How to re-assign array keys to turn into an associative array?

Question

I have an array that looks something like this:

array(
    0 => 'John',
    1 => 'Smith',
    3 => '123-456-7890'
    4 => '[email protected]'
)

And I would like to programmatically change the keys so that the array becomes an associative array:

array(
    'first' => 'John',
    'last'  => 'Smith',
    'phone' => '123-456-7890'
    'email' => '[email protected]'
)

What is the cleanest/most concise way of doing this?

yes, this particular array is just one iteration through a loop. It gets replaced each iteration. — Andrew
– Andrew, Commented Sep 20, 2011 at 15:08
actually, I'm writing a script to import an excel document where the columns could be in any order, but nice guess! — Andrew
– Andrew, Commented Sep 20, 2011 at 15:14

user142162 · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-20 15:07:13Z

5

The array_combine() function is probably what you were looking for:

$keys = array('first', 'last', 'phone', 'email');

$new_arr = array_combine($keys, $arr);

answered Sep 20, 2011 at 15:07

user142162

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Andrew Over a year ago

ooh...the problem with this approach (that I just discovered) is that it requires both arrays to have the same number of elements. I don't know how long the values array will be. I only need to assign keys to the first few items of the data array that I know will be there.

mario · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-20 15:07:38Z

4

array_combine is probably the optimal approach here. If you have an ordered list you can merge it with the original keys again using:

$array = array_combine(array("first", "last", "phone", "email"), $list);

answered Sep 20, 2011 at 15:07

mario

146k20 gold badges242 silver badges293 bronze badges

Comments

Marc B · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-20 15:07:36Z

0

Assuming the array keys are constant, such that 0 is always firstname, 1 is last name, etc...

$new_keys = array(0 => 'first', 1 => 'last', 3 => 'phone', 4 => 'email');

foreach($new_keys as $oldkey => $newkey) {
   $orig_array[$newkey] = $orig_array[$oldkey];
   unset($orig_aray[$oldkey]);
}

If the mapping isn't constant, thne you'd have to build the $new_keys array dynamically each time, or just do the remapping by hand.

answered Sep 20, 2011 at 15:07

Marc B

362k44 gold badges433 silver badges508 bronze badges

2 Comments

Ben Everard Over a year ago

I was going to answer like this, but array_combine might be better.

Marc B Over a year ago

It'd work, though if the source array has other keys not listed in the new keys list, it could be problematic.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to re-assign array keys to turn into an associative array?

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

2 Comments

Related