How to Append Arrays PHP: This tutorial is discussed about different techniques to merge two or more than two arrays in PHP e.g. array_merge(), + operator etc. With the help of several examples you can understand the basic functionality of array_merge() function. This tutorial has small description of print_r().

How to append array or merge two arrays in PHP:

This PHP tutorial is discussed about different techniques to merge two or more than two arrays e.g. array_merge(), + operator etc. This free php tutorial has small description of print_r().

In many situations we have to merge two or more than two arrays, we need to use array_merge() function. This function merges or append the elements of one array to the previous array.  

General format of the array_merge() is: array array_merge(array $var1 [, array $var2 [,.....]]), it returns the resulting array.

Unlike in PHP 4, PHP 5 only accepts parameters of array() type. You can typecast to merge different types. This point can be clear with the help of example 4 as mentioned below:  

<?php

echo "<b>EXAMPLE 1 </b><br/>";

$array1= array("name"=> "rose", "age"=>21);

$array2=array("name"=>"india","age"=>22);

//USE array_merge() function

$array1= array_merge(array($array1),array($array2));

//print_r is used to display the information about a variable in human understandable manner

print_r ( $array1);

echo "<br/>";

echo "<br/>";

 echo "<b>EXAMPLE 2 </b><br/>";

$array3=array(2=>2,0=>0,1=>1);

print_r($array3);

$array3=array_merge($array3);

echo "<br/>";

echo "<b> After using array_merge() the index positions will be displayed in sorted manner.</b><br/>";

print_r($array3);

 echo "<br/><br/><b>EXAMPLE 3 </b><br/>";

$var="unknown";

$array4=array(0=>0, 1=>1, array("name"=>"roseindia", "age"=>22));

$array4= array_merge(array($array4),array($var));

print_r($array4);

 echo "<br/><br/><b>EXAMPLE 4 </b><br/>";

$array5=array();

$array6=array(1=>"Good", 2=>"Better",3=>"Best");

$array6= array_merge($array5, $array6);

print_r($array6);

echo "<br/><br/><b>EXAMPLE 4...Continued </b><br/>";

$array7=array();

$array8=array(1=>"Good", 2=>"Better",3=>"Best");

echo"<b>If you want to keep original index position use + operator</b><br/>";

$array8= $array7 + $array8;

print_r($array8);

 ?>

 

Output of the of the above program is:

EXAMPLE 1
Array ( [0] => Array ( [name] => rose [age] => 21 ) [1] => Array ( [name] => india [age] => 22 ) )

EXAMPLE 2
Array ( [2] => 2 [0] => 0 [1] => 1 )
After using array_merge() the index positions will be displayed in sorted manner.
Array ( [0] => 2 [1] => 0 [2] => 1 )

EXAMPLE 3
Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => 1 [2] => Array ( [name] => roseindia [age] => 22 ) ) [1] => unknown )

EXAMPLE 4
Array ( [0] => Good [1] => Better [2] => Best )

EXAMPLE 4...Continued
If you want to keep original index position use + operator
Array ( [1] => Good [2] => Better [3] => Best )

 

A small description of print_r() is as follows:

Description	mixed print_r (mixed $var [, boolean $return=false] )
Parameters	$var: variable or expression to be printed	$return: return type, default value is false
Return Values	string, float, integer, array, object

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