php
header("Content-type:text/plain");
$a = array('zzzz', 'xxxx');
$b = array('mmmm','nnnn');

echo "1 ==============\r\n";
print_r(array_merge($a, $b));

echo "2 ==============\r\n";
$b = array();
print_r(array_merge($a, $b));

echo "3 ==============\r\n";
$b = null;
print_r(array_merge($a, $b));

echo "4 ==============\r\n";
$b = null;
print_r(array_merge($a, (array)$b));

echo "5 ==============\r\n";
echo is_null(array_merge($a, $b)) ? 'Result is null' : 'Result is not null';
?>

Produces:

1 ==============
Array
(
    [0] => zzzz
    [1] => xxxx
    [2] => mmmm
    [3] => nnnn
)
2 ==============
Array
(
    [0] => zzzz
    [1] => xxxx
)
3 ==============
4 ==============
Array
(
    [0] => zzzz
    [1] => xxxx
)
5 ==============
Result is null
nzujev [AT] gmail [DOT] com 03-Oct-2010 11:28
Be ready to surprise like this one.
array_merge renumbers numeric keys even if key is as string.
keys '1' & '2' will be updated to 0 & 1, but '1.1' & '1.2' remain the same, but they are numeric too (is_numeric('1.1') -> true)

It's better to use '+' operator or to have your own implementation for array_merge.

<?php

$x1 = array (
    '1'     => 'Value 1',
    '1.1'   => 'Value 1.1',
);

$x2 = array (
    '2'     => 'Value 2',
    '2.1'   => 'Value 2.1',
);

$x3 = array_merge( $x1, $x2 );

echo '<pre>NOT as expected: '. print_r( $x3, true ) .'</pre>';

$x3 = $x1 + $x2;

echo '<pre>As expected: '. print_r( $x3, true ) .'</pre>';

?>

NOT as expected: Array
(
    [0] => Value 1
    [1.1] => Value 1.1
    [1] => Value 2
    [2.1] => Value 2.1
)
As expected: Array
(
    [1] => Value 1
    [1.1] => Value 1.1
    [2] => Value 2
    [2.1] => Value 2.1
)
zagadka at evorg dot dk 20-Aug-2010 02:54
Note that if you use + to merge array in order to preserve keys, that in case of duplicates the values from the left array in the addition is used.
jpakin at gmail dot com 11-Jun-2010 08:46
I had a hard time using array_merge with large datasets. By the time my web framework was in memory there wasn't enough space to have multiple copies of my dataset. To fix this I had to remove any functions which operated on the data set and made a copy in memory (pass by value).

I realize the available memory to an application instance is modifiable, but I didn't think I should have to set it below the default 16mb for a web app!

Unfortunately, a number of php functions pass by value internally, so I had to write my own merge function. This passes by reference, utilizes a fast while loop (thus doesn't need to call count() to get an upper boundary, also a php pass by value culprit), and unsets the copy array (freeing memory as it goes).

<?php

function mergeArrays(&$sourceArray, &$copyArray){
        //merge copy array into source array
                $i = 0;
        while (isset($copyArray[$i])){
            $sourceArray[] = $copyArray[$i];
            unset($copyArray[$i]);
            $i++;
        }
    }
?>

This fixed the problem. I would love to know if there is an even faster, more efficient way. Simply adding the two arrays won't work since there is an overlap of index.
nekroshorume at gmail dot com 18-Mar-2010 07:31
be aware there is a slight difference:

<?php
$array1 = array('lang'=>'js','method'=>'GET');
$array2 = array('lang'=>'php','browser'=>'opera','method'=>'POST');
?>

BETWEEN:

<?php array_merge($array2,$array1); ?>
outputs: Array ( [lang] => js [browser] => opera [method] => GET )

notice that the repeated keys will be overwritten by the ones of $array1, maintaining those, because it is the array that is being merged

AND

<?php array_merge($array1,$array2); ?>
outputs: Array ( [lang] => php [method] => POST [browser] => opera )

here the oposite takes place: array1 will have its elements replaced by those of array2.
riddlemd at gmail dot com 22-Jan-2010 09:43
Apparently there is a shorthand that works very much like array_merge. I figured I would leave a comment here, sense I saw it used in code but found nothing about it from google searches.

