array_slice

    (PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

    array_slice — Extract a slice of the array

    Description

    function array_slice(
        array $array,
        int $offset,
        ?int $length = null,
        bool $preserve_keys = false
    ): array

    array_slice() returns the sequence of elements from the array array as specified by the offset and length parameters.

    Parameters

    array

    The input array.

    offset

    If offset is non-negative, the sequence will start at that offset in the array.

    If offset is negative, the sequence will start that far from the end of the array.

    Note:

    The offset parameter denotes the position in the array, not the key.

    length

    If length is given and is positive, then the sequence will have up to that many elements in it.

    If the array is shorter than the length, then only the available array elements will be present.

    If length is given and is negative then the sequence will stop that many elements from the end of the array.

    If it is omitted, then the sequence will have everything from offset up until the end of the array.

    preserve_keys

    Note:

    array_slice() will reorder and reset the integer array indices by default. This behaviour can be changed by setting preserve_keys to true. String keys are always preserved, regardless of this parameter.

    Return Values

    Returns the slice. If the offset is larger than the size of the array, an empty array is returned.

    Examples

    Example #1 array_slice() examples

    <?php
$input = array("a", "b", "c", "d", "e");

$output = array_slice($input, 2);      // returns "c", "d", and "e"
$output = array_slice($input, -2, 1);  // returns "d"
$output = array_slice($input, 0, 3);   // returns "a", "b", and "c"

// note the differences in the array keys
print_r(array_slice($input, 2, -1));
print_r(array_slice($input, 2, -1, true));
?>

    The above example will output:

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

    Example #2 array_slice() and one-based array

    <?php
$input = array(1 => "a", "b", "c", "d", "e");
print_r(array_slice($input, 1, 2));
?>

    The above example will output:

    Array
(
    [0] => b
    [1] => c
)

    Example #3 array_slice() and array with mixed keys

    <?php
$ar = array('a'=>'apple', 'b'=>'banana', '42'=>'pear', 'd'=>'orange');
print_r(array_slice($ar, 0, 3));
print_r(array_slice($ar, 0, 3, true));
?>

    The above example will output:

    Array
(
    [a] => apple
    [b] => banana
    [0] => pear
)
Array
(
    [a] => apple
    [b] => banana
    [42] => pear
)

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 8 notes

    up
    51
    taylorbarstow at the google mail service
    20 years ago
    Array slice function that works with associative arrays (keys):

function array_slice_assoc($array,$keys) {
    return array_intersect_key($array,array_flip($keys));
}
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    19
    Ray.Paseur often uses Gmail
    13 years ago
    <?php
// CHOP $num ELEMENTS OFF THE FRONT OF AN ARRAY
// RETURN THE CHOP, SHORTENING THE SUBJECT ARRAY
function array_chop(&$arr, $num)
{
    $ret = array_slice($arr, 0, $num);
    $arr = array_slice($arr, $num);
    return $ret;
}
    up
    7
    nathan dot fiscaletti at gmail dot com
    8 years ago
    If you want an associative version of this you can do the following:

function array_slice_assoc($array,$keys) {
    return array_intersect_key($array,array_flip($keys));
}

However, if you want an inverse associative version of this, just use array_diff_key instead of array_intersect_key. 

function array_slice_assoc_inverse($array,$keys) {
    return array_diff_key($array,array_flip($keys));
}

Example:

$arr = [
    'name' => 'Nathan',
    'age' => 20,
    'height' => 6
];

array_slice_assoc($arr, ['name','age']);

will return 

Array (
     'name' = 'Nathan',
     'age' = 20
)

Where as

array_slice_assoc_inverse($arr, ['name']);

will return 

Array (
    'age' = 20,
    'height' = 6
)
    up
    4
    ted.devito at 9gmail9 dot 99com
    18 years ago
    based on worldclimb's arem(), here is a recursive array value removal tool that can work with multidimensional arrays.

function remove_from_array($array,$value){
    $clear = true;
    $holding=array();
   
    foreach($array as $k => $v){
        if (is_array($v)) {
            $holding [$k] = remove_from_array ($v, $value);
            }
        elseif ($value == $v) {
            $clear = false;
            }
        elseif($value != $v){
            $holding[$k]=$v; // removes an item by combing through the array in order and saving the good stuff
        }
    }   
    if ($clear) return $holding; // only pass back the holding array if we didn't find the value 
}
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