list

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

list — Assign variables as if they were an array

Description

list(mixed $var, mixed ...$vars = ?): array

Like array(), this is not really a function, but a language construct. list() is used to assign a list of variables in one operation. Strings can not be unpacked and list() expressions can not be completely empty.

Note:
Before PHP 7.1.0, list() only worked on numerical arrays and assumes the numerical indices start at 0.

Parameters

var: A variable.

vars: Further variables.

Return Values

Returns the assigned array.

Changelog

Version	Description
7.3.0	Support for reference assignments in array destructuring was added.
7.1.0	It is now possible to specify keys in list(). This enables destructuring of arrays with non-integer or non-sequential keys.

Examples

Example #1 list() examples

<?php

$info = array('coffee', 'brown', 'caffeine');

// Listing all the variables
list($drink, $color, $power) = $info;
echo "$drink is $color and $power makes it special.\n";

// Listing some of them
list($drink, , $power) = $info;
echo "$drink has $power.\n";

// Or let's skip to only the third one
list( , , $power) = $info;
echo "I need $power!\n";

// list() doesn't work with strings
list($bar) = "abcde";
var_dump($bar); // NULL
?>

Example #2 An example use of list()

<?php
$result = $pdo->query("SELECT id, name FROM employees");
while (list($id, $name) = $result->fetch(PDO::FETCH_NUM)) {
    echo "id: $id, name: $name\n";
}
?>

Example #3 Using nested list()

<?php

list($a, list($b, $c)) = array(1, array(2, 3));

var_dump($a, $b, $c);

?>

int(1)
int(2)
int(3)

Example #4 list() and order of index definitions

The order in which the indices of the array to be consumed by list() are defined is irrelevant.

<?php
$foo = array(2 => 'a', 'foo' => 'b', 0 => 'c');
$foo[1] = 'd';
list($x, $y, $z) = $foo;
var_dump($foo, $x, $y, $z);

Gives the following output (note the order of the elements compared in which order they were written in the list() syntax):

array(4) {
  [2]=>
  string(1) "a"
  ["foo"]=>
  string(1) "b"
  [0]=>
  string(1) "c"
  [1]=>
  string(1) "d"
}
string(1) "c"
string(1) "d"
string(1) "a"

Example #5 list() with keys

As of PHP 7.1.0 list() can now also contain explicit keys, which can be given as arbitrary expressions. Mixing of integer and string keys is allowed; however, elements with and without keys cannot be mixed.

<?php
$data = [
    ["id" => 1, "name" => 'Tom'],
    ["id" => 2, "name" => 'Fred'],
];
foreach ($data as ["id" => $id, "name" => $name]) {
    echo "id: $id, name: $name\n";
}
echo PHP_EOL;
list(1 => $second, 3 => $fourth) = [1, 2, 3, 4];
echo "$second, $fourth\n";

The above example will output:

id: 1, name: Tom
id: 2, name: Fred

2, 4

User Contributed Notes 25 notes

down

142

Rhamnia Mohamed ¶

7 years ago


Since PHP 7.1, keys can be specified

exemple : 
<?php 
$array = ['locality' => 'Tunis', 'postal_code' => '1110'];

list('postal_code' => $zipCode, 'locality' => $locality) = $array;

print $zipCode; // will output 1110
print $locality; // will output Tunis
 ?>

down

128

carlosv775 at gmail dot com ¶

7 years ago


In PHP 7.1 we can do the following:

<?php
    [$a, $b, $c] = ['a', 'b', 'c'];
?>

Before, we had to do:

<?php
    list($a, $b, $c) = ['a', 'b',  'c'];
?>

down

grzeniufication ¶

10 years ago


The example showing that:

$info = array('kawa', 'brązowa', 'kofeina');
list($a[0], $a[1], $a[2]) = $info;
var_dump($a);

outputs:
array(3) {
[2]=>
string(8) "kofeina"
[1]=>
string(5) "brązowa"
[0]=>
string(6) "kawa"
}

One thing to note here is that if you define the array earlier, e.g.:
$a = [0, 0, 0];

the indexes will be kept in the correct order:

array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(4) "kawa"
  [1]=>
  string(8) "brązowa"
  [2]=>
  string(7) "kofeina"
}

Thought that it was worth mentioning.

down

megan at voices dot com ¶

11 years ago


As noted, list() will give an error if the input array is too short. This can be avoided by array_merge()'ing in some default values. For example:

<?php
$parameter = 'name';
list( $a, $b ) = array_merge( explode( '=', $parameter ), array( true ) );
?>

However, you will have to array_merge with an array long enough to ensure there are enough elements (if $parameter is empty, the code above would still error).

An alternate approach would be to use array_pad on the array to ensure its length (if all the defaults you need to add are the same).

