PHP array_search() Function

The PHP array_search() function searches an array for a specific value and returns the first corresponding key if found. It performs a loose or strict search based on parameters and returns false if the value is not present in the array.

Syntax

array_search($value, $array, strict_parameter)

Parameters: This function takes three parameters as described below:

• $value: This is the mandatory field that refers to the value that needs to be searched in the array.
• $array: This is the mandatory field that refers to the original array, which needs to be searched.
• strict_parameter (optional): This is an optional field that can be set to TRUE or FALSE, and refers to the strictness of search. The default value of this parameter is FALSE. 
  
  • If TRUE, then the function checks for identical elements, i.e., an integer 10 will be treated differently from a string 10.
  • If FALSE, strictness is not maintained.

Return Value: The function returns the key for a given value. If not found, it returns `false`; if multiple matches, the first key.

Example: In this example we defines a function Search() that uses array_search() to find the first occurrence of the value "saran" in the array. It returns the index of the first match, which is 2.

<?php

  // PHP function to illustrate the use of array_search()
  function Search($value, $array)
  {
      return (array_search($value, $array));
  }
  $array = array(
      "ram",
      "aakash",
      "saran",
      "mohan",
      "saran"
  );
  $value = "saran";
  print_r(Search($value, $array));
?>

2

Example: This example illustrates the working of function when the strict_parameter is set to FALSE. Note that the data types of the array and to be searched elements are different. 

<?php

    // PHP function to illustrate the use of array_search()
    function Search($value, $array)
    {
        return (array_search($value, $array, false));
    }
    $array = array(
        45, 5, 1, 22, 22, 10, 10);
    $value = "10";
    print_r(Search($value, $array));
?>

5

Example: In this example, we will be utilizing the above code to find out what will happen if we pass the strict_parameter as TRUE.

<?php

    // PHP function to illustrate the use of array_search()
    function Search($value, $array)
    {
        return (array_search($value, $array, true));
    }
    $array = array(45, 5, 1, 22, 22, 10, 10);
    $value = "10";
    print_r(Search($value, $array));
?>