array_diff_key

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0, PHP 7, PHP 8)

array_diff_key — Computes the difference of arrays using keys for comparison

Description

array_diff_key(array $array, array ...$arrays): array

Compares the keys from array against the keys from arrays and returns the difference. This function is like array_diff() except the comparison is done on the keys instead of the values.

Parameters

array: The array to compare from
arrays: Arrays to compare against

Return Values

Returns an array containing all the entries from array whose keys are absent from all of the other arrays.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.0.0	This function can now be called with only one parameter. Formerly, at least two parameters have been required.

Examples

Example #1 array_diff_key() example

The two keys from the key => value pairs are considered equal only if (string) $key1 === (string) $key2 . In other words a strict type check is executed so the string representation must be the same.

<?php
$array1 = array('blue' => 1, 'red' => 2, 'green' => 3, 'purple' => 4);
$array2 = array('green' => 5, 'yellow' => 7, 'cyan' => 8);

var_dump(array_diff_key($array1, $array2));
?>

The above example will output:

array(3) {
  ["blue"]=>
  int(1)
  ["red"]=>
  int(2)
  ["purple"]=>
  int(4)
}

<?php
$array1 = array('blue' => 1, 'red'  => 2, 'green' => 3, 'purple' => 4);
$array2 = array('green' => 5, 'yellow' => 7, 'cyan' => 8);
$array3 = array('blue' => 6, 'yellow' => 7, 'mauve' => 8);

var_dump(array_diff_key($array1, $array2, $array3));
?>

The above example will output:

array(2) {
  ["red"]=>
  int(2)
  ["purple"]=>
  int(4)
}

Notes

Note:
This function only checks one dimension of a n-dimensional array. Of course you can check deeper dimensions by using array_diff_key($array1[0], $array2[0]);.

Found A Problem?

Learn How To Improve This Page • Submit a Pull Request • Report a Bug

＋add a note

User Contributed Notes 10 notes

down

Ashton ¶

16 years ago

To return the unique elements (those with a key that exists only once in either array but not in both) try:
function array_unique_diff ($array1, $array2)
{
  array_merge(array_diff_key($array1, $array2), array_diff_key($array2, $array1));
}

Example:
$array1 = array('blue'  => 1, 'red'  => 2, 'green'  => 3, 'purple' => 4);
$array2 = array('green' => 5, 'blue' => 6, 'yellow' => 7, 'cyan'   => 8);

  array_diff_key($array1, $array2)

returns

  array ( 'red' => 2, 'purple' => 4 ) 

  array_diff_key($array2, $array1)

returns

  array ( 'yellow' => 7, 'cyan' => 8, )

  array_unique_diff($array1, $array2);
  
returns

  array ( 'red' => 2, 'purple' => 4, 'yellow' => 7, 'cyan' => 8, )

down

gk at anuary dot com ¶

11 years ago

Improved recursive version.

<?php
/**
 * @author Gajus Kuizinas <gk@anuary.com>
 * @version 1.0.0 (2013 03 19)
 */
function array_diff_key_recursive (array $arr1, array $arr2) {
    $diff = array_diff_key($arr1, $arr2);
    $intersect = array_intersect_key($arr1, $arr2);
    
    foreach ($intersect as $k => $v) {
        if (is_array($arr1[$k]) && is_array($arr2[$k])) {
            $d = array_diff_key_recursive($arr1[$k], $arr2[$k]);
            
            if ($d) {
                $diff[$k] = $d;
            }
        }
    }
    
    return $diff;
}
?>

An up to date version is maintained at https://github.com/gajus/flow/blob/master/flow.inc.php#L337.

down

sjungwirth at matrix-consultants dot com ¶

16 years ago

I needed something a little different where maybe even the keys in multidimensional arrays don't match up. Setting $assoc to false will cause only to check for missing keys, otherwise it compares values as well. This was also based on '2ge at 2ge dot us' function