<?php
    $parameter = 'bob-12345';
    list( $name, $id, $fav_color, $age ) = array_pad( explode( '-', $parameter ), 4, '' );
    var_dump($name, $id, $fav_color, $age);
/* outputs
string(3) "bob"
string(5) "12345"
string(0) ""
string(0) ""
*/
?>

down

chris at chlab dot ch ¶

12 years ago


The example states the following:
<?php
// list() doesn't work with strings
list($bar) = "abcde";
var_dump($bar); 
// output: NULL
?>

If the string is in a variable however, it seems using list() will treat the string as an array:
<?php
$string = "abcde";
list($foo) = $string;
var_dump($foo);
// output: string(1) "a"
?>

down

grzeniufication ¶

7 years ago


<?php
/**
 * It seems you can skip listed values.
 * Here's an example to show what I mean.
 *
 * FYI works just as well with PHP 7.1 shorthand list syntax.
 * Tested against PHP 5.6.30, 7.1.5
 */
$a = [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ];

// this is quite normal use case for list
echo "Unpack all values\n";
list($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4) = $a;
echo "$v1, $v2, $v3, $v4\n";
unset($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4);

// this is what I mean:
echo "Skip middle\n";
list($v1, , , $v4) = $a;
echo "$v1, $v2, $v3, $v4\n";
unset($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4);

echo "Skip beginning\n";
list( , , $v3, $v4) = $a;
echo "$v1, $v2, $v3, $v4\n";
unset($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4);

echo "Skip end\n";
list($v1, $v2, , ) = $a;
echo "$v1, $v2, $v3, $v4\n";
unset($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4);

echo "Leave middle\n";
list( , $v2, $v3, ) = $a;
echo "$v1, $v2, $v3, $v4\n";
unset($v1, $v2, $v3, $v4);

down

pemapmodder1970 at gmail dot com ¶

8 years ago


list() can be used with foreach

<?php
$array = [[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]];

foreach($array as list($odd, $even)){
    echo "$odd is odd; $even is even", PHP_EOL;
}
?>

The output:
===
1 is odd; 2 is even
3 is odd; 4 is even
5 is odd; 6 is even

down

john at jbwalker dot com ¶

11 years ago


The list construct seems to look for a sequential list of indexes rather taking elements in sequence. What that obscure statement means is that if you unset an element, list will not simply jump to the next element and assign that to the variable but will treat the missing element as a null or empty variable:

    $test = array("a","b","c","d");
    unset($test[1]);
    list($a,$b,$c)=$test;
    print "\$a='$a' \$b='$b' \$c='$c'<BR>";

results in:
$a='a' $b='' $c='c'

not:
$a='a' $b='c' $c='d'

down

svennd ¶

11 years ago


The list() definition won't throw an error if your array is longer then defined list. 
<?php

list($a, $b, $c) = array("a", "b", "c", "d");

var_dump($a); // a
var_dump($b); // b
var_dump($c); // c
?>

down

diyor024 at gmail dot com ¶

3 years ago


Don't miss simple array pattern matching since php 7

<?php

[$a] = ['hello!'];
var_dump($a); // 'hello!'

$arr = [4 => 50];
[4 => $fifty] = $arr;
var_dump($fifty); // 50

$multidimensionalArray = [['id' => 15, 'email' => 'diyor024@gmail.com']];
[['id'  => $id, 'email' => $email]] = $multidimensionalArray;
var_dump($id, $email); // 15 diyor024@gmail.com

?>

down

nek dot dev at gmail dot com ¶

1 year ago


It can be convenient to specify a default value in case an element is missing in the list. You can use operator + for this:

<?php
$someArray = ['color' => 'orange'];
['color' => $color, 'size' => $size] = $someArray + ['color' => null, 'size' => null];
?>

This will avoid the warning `Undefined array key "size"` you would encounter otherwise.

down

vike2000 at gmail dot com ¶

4 years ago


Setting it like <?php list($var1,$varN) = null ?> does _not_ raise an E_NOTICE (or other error) and afaics effectively equals an https://php.net/function.unset of $var1,$varN.

I note this as contrasting with the fact that PHP triggers an E_NOTICE about "Undefined offset" "if there aren't enough array elements to fill the list()", as attow documented for https://php.net/control-structures.foreach#control-structures.foreach.list and here only noted in https://php.net/function.list#122951 by Mardaneus.

For completeness, a bash(1) (v5.0 or 4.3 on macos10.13) cli test producing the same result for all my PHP-versions (installed via macports.org) follows. It's also tested with php7.3 using bash5.0 on Debian10:
bash --noprofile --norc -c 'for php in php{{53..56},{70..73}};do for literal in "array()" null;do echo -n $php …=$literal:&&$php -n -d error_reporting=E_ALL -r "var_dump(list(\$var)=$literal);";done;done'

# Above produces the same result pairs per version from:
php53 …=array():
Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in Command line code on line 1
array(0) {
}
# ... to:
php73 …=null:NULL

down

mark at manngo dot net ¶

3 years ago


For PHP 7.1 on, the documentation states that integer and string keys can be mixed, but that elements with and without keys cannot. Here is an example, using data from getimagesize() with mixed keys:

<?php
    $data=[
        0=> 160,
        1 => 120,
        2 => 2,
        3 => 'width="160" height="120"',
        'mime' => 'image/jpeg'
    ];
    list(0=>$width,1=>$height,2=>$type,3=>$dimensions,'mime'=>$mime)=$data;
?>

Here, the numeric keys also need to be specified, as if the whole array is treated as an associative array.

