each

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

each — Return the current key and value pair from an array and advance the array cursor

Warning

This function has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 7.2.0, and REMOVED as of PHP 8.0.0. Relying on this function is highly discouraged.

Description

each(array|object &$array): array

Return the current key and value pair from an array and advance the array cursor.

After each() has executed, the array cursor will be left on the next element of the array, or past the last element if it hits the end of the array. You have to use reset() if you want to traverse the array again using each.

Parameters

array: The input array.

Return Values

Returns the current key and value pair from the array array. This pair is returned in a four-element array, with the keys 0, 1, key, and value. Elements 0 and key contain the key name of the array element, and 1 and value contain the data.

If the internal pointer for the array points past the end of the array contents, each() returns false.

Examples

Example #1 each() examples

<?php
$foo = array("bob", "fred", "jussi", "jouni", "egon", "marliese");
$bar = each($foo);
print_r($bar);
?>

$bar now contains the following key/value pairs:

Array
(
    [1] => bob
    [value] => bob
    [0] => 0
    [key] => 0
)

<?php
$foo = array("Robert" => "Bob", "Seppo" => "Sepi");
$bar = each($foo);
print_r($bar);
?>

$bar now contains the following key/value pairs:

Array
(
    [1] => Bob
    [value] => Bob
    [0] => Robert
    [key] => Robert
)

each() is typically used in conjunction with list() to traverse an array, here's an example:

Example #2 Traversing an array with each()

<?php
$fruit = array('a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana', 'c' => 'cranberry');

reset($fruit);
while (list($key, $val) = each($fruit)) {
    echo "$key => $val\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

a => apple
b => banana
c => cranberry

Caution

Because assigning an array to another variable resets the original array's pointer, our example above would cause an endless loop had we assigned $fruit to another variable inside the loop.

Warning

each() will also accept objects, but may return unexpected results. It's therefore not recommended to iterate though object properties with each().

User Contributed Notes 25 notes

down

wolfeym38 at yahoo dot com ¶

17 years ago


Regarding speed of foreach vs while(list) =each
I wrote a benchmark script and the results are that clearly foreach is faster. MUCH faster. Even with huge arrays (especially with huge arrays). I tested with sizes 100,000. 1,000,000 and 10,000,000. To do the test with 10 million i had to set my memory limit real high, it was close to 1gb by the time it actually worked. Anyways, 

<?php
function getDiff($start, $end) {
    $s = explode(' ', $start);
    $stot = $s[1] + $s[0];
    $e = explode(' ', $end);
    $etot = $e[1] + $e[0];
    return $etot - $stot;
}

$lim=10000000;
$arr = array();
for ($i=0; $i<$lim; $i++) {
    $arr[$i] = $i/2;
}

$start = microtime();
foreach ($arr as $key=>$val);

$end = microtime();
echo "time for foreach = " . getDiff($start, $end) . ".\n";

reset($arr);
$start = microtime();
while (list($key, $val) = each($arr));
$end = microtime();
echo "time list each = " . getDiff($start, $end) . ".\n";
?>

here are some of my results: with 1,000,000
time for foreach = 0.0244591236115.
time list each = 0.158002853394.
desktop:/media/sda5/mpwolfe/tests$ php test.php
time for foreach = 0.0245339870453.
time list each = 0.154260158539.
desktop:/media/sda5/mpwolfe/tests$ php test.php
time for foreach = 0.0269000530243.
time list each = 0.157305955887.

then with 10,000,000:
desktop:/media/sda5/mpwolfe/tests$ php test.php
time for foreach = 1.96586894989.
time list each = 14.1371650696.
desktop:/media/sda5/mpwolfe/tests$ php test.php
time for foreach = 2.02504014969.
time list each = 13.7696218491.
desktop:/media/sda5/mpwolfe/tests$ php test.php
time for foreach = 2.0246758461.
time list each = 13.8425710201.

by the way, these results are with php 5.2 i believe, and a linux machine with 3gb of ram and 2.8ghz dual core pentium

down

phpcoder at gmail dot com ¶

5 years ago


each was deprecated because it exposed too much of the internal implementation details, blocking language development. ("We can't do X because it would break each().")

https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecations_php_7_2#each

If you want an array pointer, maintain it yourself. Probably a good idea anyway, because then it's visible in the code.

down

dmikam ¶

3 years ago


This function is marked as deprecated in PHP 7.2.0 and is removed in PHP 8.0.0, the replacement for legacy code would look like this:

function legacy_each($array){
    $key = key($array);
    $value = current($array);
    $each = is_null($key) ? false : [
        1        => $value,
        'value'    => $value,
        0        => $key,
        'key'    => $key,
    ];
    next($array);
    return $each;
}

down

man13or at hotmail dot fr ¶

4 years ago


Hello, since each() and list() often "betray" very old applications, I simply recommend not to use them anymore.