<?php
$array = array(
 'name' => 'John Doe'
);
$array += array(
 'address' => 'someplace somestreet'
);

echo $array['address']; // Outputs 'someplace somestreet'
?>

A difference from merge_array, it does NOT overwrite existing keys, regardless of key type.
allankelly 02-Oct-2009 05:36
More on the union (+) operator:
the order of arrays is important and does not agree in my test below
with the other posts. The 'unique' operation preserves the initial key-value and discards later duplicates.

PHP 5.2.6-2ubuntu4.2

<?php
$a1=array('12345'=>'a', '23456'=>'b', '34567'=>'c', '45678'=>'d');
$a2=array('34567'=>'X');
$a3=$a1 + $a2;
$a4=$a2 + $a1;
print('a1:'); print_r($a1);
print('a2:'); print_r($a2);
print('a3:'); print_r($a3);
print('a4:'); print_r($a4);
?>

a1:Array
(
    [12345] => a
    [23456] => b
    [34567] => c
    [45678] => d
)
a2:Array
(
    [34567] => X
)
a3:Array
(
    [12345] => a
    [23456] => b
    [34567] => c
    [45678] => d
)
a4:Array
(
    [34567] => X
    [12345] => a
    [23456] => b
    [45678] => d
)
Tudor 27-Sep-2009 10:10
array_merge will merge numeric keys in array iteration order, not in increasing numeric order. For example:

<?php
$a = array(0=>10, 1=>20);  // same as array(10, 20);
$b = array(0=>30, 2=>50, 1=>40);
?>

array_merge($a, $b) will be array(10, 20, 30, 50, 40) and not array(10, 20, 30, 40, 50).
Julian Egelstaff 16-Aug-2009 10:02
More about the union operator (+)...

The "array_unique" that gets applied, is actually based on the keys, not the values.  So if you have multiple values with the same key, only the last one will be preserved.

<?php

$array1[0] = "zero";
$array1[1] = "one";

$array2[0] = 0;
$array1[1] = 1;

$array3 = $array1 + $array2;

// array3 will look like:
// array(0=>0, 1=>1)
// ie: beware of the latter keys overwriting the former keys

?>
Julian Egelstaff 31-Jul-2009 08:48
In some situations, the union operator ( + ) might be more useful to you than array_merge.  The array_merge function does not preserve numeric key values.  If you need to preserve the numeric keys, then using + will do that.

ie:

<?php

$array1[0] = "zero";
$array1[1] = "one";

$array2[1] = "one";
$array2[2] = "two";
$array2[3] = "three";

$array3 = $array1 + $array2;

//This will result in::

$array3 = array(0=>"zero", 1=>"one", 2=>"two", 3=>"three");

?>

Note the implicit "array_unique" that gets applied as well.  In some situations where your numeric keys matter, this behaviour could be useful, and better than array_merge.

--Julian
enaeseth at gmail dot com 20-Jul-2009 11:27
In both PHP 4 and 5, array_merge preserves references in array values. For example:

<?php
$foo = 12;
$array = array("foo" => &$foo);
$merged_array = array_merge($array, array("bar" => "baz"));
$merged_array["foo"] = 24;
assert($foo === 24); // works just fine
?>
jerry at gii dot co dot jp 12-Mar-2009 04:35
There was a previous note that alluded to this, but at least in version 5.2.4 array_merge will return NULL if any of the arguments are NULL. This bit me with $_POST when none of the controls were successful.
carrox at inbox dot lv 01-Sep-2008 01:41
Usage of operand '+' for merging arrays:

<?php

$a=array(
'a'=>'a1',
'b'=>'a2',
'a3',
'a4',
'a5');

$b=array('b1',
'b2',
'a'=>'b3',
'b4');

$a+=$b;

print_r($a);

?>

output:
Array
(
    [a] => a1
    [b] => a2
    [0] => a3
    [1] => a4
    [2] => a5
    [3] => b5
)

numeric keys of elements of array B what not presented in array A was added.

