My function returns the number of elements in array for multidimensional arrays subject to depth of array. (Almost COUNT_RECURSIVE, but you can point on which depth you want to plunge).
<?php
function getArrCount ($arr, $depth=1) {
if (!is_array($arr) || !$depth) return 0;
$res=count($arr);
foreach ($arr as $in_ar)
$res+=getArrCount($in_ar, $depth-1);
return $res;
}
?>