If you want to assign variables based on an associative array,
Replace this:

while(list ($key, $value) = each ($my_array)) {
    $$key = $value;
}

with this:

foreach ($my_array as $key => $value) {
    $$key = $value;
}

down

sjoerd-php at linuxonly dot nl ¶

18 years ago


Use foreach instead of while, list and each. Foreach is:
- easier to read
- faster
- not influenced by the array pointer, so it does not need reset().

It works like this:
<?php
$arr = array('foo', 'bar');
foreach ($arr as $value) {
    echo "The value is $value.";
}

$arr = array('key' => 'value', 'foo' => 'bar');
foreach ($arr as $key => $value) {
    echo "Key: $key, value: $value";
}
?>

down

james at gogo dot co dot nz ¶

20 years ago


It's worth noting that references to an array don't have thier own array pointer, and taking a reference to an array doesn't reset it's array pointer, so this works as you would expect it would by eaching the first three items of the array, rather than the first item 3 times.

<?php
  $x = array(1,2,3);

  print_r(each($x));
  echo "\n";
  
  $y =& $x;
  print_r(each($y));
  echo "\n";
  
  $z =& $y;
  print_r(each($z));
  echo "\n";
?>

down

Sopinon ¶

19 years ago


If you want to display the hole structure (tree) of your array, then you can use this recursive solution.

<?PHP
$tree= "";
array_tree($your_array);
echo $tree;

// Recursive Function
function array_tree($array, $index=0){
    global $tree;
    $space="";
    for ($i=0;$i<$index;$i++){
        $space .= "     ";
    }
    if(gettype($array)=="array"){
        $index++;
        while (list ($x, $tmp) = each ($array)){
            $tree .= $space."$x => $tmp\n";
            array_tree($tmp, $index);
        }
    }
}
?>

down

Anonymous ¶

6 years ago


An odd function to deprecate. If you're keeping track of an array pointer in a collection outside a foreach loop you don't care about performance and the utility of this function is core. 

Instead you must call two functions: current() and then next() to replicate its behaviour.

down

michael k (name der redaktion bekannt.) ¶

17 years ago


If you want to iterate over a two-dimensional, sparse array, and want to  first display every first element, then every second and so on, you can use this code:

 $fruits = array ( "fruits"  => array ( "a" => "orange",
                                      "b" => "banana",
                                      "c" => "apple"
                                    ),
                 "numbers" => array ( 1,
                                      2,
                                      3,
                                      4,
                                      5,
                                      6
                                    ),
                 "holes"   => array (      "first",
                                      5 => "second",
                                           "third",
                                     10 => "fourth",
                                    )
               );

$done = False;
while ($done == False) {        
       $done = True;

       // Important: &$val has to be a reference (use the &), 
       // if you don't, the internal counter of $val will be 
       // re-initialized each time and you loop over the first elements
       // for eternity.

       foreach($fruits as $key => &$val) {

               if (list($inner_key, $inner_val) = each(&$val)) {
                       $done = False;
                       echo "$key : : $inner_key => $inner_val  <br>  \n";
               }

       }
}

NOTE: this is just a quick hack, if you know a better way, post it!

down

janhsh ¶

2 years ago


Following the obsolescence of the each() function, here is a way to correct your source codes: 

If you use each() in a while loop like this: 

   while (list($Key,$Value)=@each($Array)){
   ....
   }

you have to replace with

    foreach ($Array  as $Key => $Value){        
    ....
    }

In the same minds.

   while (list(,$Value)=@each($Array)){
   ....
   }

will become

    foreach ($Array  as $Value){        
    ....
    }

down

matthew at mhalls dot net ¶

19 years ago


To panania at 3ringwebs dot com:

If you know for certain that you are only receiving one row, the while becomes redundant. To shorten your code:

$strSQL = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE id=1";
$RecordsetSelect = $db->runQuery ($strSQL);
list($key, $val) = mysql_fetch_row($RecordsetSelect);
echo "$key => $val\n";
mysql_free_result($RecordsetSelect);

With only one row being returned this is more elegant a solution, but just being nit-picky in essence. It also shows another quick way of using list.

down

Henk Poley ¶

5 years ago


Rector has an automated fix ('ListEachRector') to migrate away from `each()`:

https://github.com/rectorphp/rector/blob/master/docs/AllRectorsOverview.md#listeachrector

If you look at the code example you'll see this is even quite simple to do by hand.

down

massimo dot modica at tin dot it ¶

14 years ago


If you forget to reset the array before each(), the same code may give different results with different php versions. 

<?php

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

foreach ($a AS $k => $v) $a[$k] = 2*$v;

while(list($k2, $v2) = each($a)) { echo($v2."\n"); }

?>

In PHP 5.2.0:

2
4
6

In PHP 5.2.6:

4
6

down

wodzuY2k at anronet dot pl ¶

22 years ago


This function will help you dump any variable into XML structure.

        //dump var into simple XML structure
        function var_dump_xml($tagname,$variable,$level=0)
         {
            for($i=0;$i<$level;$i++) $marg.=' ';
            if (eregi('^[0-9].*$',$tagname)) $tagname='tag_'.$tagname; //XML tag cannot start with [0-9] character
            if (is_array($variable))
             {
                echo $marg."<$tagname>\n";
                while (list ($key, $val) = each ($variable))  var_dump_xml($key,$val,$level+1);
                echo $marg."</$tagname>\n";
             }
            elseif (strlen($variable)>0)
             {
                 echo $marg."<$tagname>".htmlspecialchars($variable)."</$tagname>\n";
             };     
         };
         
        /*
        example:
        
        $myVar = array("name"=>"Joe", "age"=>"26", "children"=>array("Ann","Michael"));
        var_dump_xml("myVarTag",$myVar);
        */

down

-1

amby2 at izh dot com ¶

19 years ago


I've found a compact way to cycle through an associative array using for statement (not while, as it has been done in the most of examples below):

<?php

for (reset($array); list($key) = each($array);) {
  echo $key;
  echo $array[$key];
}

?>

or

<?php

for (reset($array); list($key, $value) = each($array);) {
  echo $key;
  echo $value;
  echo $array[$key];
}

?>

You hardly forget to add reset($array) code line using such construction.

down

-2

tk at turtle-entertainment dot de ¶

23 years ago


Be sure to use the integrated functions "unset();" or "reset();" - many people forget this and wonder about the created output!

down

-2

Anonymous ¶

22 years ago


I usually work a lot with 2D arrays. Since I've had some trouble traversing them correctly maybe someone out there also experienced those problems and can use this one.

It's based on a 2D-array called $array[$x][$y]. At some (but not necessarily all) (x,y) there is a value I want to reach. Note that I do not know beforehand the ranges of $x or $y (that is their highest and lowest values).

while (list ($x, $tmp) = each ($array)) {
   while (list ($y, $val) = each ($tmp)) {
      echo "$x, $y, $val";
   }
}

The answer for each (x,y) pair can thus be (providng, of course those values where in your array beforehand):

1, 1, 2
2, 2, 0
3, 1, 1
5, 2, 2
5, 1, 2

Note that only the (x,y) pairs with a corresponding value is shown.

Hang in there
Jon Egil Strand
NTNU

down

-3

Gillis at dancrea dot com ¶

22 years ago


I wrote a short and pretty simple script to search through associative arrays for some value in the values, heres a simplifyed example of it:

<?php

$foo['bob'] = "bob is ugly";
$foo['bill'] = "bill is rich";
$foo['barbie'] = "barbie is cute";
$search = "rich";

echo "searching the array foo for $search:<br>";
reset ($foo);
while (list ($key, $val) = each ($foo)) {
if (preg_match ("/$search/i", $val)) {
    print "A match was found in $key.<br />";
} else {
    print "A match was not found in $key.<br />";
}
}