<?php

$a=array('a'=>'a1','b'=>'a2','a3','a4','a5');
$b=array(100=>'b1','b2','a'=>'b3','b4');

$a+=$b;

print_r($a);

?>

output:

   [a] => a1
    [b] => a2
    [0] => a3
    [1] => a4
    [2] => a5
    [100] => b1
    [101] => b2
    [102] => b4

autoindex for array B started from 100, these keys not present in array A, so this elements was added to array A
ron at ronfolio dot com 12-Aug-2008 03:44
I needed a function similar to ian at fuzzygroove's array_interlace, but I need to pass more than two arrays.

Here's my version, You can pass any number of arrays and it will interlace and key them properly.

<?php
function array_interlace() {
    $args = func_get_args();
    $total = count($args);

    if($total < 2) {
        return FALSE;
    }
   
    $i = 0;
    $j = 0;
    $arr = array();
   
    foreach($args as $arg) {
        foreach($arg as $v) {
            $arr[$j] = $v;
            $j += $total;
        }
       
        $i++;
        $j = $i;
    }
   
    ksort($arr);
    return array_values($arr);
}
?>

Example usage:
<?php
$a = array('a', 'b', 'c', 'd');
$b = array('e', 'f', 'g');
$c = array('h', 'i', 'j');
$d = array('k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o');

print_r(array_interlace($a, $b, $c, $d));
?>

result:

Array
(
    [0] => a
    [1] => e
    [2] => h
    [3] => k
    [4] => b
    [5] => f
    [6] => i
    [7] => l
    [8] => c
    [9] => g
    [10] => j
    [11] => m
    [12] => d
    [13] => n
    [14] => o
)

Let me know if you improve on it.
david_douard at hotmail dot com 02-Jul-2008 11:41
To avoid REINDEXING issues,

use + operator :

array_merge(
          array("truc" => "salut"),
          array("machin" => "coucou")
        )

returns

array(2)
{
[0] => string() "salut"
[1] => string() "coucou"
}

whereas

array("truc" => "salut") + array("machin" => "coucou")

returns

array(2)
{
["truc"] => string() "salut"
["machin"] => string() "coucou"
}
bishop 04-Apr-2008 11:02
The documentation is a touch misleading when it says: "If only one array is given and the array is numerically indexed, the keys get reindexed in a continuous way."  Even with two arrays, the resulting array is re-indexed:

[bishop@predator staging]$ cat array_merge.php
<?php
$a = array (23 => 'Hello', '42' => 'World');
$a = array_merge(array (0 => 'I say, '), $a);
var_dump($a);
?>
[bishop@predator staging]$ php-5.2.5 array_merge.php
array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(7) "I say, "
  [1]=>
  string(5) "Hello"
  [2]=>
  string(5) "World"
}
[bishop@predator staging]$ php-4.4.7 array_merge.php
array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(7) "I say, "
  [1]=>
  string(5) "Hello"
  [2]=>
  string(5) "World"
}
no_one at nobody dot com 03-Mar-2008 05:31
PHP is wonderfully decides if an array key could be a number, it is a number!  And thus wipes out the key when you array merge.   Just a warning.

$array1['4000'] = 'Grade 1 Widgets';
$array1['4000a'] = 'Grade A Widgets';
$array2['5830'] = 'Grade 1 Thing-a-jigs';
$array2['HW39393'] = 'Some other widget';

var_dump($array1);
var_dump($array2);

//results in...
array(2) {
  [4000]=>
  string(15) "Grade 1 Widgets"
  ["4000a"]=>
  string(15) "Grade A Widgets"
}
array(2) {
  [5830]=>
  string(20) "Grade 1 Thing-a-jigs"
  ["HW39393"]=>
  string(17) "Some other widget"
}

var_dump(array_merge($array1,$array2));
//results in...
array(4) {
  [0]=>
  string(15) "Grade 1 Widgets"
  ["4000a"]=>
  string(15) "Grade A Widgets"
  [1]=>
  string(20) "Grade 1 Thing-a-jigs"
  ["HW39393"]=>
  string(17) "Some other widget"
}
Hayley Watson 04-Nov-2007 09:38
As has already been noted before, reindexing arrays is most cleanly performed by the array_values() function.
clancyhood at gmail dot com 22-Jul-2007 01:52
Similar to Jo I had a problem merging arrays (thanks for that Jo you kicked me out of my debugging slumber) - array_merge does NOT act like array_push, as I had anticipated

<?php

$array = array('1', 'hello');
array_push($array, 'world');

var_dump($array);

// gives '1', 'hello', 'world'

 
$array = array('1', 'hello');
array_merge($array, array('world'));

// gives '1', 'hello'

$array = array('1', 'hello');
$array = array_merge($array, array('world'));

// gives '1', 'hello', 'world'

?>

hope this helps someone
Joe at neosource dot com dot au 04-Jun-2007 08:51
I found the "simple" method of adding arrays behaves differently as described in the documentation in PHP v5.2.0-10.

