By John Koster
The flatten
helper method is similar to the dot
method in that it takes a multi-dimensional array and transforms it into a new array with only one dimension. While the dot
method preserves the keys by separating them with dots
, the flatten
method will create a new array containing the original array's data whilst throwing away the array's keys.
This method will recursively flatten an array, the maximum number of sub-arrays to traverse can be controlled using the $depth
parameter.
#Signature Use
The signature of the flatten
method is:
1public static function flatten(
2 $array,
3 $depth = INF
4);
#Example Use
Consider the following array:
1$arrayToFlatten = [
2 'keys' => 'first value',
3 'will' => 'second value',
4 'be' => 'third value',
5 'removed' => 'fourth value'
6];
If we flatten the array like so:
1<?php
2
3$newArray = Arr::flatten(
4 $arrayToFlatten
5 );
the resulting array would be:
1array {
2 "first value"
3 "second value"
4 "third value"
5 "fourth value"
6}
#Global array_flatten
Helper Function
The array_flatten
function is a shortcut to calling Arr::flatten
. This function is declared in the global namespace.
∎