?>

will output:
Searching the array foo for rich:
A match was not found in bob
A match was found in bill
A match was not found in barbie

down

-3

13975001197 at 163 dot com ¶

6 years ago


In PHP 7.2 we can use foreach() to replace each(), such as:

foreach($array as $key => $value) {
    //do something
}

down

-5

gaviel ¶

13 years ago


Ok Here's one for iterating multidimensional array .. using foreach

    <?php 
        $members = array(
                            "member1" => array (
                                                "First Name" => "Robert",
                                                "Last Name" => "Burton",
                                                "Age" => "20"
                                                ),
                            "member2" => array (
                                                "First Name" => "Cheska",
                                                "Last Name" => "Vladesk",
                                                "Age" => "21"
                                                ),
                            "member3" => array (
                                                "First Name" => "Gino",
                                                "Last Name" => "Marley",
                                                "Age" => "19"
                                                ),    
                            "member4" => array (
                                                "First Name" => "Jake",
                                                "Last Name" => "White",
                                                "Age" => "16"
                                                ),
                            );        
        $dataSetCount = count($members);
        echo "<h1>There are $dataSetCount members</h1>";    
        
        $i = 0;
        foreach ($members as $each_members) {
            $i++;
            echo "<h2>Member $i</h2>";
                foreach ($each_members as $position => $details) {
                    echo "<b>$position</b>" . ": " . $details . "<br />";
                }
            }
    ?>

down

-4

php at omit dot ianco dot co dot uk ¶

16 years ago


I wanted to be able to add to an array while looping through it. foreach does not allow this because it is using a secret copy of the array. each makes this possible (tested on PHP 4).
<?php
$shopping_list = array('oysters', 'caviare');
reset ($shopping_list);
while (list($key, $value) = each ($shopping_list)) {
    if ($value == 'oysters') $shopping_list[] = 'champagne';
    elseif ($value == 'champagne') $shopping_list[] = 'ice';
}
print_r($shopping_list);
// Array ( [0] => oysters [1] => caviare [2] => champagne [3] => ice ) 
?>

down

-5

kris at angelanthony dot com ¶

24 years ago


Remember to use "reset()" if you iterate over an array with "each()" more than once!  Example:



while(list($key,$value) = each($array)){

 // code here

}



NOW the internal pointer on $array is at the end of the array, and another attempt at an iteration like the one above will result in zero executions of the code within the "while" block.  You MUST call "reset($array)" to reset the internal array pointer before iterating over the array again from the first element.

down

-6

ayyappan dot ashok at gmail dot com ¶

8 years ago


/* Iterating using objects via each */

class SAI 
{ 
   public function __toString()
   {      
          return __CLASS__;
   }
}
$a = new SAI();
$b = new SAI();
$c = new SAI();
$d = new SAI();
$e = new SAI();

$objarray = array($a,$b,$c,$d,$e);
reset($objarray);
while (list($key, $val) = each($objarray))
{
    echo "$key => $val\n";
}
//Results
0 => SAI
1 => SAI
2 => SAI
3 => SAI
4 => SAI

Warning:
each() will also accept objects, but may return unexpected results. It's therefore not recommended to iterate though object properties with each().

down

-7

nino dot skopac at gmail dot com ¶

9 years ago


<?php
function each_v2($arr) {
    // same as each() but when it hits end of array, it resets it
    static $i = 0;
    
    if (isset($arr[$i])) {
        // exists¸
        return $arr[$i++];
    } else {
        // reset $i to 0 and repeat
        $i = 0;
        return each_v2($arr);
    }
}
?>

down

-20

janhsh at tiscalinet dot be ¶

7 years ago


The following example is invalid in PHP 7 :

<?php
$fruit = array('a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana', 'c' => 'cranberry');

reset($fruit);
while (list($key, $val) = each($fruit)) {
    echo "$key => $val\n";
}
?>

The correct writing is
<?php
$fruit = array('a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana', 'c' => 'cranberry');

reset($fruit);
while ($Item= each($fruit)) {
    $key=$Item[0];
    $val=$Item[1];
    echo "$key => $val\n";
}
?>

This is because the "list ()" command on the left no longer works in PHP 7 and there is no replacement command.
Which is very deplorable because this command was strongly used and allowed in a simple way to assign variables from array.

add a note

each

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Examples

See Also

User Contributed Notes 25 notes