$array1 + $array2 will only combine entries for keys that don't already exist.

Take the following example:

$ar1 = array('a', 'b');
$ar2 = array('c', 'd');
$ar3 = ($ar1 + $ar2);
print_r($ar3);

Result:

Array
(
    [0] => a
    [1] => b
)

Where as:

$ar1 = array('a', 'b');
$ar2 = array('c', 'd');
$ar3 = array_merge($ar1, $ar2);
print_r($ar3);

Result:

Array
(
    [0] => a
    [1] => b
    [2] => c
    [3] => d
)

Hope this helps someone.
RQuadling at GMail dot com 21-May-2007 02:05
For asteddy at tin dot it and others who are trying to merge arrays and keep the keys, don't forget the simple + operator.

Using the array_merge_keys() function (with a small mod to deal with multiple arguments), provides no difference in output as compared to +.

<?php
$a = array(-1 => 'minus 1');
$b = array(0 => 'nought');
$c = array(0 => 'nought');
var_export(array_merge_keys($a,$b));
var_export($a + $b);
var_export(array_merge_keys($a,$b,$c));
var_export($a + $b + $c);
?>

results in ...

array (  -1 => 'minus 1',  0 => 'nought',)
array (  -1 => 'minus 1',  0 => 'nought',)
array (  -1 => 'minus 1',  0 => 'nought',)
array (  -1 => 'minus 1',  0 => 'nought',)
Marce! 02-Mar-2007 01:21
I have been searching for an in-place merge function, but couldn't find one. This function merges two arrays, but leaves the order untouched.
Here it is for all others that want it:

function inplacemerge($a, $b) {
  $result = array();
  $i = $j = 0;
  if (count($a)==0) { return $b; }
  if (count($b)==0) { return $a; }
  while($i < count($a) && $j < count($b)){
    if ($a[$i] <= $b[$j]) {
      $result[] = $a[$i];
      if ($a[$i]==$b[$j]) { $j++; }
      $i++;
    } else {
      $result[] = $b[$j];
      $j++;
    }
  }
  while ($i<count($a)){
    $result[] = $a[$i];
    $i++;
  }
  while ($j<count($b)){
    $result[] = $b[$j];
    $j++;
  }
  return $result;
}
ahigerd at stratitec dot com 24-Jan-2007 03:06
An earlier comment mentioned that array_splice is faster than array_merge for inserting values. This may be the case, but if your goal is instead to reindex a numeric array, array_values() is the function of choice. Performing the following functions in a 100,000-iteration loop gave me the following times: ($b is a 3-element array)

array_splice($b, count($b)) => 0.410652
$b = array_splice($b, 0) => 0.272513
array_splice($b, 3) => 0.26529
$b = array_merge($b) => 0.233582
$b = array_values($b) => 0.151298
zspencer at zacharyspencer dot com 09-Nov-2006 05:55
I noticed the lack of a function that will safely merge two arrays without losing data due to duplicate keys but different values.

So I wrote a quicky that would offset duplicate keys and thus preserve their data. of course, this does somewhat mess up association...

<?php
$array1=array('cats'=>'Murder the beasties!', 'ninjas'=>'Use Ninjas to murder cats!');
$array2=array('cats'=>'Cats are fluffy! Hooray for Cats!', 'ninjas'=>'Ninas are mean cat brutalizers!!!');
$array3=safe_array_merge($array1, $array2);
print_r($array3)
/*
Array {
cats => Murder the beasties!,
ninjas => Use ninjas to murder cats!,

