Laravel Miscellaneous Helper Function: data_set

data_set(&$target, $key, $value, $overwrite = true)

The data_set helper function can be used to set the value of an item in an array or an object property using dot notation. It accepts a reference to a $target array or object; the $key (array key or object property name) of the data to set and the $value to be set. It also defines an optional $overwrite parameter (which is set to true by default). If $overwrite is set to true, any existing values for the $key will be replaced.

The following code example will show a very basic usage of the data_set function:

1<?php
2 
3$testArray = [
4    'first_name' => 'Jane',
5    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
6    'age'        => 26
7];
8 
9data_set($testArray, 'first_name', 'Jill');

Because the $overwrite property is set to true by default the first_name item will now contain the value Jill. If we modified the example to look like this:

 1<?php
 2 
 3$testArray = [
 4    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 5    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 6    'age'        => 26
 7];
 8 
 9// Notice that `$overwrite` is set to `false`.
10data_set($testArray, 'first_name', 'Jill', false);

The value of first_name would remain unchanged. Things get a little more interesting when setting nested properties:

 1<?php
 2 
 3$testArray = [
 4    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 5    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 6    'age'        => 26
 7];
 8 
 9data_set($testArray, 'occupation.name',   'Data Engineer');
10data_set($testArray, 'occupation.status', 'Employed');

After the above example has executed the $testArray variable would contain a value similar to the following output:

1array:4 [
2  "first_name" => "Jane"
3  "last_name"  => "Doe"
4  "age"        => 26
5  "occupation" => array:2 [
6    "name"   => "Data Engineer"
7    "status" => "Employed"
8  ]
9]

We can also use the asterisk (*) wild card character to set multiple nested properties at once:

 1<?php
 2 
 3$testArray = [
 4    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 5    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 6    'age'        => 26
 7];
 8 
 9data_set($testArray, 'occupation.name',   'Data Engineer');
10data_set($testArray, 'occupation.status', 'Employed');
11 
12data_set($testArray, 'occupation.*', null);

After the above example has executed the $testArray variable would contain a value similar to the following output:

1array:4 [
2  "first_name" => "Jane"
3  "last_name"  => "Doe"
4  "age"        => 26
5  "occupation" => array:2 [
6    "name"   => null
7    "status" => null
8  ]
9]

#Using data_set With Objects

There is no difference in using the data_set helper function with objects instead of arrays. The following example demonstrates how we could use the data_set function fill a newly created object. The example does not handle nested items.

 1<?php
 2 
 3// Create a test array to work with.
 4$testArray = [
 5    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 6    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 7    'age'        => 26
 8];
 9 
10// Create a test object to work with.
11$testObject = new stdClass;
12 
13foreach ($testArray as $key => $value) {
14    data_set($testObject, $key, $value);
15}

After the above example has executed the $testObject variable would contain a value similar to the following output:

1{
2  "first_name": "Jane"
3  "last_name":  "Doe"
4  "age":        26
5}

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