Laravel 5: Setting Array or Object Values With data_set

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.

#Signature

The signature of the data_set function is:

1function data_set(
2    &$target,
3    $key,
4    $value,
5    $overwrite = true
6);

#Example Use

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

1$testArray = [
2    'first_name' => 'Jane',
3    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
4    'age'        => 26
5];
6 
7data_set($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$testArray = [
2    'first_name' => 'Jane',
3    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
4    'age'        => 26
5];
6 
7// Notice that `$overwrite` is set to `false`.
8data_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$testArray = [
 2    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 3    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 4    'age'        => 26
 5];
 6 
 7data_set(
 8    $testArray,
 9    'occupation.name',
10    'Data Engineer'
11);
12 
13data_set(
14    $testArray,
15    'occupation.status',
16    'Employed'
17);

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$testArray = [
 2    'first_name' => 'Jane',
 3    'last_name'  => 'Doe',
 4    'age'        => 26
 5];
 6 
 7data_set(
 8    $testArray,
 9    'occupation.name',
10    'Data Engineer'
11);
12 
13data_set(
14    $testArray,
15    'occupation.status',
16    'Employed'
17);
18 
19data_set(
20    $testArray,
21    'occupation.*',
22    null
23);

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

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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