?>
cats_0 => Cats are fluffy! Hooray for Cats!,
ninjas_0 => Ninjas are mean cat brutalizers!!!
}

function safe_array_merge ()
{
    $args = func_get_args();
    $result=array();
    foreach($args as &$array)
    {
        foreach($array as $key=>&$value)
        {
            if(isset($result[$key]))
            {
                $continue=TRUE;
                $fake_key=0;
                while($continue==TRUE)
                {
                    if(!isset($result[$key.'_'.$fake_key]))
                    {
                        $result[$key.'_'.$fake_key]=$value;
                        $continue=FALSE;
                    }
                    $fake_key++;       
                }
            }
            else
            {
                $result[$key]=$value;
            }
        }
    }
    return $result;
}
?>
01-Nov-2006 03:47
A more efficient array_merge that preserves keys, truly accepts an arbitrary number of arguments, and saves space on the stack (non recursive):
<?php
function array_merge_keys(){
    $args = func_get_args();
    $result = array();
    foreach($args as &$array){
        foreach($array as $key=>&$value){
            $result[$key] = $value;
        }
    }
    return $result;
}
?>
BigueNique at yahoo dot ca 29-Sep-2006 04:10
Needed an quick array_merge clone that preserves the keys:

<?php
// function array_join
// merges 2 arrays preserving the keys,
// even if they are numeric (unlike array_merge)
// if 2 keys are identical, the last one overwites
// the existing one, just like array_merge
// merges up to 10 arrays, minimum 2.
function array_join($a1, $a2, $a3=null, $a4=null, $a5=null, $a6=null, $a7=null, $a8=null, $a9=null, $a10=null) {
    $a=array();
    foreach($a1 as $key=>$value) $a[$key]=$value;
    foreach($a2 as $key=>$value) $a[$key]=$value;
    if (is_array($a3)) $a=array_join($a,$a3,$a4,$a5,$a6,$a7,$a8,$a9,$a10);
    return $a;
}
?>
poison 12-Sep-2006 02:45
You can use array_slice() in combination with array_merge() to insert values into an array like this:

<?php
$test=range(0, 10);
$index=2;
$data="---here---";
$result=array_merge(array_slice($test, 0, $index), array($data), array_slice($test, $index));
var_dump($result);
?>
dercsar at gmail dot com 04-Sep-2006 10:34
array_merge() overwrites ALL numerical indexes. No matter if you have non-numerical indexes or more than just one array.
It reindexes them all. Period.

(Only tried in 4.3.10)
anonyme 20-Jul-2006 03:02
I don't think that the comment on + operator for array in array_merge page, was understandable, this is just a little test to know exactly what's happend.

<?php
//test code for (array)+(array) operator
$a1 = array( '10', '11' , '12' , 'a' => '1a', 'b' => '1b');
$a2 = array( '20', '21' , '22' , 'a' => '2a', 'c' => '2c');

$a = $a1 + $a2;
print_r( $a );
//result: Array ( [0] => 10
//                [1] => 11
//                [2] => 12
//                [a] => 1a
//                [b] => 1b
//                [c] => 2c )

$a = $a2 + $a1;
print_r( $a );
//result: Array ( [0] => 20
//                [1] => 21
//                [2] => 22
//                [a] => 2a
//                [c] => 2c
//                [b] => 1b )

?>
chris at luethy dot net 13-Jul-2006 02:36
Do not use this to set the $_SESSION variable.

$_SESSION = array_merge( $_SESSION, $another_array );

will break your $_SESSION until the end of the execution of that page.
hs at nospam dot magnum-plus dot com 29-Dec-2005 11:50
The same result as produced by snookiex_at_gmail_dot_com's function
can be achieved with the 'one-liner'
<?php
$array1=array(1,2,3);
$array2=array('a','b','c');

$matrix = array_map(null, $array1, $array2);
?>
(see documentation of array_map).
The difference here is, that the shorter array gets filled with empty values.
kaigillmann at gmxpro dot net 02-Nov-2005 12:56
If you need to merge two arrays without having multiple entries, try this:

<?php
function array_fusion($ArrayOne, $ArrayTwo)
{
    return array_unique(array_merge($ArrayOne, $ArrayTwo));
}
?>
php at moechofe dot com 20-Jul-2005 01:58
<?php

