PHP array_key_exists Function (original) (raw)

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PHP array_key_exists() function to determine if a key exists in an array.

Introduction to the PHP array_key_exists() function #

The PHP array_key_exists() function checks if a key exists in an array.

Here’s the syntax of the array_key_exists() function:

array_key_exists ( string|int <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>k</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>y</mi><mo separator="true">,</mo><mi>a</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>y</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">key , array </annotation></semantics></math>key,arrayarray ) : boolCode language: PHP (php)

In this syntax:

$key is the key to check.
$array is an array with keys to check.

The array_key_exists() function returns true if the $key exists in the $array. Otherwise, it returns false.

Note that the array_key_exists() function searches for the key in the first dimension of the $array only. If the $array is multidimensional, the array_key_exists() function won’t find the $key in the nested dimension.

The following example uses the array_key_exists() function to check if the key 'admin' exists in the $roles array:

`<?php

$roles = [ 'admin' => 1, 'approver' => 2, 'editor' => 3, 'subscriber' => 4 ]; result=arraykeyexists(′admin′,result = array_key_exists('admin', result=arraykeyexists(′admin′,roles);

var_dump($result); // bool(true)`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

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Output:

bool(true)Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

The following example returns false because the $roles array doesn’t have the key publisher:

`<?php

$roles = [ 'admin' => 1, 'approver' => 2, 'editor' => 3, 'subscriber' => 4 ]; result=arraykeyexists(′publisher′,result = array_key_exists('publisher', result=arraykeyexists(′publisher′,roles);

var_dump($result); // bool(false)`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Try it

PHP array_key_exists() vs isset() #

If the value of the array element is not null, both array_key_exists() and isset() return true if the key exists in an array and false if it doesn’t. For example:

`<?php

$roles = [ 'admin' => 1, 'approver' => 2, 'editor' => 3, 'subscriber' => 4 ];

var_dump(isset($roles['approver'])); // bool(true) var_dump(array_key_exists('approver', $roles)); // bool(true)`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

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The following example returns false because the user key doesn’t exist in the $roles array:

`<?php

$roles = [ 'admin' => 1, 'approver' => 2, 'editor' => 3, 'subscriber' => 4 ];

var_dump(isset($roles['user'])); // bool(false) var_dump(array_key_exists('user', $roles)); // bool(false)`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

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However, if the value of a key is null, the isset() will return false while the array_key_exists() function returns true. For example:

`<?php

$post = [ 'title' => 'PHP array_key_exists', 'thumbnail' => null ];

var_dump(array_key_exists('thumbnail', $post)); // bool(true) var_dump(isset($post['thumbnail'])); // bool(false)`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

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Summary #

Use the PHP array_key_exists() function to check if a key exists in an array.

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