As noted elsewhere, the list() operator can be written in array format:

<?php
    [0=>$width,1=>$height,2=>$type,3=>$dimensions,'mime'=>$mime]=$data;
?>

down

petru at fuxspam dot xtremeweb dot ro ¶

6 years ago


This is something I haven't seen in documentation.

Since PHP 7.1, you can use short-hand list unpacking using square brackets, just like short-hand array declaration:

<?php

$foo = ['a', 'b', 'c'];

// short-hand array definition
[$a, $b, $c] = $foo;
echo $a; // displays "a"

// it's same like:
list($x, $y, $z) = $foo;
echo $x; // displays "a"

?>

down

samraskul at gmail dot com ¶

3 years ago


list($a, $b, $c) = ["blue", "money", 32];

shortcut:

[$a, $b, $c] = ["blue", "money", 32];

down

Paul Marti ¶

5 years ago


Since 7.1.0, you can use an array directly without list():

<?php
[$test, $test2] = explode(",", "hello, world");
echo $test . $test2; // hello, world
?>

down

blazej ¶

7 years ago


From PHP Version 7.1 you can specify keys in list(), or its new shorthand [] syntax. This enables destructuring of arrays with non-integer or non-sequential keys.

<?php
$data = [
    ["id" => 1, "name" => 'Tom'],
    ["id" => 2, "name" => 'Fred'],
];

// list() style
list("id" => $id1, "name" => $name1) = $data[0];

// [] style
["id" => $id1, "name" => $name1] = $data[0];

// list() style
foreach ($data as list("id" => $id, "name" => $name)) {
    // logic here with $id and $name
}

// [] style
foreach ($data as ["id" => $id, "name" => $name]) {
    // logic here with $id and $name
}

down

anthony dot ossent at live dot fr ¶

8 years ago


a simple example of use to swap two variables :

$a = 'hello';
$b = 'world';

list($a, $b) = [$b, $a];

echo $a . ' ' . $b; //display "world hello"

another example :

function getPosition($x, $y, $z)
{
   // ... some operations like $x++...
   return [$x, $y, $z];
}

list($x, $y, $z) = getPosition($x ,$y, $z);

down

contato at tobias dot ws ¶

6 years ago


Since PHP 7.1 the [] may now be used as an alternative to the existing list() syntax:

<?php
[$number, $message] = explode('|', '123|Hello World!');
?>

down

Colin Guthrie ¶

9 years ago


If you want use the undefined behaviour as you might expect it e.g. if you want: 

  $b = ['a','b']; list($a, $b) = $b;

to result in $a=='a' and $b=='b', then you can just cast $b to an array (even although it already is) to create a copy. e.g. 

  $b = ['a','b']; list($a, $b) = (array)$b;

and get the expected results.

down

-2

Dean ¶

9 years ago


UNDOCUMENTED BEHAVIOR:

    list($a,$b,$c) = null;

in fact works like:

    $a = null; $b = null; $c = null;

...So correspondingly:

    list($rows[]) = null;

Will increment count($rows), just as if you had executed $rows[] = null;

Watch out for this (for example) when retrieving entire tables from a database, e.g.

    while (list($rows[]) = $mysqlresult->fetch_row());

This will leave an extra 'null' entry as the last element of $rows.

down

-2

Mardaneus ¶

6 years ago


Unless you specify keys when using list() it expects the array being fed into it to start at 0.

So having the following code will result in a notice level warning "Undefined offset: 0" and variables not filling as expected

<?php
list($c1, $c2, $c3) = array [1 =>'a', 2 => 'b', 3 => 'c'];

var_dump($c1); // NULL
var_dump($c2); // string(1) "a"
var_dump($c3); // string(1) "b"

?>

down

-3

fredsaavedra at hotmail dot com ¶

4 years ago


Easy way to get actual date and time values in variables.

list($day,$month,$year,$hour,$minute,$second) = explode('-',date('d-m-Y-G-i-s'));
echo "$day-$month-$year $hour".":".$minute.":".$second;

down

-6

JD ¶

5 years ago


As of PHP 7.3, lists now support array destructuring - see here: https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration73.new-features.php

down

-8

sergey dot leonidovich dot shevchenko at gmail dot com ¶

3 years ago


['a' => $x, 'b' => $y] = ['a' => 1, 'b' => 2];

echo $x . '-' . $y; // 1-2

add a note

list

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Changelog

Examples

See Also

User Contributed Notes 25 notes