  /*
  * array_deep_merge
  *
  * array array_deep_merge ( array array1 [, array array2 [, array ...]] )
  *
  * Like array_merge
  *
  *   array_deep_merge() merges the elements of one or more arrays together so
  * that the values of one are appended to the end of the previous one. It
  * returns the resulting array.
  *   If the input arrays have the same string keys, then the later value for
  * that key will overwrite the previous one. If, however, the arrays contain
  * numeric keys, the later value will not overwrite the original value, but
  * will be appended.
  *   If only one array is given and the array is numerically indexed, the keys
  * get reindexed in a continuous way.
  *
  * Different from array_merge
  *   If string keys have arrays for values, these arrays will merge recursively.
  */
  function array_deep_merge()
  {
    switch( func_num_args() )
    {
      case 0 : return false; break;
      case 1 : return func_get_arg(0); break;
      case 2 :
        $args = func_get_args();
        $args[2] = array();
        if( is_array($args[0]) and is_array($args[1]) )
        {
          foreach( array_unique(array_merge(array_keys($args[0]),array_keys($args[1]))) as $key )
          if( is_string($key) and is_array($args[0][$key]) and is_array($args[1][$key]) )
            $args[2][$key] = array_deep_merge( $args[0][$key], $args[1][$key] );
          elseif( is_string($key) and isset($args[0][$key]) and isset($args[1][$key]) )
            $args[2][$key] = $args[1][$key];
          elseif( is_integer($key) and isset($args[0][$key]) and isset($args[1][$key]) ) {
            $args[2][] = $args[0][$key]; $args[2][] = $args[1][$key]; }
          elseif( is_integer($key) and isset($args[0][$key]) )
            $args[2][] = $args[0][$key];
          elseif( is_integer($key) and isset($args[1][$key]) )
            $args[2][] = $args[1][$key];
          elseif( ! isset($args[1][$key]) )
            $args[2][$key] = $args[0][$key];
          elseif( ! isset($args[0][$key]) )
            $args[2][$key] = $args[1][$key];
          return $args[2];
        }
        else return $args[1]; break;
      default :
        $args = func_get_args();
        $args[1] = array_deep_merge( $args[0], $args[1] );
        array_shift( $args );
        return call_user_func_array( 'array_deep_merge', $args );
        break;
    }
  }

  /*
  * test
  */
  $a = array(
    0,
    array( 0 ),
    'integer' => 123,
    'integer456_merge_with_integer444' => 456,
    'integer789_merge_with_array777' => 789,
    'array' => array( "string1", "string2" ),
    'array45_merge_with_array6789' => array( "string4", "string5" ),
    'arraykeyabc_merge_with_arraykeycd' => array( 'a' => "a", 'b' => "b", 'c' => "c" ),
    'array0_merge_with_integer3' => array( 0 ),
    'multiple_merge' => array( 1 ),
  );

  $b = array(
    'integer456_merge_with_integer444' => 444,
    'integer789_merge_with_array777' => array( 7,7,7 ),
    'array45_merge_with_array6789' => array( "string6", "string7", "string8", "string9" ),
    'arraykeyabc_merge_with_arraykeycd' => array( 'c' => "ccc", 'd' => "ddd" ),
    'array0_merge_with_integer3' => 3,
    'multiple_merge' => array( 2 ),
  );

  $c = array(
    'multiple_merge' => array( 3 ),
  );
 
  echo "<pre>".htmlentities(print_r( array_deep_merge( $a, $b, $c ), true))."</pre>";

?>
ntpt at centrum dot cz 14-Jul-2005 03:44
Old behavior of array_merge can be restored by simple  variable type casting like this

array_merge((array)$foo,(array)$bar);

works good in php 5.1.0 Beta 1, not tested in other versions

seems that empty or not set variables are casted to empty arrays
Alec Solway 20-Jan-2005 07:05
Note that if you put a number as a key in an array, it is eventually converted to an int even if you cast it to a string or put it in quotes.

That is:

$arr["0"] = "Test";
var_dump( key($arr) );

will output int(0).