<?php

function n_array_diff_assoc ($a1, $a2, $assoc=true) {
    $r = array();
    if(is_array(current($a1))):
        foreach($a1 as $k => $v):
            if(isset($a2[$k])):
                $diff = n_array_diff($a1[$k], $a2[$k], $assoc);
                if (!empty($diff)):
                    $r[$k] = $diff;
                endif;
            else:
                $r[$k] = $v;
            endif;
        endforeach;
    else:
        $r = $assoc ? array_diff_assoc($a1, $a2) : array_diff_key($a1, $a2);
    endif;
    return $r;
}
?>

down

maxence at pontapreta dot net ¶

19 years ago

Seems to be a great function, especially for n-dimensions arrays. The only problem is that I cannot find it in php 5.0.3 and 5.0.4. Does it really exist ?! :(

[20:27:05][maxence@conurb] ~/test2/php-5.0.4$ grep PHP_FUNCTION * -r | grep -i array_diff_key 
[20:27:09][maxence@conurb] ~/test2/php-5.0.4$

down

AiFiLTr0 [at host] invyl [dot] ath.cx ¶

17 years ago

The recursive function suggested by '2ge at 2ge dot us' will provide you with empty arrays if there's no diff. 
This variant of the function cleans up empty arrays and fixes a bug in the first suggested version. It works 100%
.
<?php
function array_diff_key_recursive ($a1, $a2) {
        foreach($a1 as $k => $v) {
            //$r[$k] = is_array($v) ? $this->array_diff_key_recursive($a1[$k], $a2[$k]) : array_diff_key($a1, $a2);
        if (is_array($v))
            {
            $r[$k]=$this->array_diff_key_recursive($a1[$k], $a2[$k]);
            }else
            {
            $r=array_diff_key($a1, $a2);
            }

        if (is_array($r[$k]) && count($r[$k])==0)
            {
            unset($r[$k]);
            }
        }
        return $r;
    }
?>

down

coder at gs dot com ¶

16 years ago

The PHP4 version below works only unidirectionally. If you switch the arrays around i.e. (ar2, ar1) you get different results than (ar1, ar2).

down

ampf at egp dot up dot pt ¶

19 years ago

Well, you could implement in the code something more powerfull: 

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.array-diff.php#31364

down

-1

rhallsey at yahoo dot com ¶

10 years ago

Here's a simple function that returns true if all keys in the first array are found in the second array, and false if they aren't.

function same_keys ($a1, $a2) {
    $same = false;
    if (!array_diff_key($a1, $a2)) {
        $same = true;
        foreach ($a1 as $k => $v) {
            if (is_array($v) && !same_keys($v, $a2[$k])) {
                $same = false;
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    return $same;
}

To check if two arrays have the same structure, ignoring values, execute the function twice, the second time with the arguments reversed.

down

-2

division-par-zero at zilon dot net ¶

16 years ago

you can use this function for return the difference of two array !



<?php

function array_unique_diff_key ($array1, $array2)

{

  if (is_array($array1) && is_array($array2))

    return array_diff_key($array1, $array2) + array_diff_key($array2, $array1);

  else if (is_array($array1)) return $array1;

  else if (is_array($array2)) return $array2;

  else return array();

}

?>

down

-3

vlad_mustafin at ukr dot net ¶

18 years ago

One more alternative variant :)
<?
if (!function_exists('array_diff_key')) {
    function array_diff_key() {
        $argCount   = func_num_args();
        $diff_arg_prefix = 'diffArg';
        $diff_arg_names = array();
        for ($i=0; $i < $argCount; $i++) {
            $diff_arg_names[$i] = 'diffArg'.$i;
            $$diff_arg_names[$i] = array_keys((array)func_get_arg($i));
        }
        $diffArrString = '';
        if (!empty($diff_arg_names)) $diffArrString =  '$'.implode(', $', $diff_arg_names);
        eval("\$result = array_diff(".$diffArrString.");");
        return $result;
    }
}
?>

＋add a note

array_diff_key

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Changelog

Examples

Notes

See Also

Found A Problem?

User Contributed Notes 10 notes