This is important to note when merging because array_merge will append values with a clashing int-based index instead of replacing them. This kept me tied up for hours.
nospam at veganismus dot ch 11-Jan-2005 03:38
Someone posted a function with the note:
"if u need to overlay a array that holds defaultvalues with another that keeps the relevant data"

<?
//about twice as fast but the result is the same.
//note: the sorting will be messed up!
function array_overlay($skel, $arr) {
    return $arr+$skel;
}

//example:
$a = array("zero","one","two");
$a = array_overlay($a,array(1=>"alpha",2=>NULL));
var_dump($a);
/* NULL is ignored so the output is:
array(3) {
  [1]=>
  string(5) "alpha"
  [0]=>
  string(4) "zero"
  [2]=>
  string(3) "two"
}
*/
?>
Frederick.Lemasson{AT}kik-it.com 23-Dec-2004 11:57
if you generate form select from an array, you probably want to keep your array keys and order intact,
if so you can use ArrayMergeKeepKeys(), works just like array_merge :

array ArrayMergeKeepKeys ( array array1 [, array array2 [, array ...]])

but keeps the keys even if of numeric kind.
enjoy

<?

$Default[0]='Select Something please';

$Data[147]='potato';
$Data[258]='banana';
$Data[54]='tomato';

$A=array_merge($Default,$Data);

$B=ArrayMergeKeepKeys($Default,$Data);

echo '<pre>';
print_r($A);
print_r($B);
echo '</pre>';

Function ArrayMergeKeepKeys() {
      $arg_list = func_get_args();
      foreach((array)$arg_list as $arg){
          foreach((array)$arg as $K => $V){
              $Zoo[$K]=$V;
          }
      }
    return $Zoo;
}

//will output :

Array
(
    [0] => Select Something please
    [1] => potato
    [2] => banana
    [3] => tomato
)
Array
(
    [0] => Select Something please
    [147] => potato
    [258] => banana
    [54] => tomato
)

?>
bcraigie at bigfoot dot com 24-Aug-2004 09:37
It would seem that array_merge doesn't do anything when one array is empty (unset):

<?php //$a is unset
$b = array("1" => "x");

$a = array_merge($a, $b});

//$a is still unset.
?>

to fix this omit $a if it is unset:-

<?php
if(!IsSet($a)) {
    $a = array_merge($b);
} else {
  $a = array_merge($a, $b);
}
?>

I don't know if there's a better way.
frankb at fbis dot net 25-Feb-2004 01:02
to merge arrays and preserve the key i found the following working with php 4.3.1:

<?php
$array1 = array(1 => "Test1", 2 => "Test2");
$array2 = array(3 => "Test3", 4 => "Test4");

$array1 += $array2;
?>

dont know if this is working with other php versions but it is a simple and fast way to solve that problem.
rcarvalhoREMOVECAPS at clix dot pt 03-Nov-2003 09:43
While searching for a function that would renumber the keys in a array, I found out that array_merge() does this if the second parameter is null:

Starting with array $a like:

<?php
Array
(
    [5] => 5
    [4] => 4
    [2] => 2
    [9] => 9
)
?>

Then use array_merge() like this:

<?php
$a = array_merge($a, null);
?>

Now the $a array has bee renumbered, but maintaining the order:

<?php
Array
(
    [0] => 5
    [1] => 4
    [2] => 2
    [3] => 9
)
?>

Hope this helps someone :-)
loner at psknet dot !NOSPAM!com 30-Sep-2003 12:00
I got tripped up for a few days when I tried to merge a (previously serialized) array into a object. If it doesn't make sense, think about it... To someone fairly new, it could... Anyway, here is what I did:
(It's obviously not recursive, but easy to make that way)
<?php
function array_object_merge(&$object, $array) {
    foreach ($array as $key => $value)
        $object->{$key} = $value;
}
?>

Simple problem, but concevibly easy to get stuck on.
04-Sep-2003 12:10
For those who are getting duplicate entries when using this function, there is a very easy solution:

wrap array_unique() around array_merge()

cheers,

k.
tobias_mik at hotmail dot com 25-Jul-2003 02:14
This function merges any number of arrays and maintains the keys:

<?php
function array_kmerge ($array) {
 reset($array);
 while ($tmp = each($array))
 {
  if(count($tmp['value']) > 0)
  {
   $k[$tmp['key']] = array_keys($tmp['value']);
   $v[$tmp['key']] = array_values($tmp['value']);
  }
 }
 while($tmp = each($k))
 {
  for ($i = $start; $i < $start+count($tmp['value']); $i ++)$r[$tmp['value'][$i-$start]] = $v[$tmp['key']][$i-$start];
  $start = count($tmp['value']);
 }
 return $r;
}
?>