How to access the elements of a function's return array?

Question

I need to return multiple values from a function, therefore I have added them to an array and returned the array.

Answer 1

Your function is:

function data(){

$a = "abc";
$b = "def";
$c = "ghi";

return array($a, $b, $c);
}

It returns an array where position 0 is $a, position 1 is $b and position 2 is $c. You can therefore access $a by doing just this:

data()[0]

If you do $myvar = data()[0] and print $myvar, you will get "abc", which was the value assigned to $a inside the function.

Answer 2

The data function is returning an array, so you can access the result of the function in the same way as you would normally access elements of an array:

<?php
...
$result = data();

$a = $result[0];
$b = $result[1];
$c = $result[2];

Or you could use the list() function, as @fredrik recommends, to do the same thing in a line.

Answer 3

Maybe this is what you searched for :

function data() {
    // your code
    return $array; 
}
$var = data(); 
foreach($var as $value) {
    echo $value; 
}

Answer 4

<?php
function demo($val,$val1){
    return $arr=array("value"=>$val,"value1"=>$val1);

}
$arr_rec=demo(25,30);
echo $arr_rec["value"];
echo $arr_rec["value1"];
?>

Answer 5

I think the best way to do it is to create a global var array. Then do whatever you want to it inside the function data by passing it as a reference. No need to return anything too.

$array = array("white", "black", "yellow");
echo $array[0]; //this echo white
data($array);

function data(&$passArray){ //<<notice &
    $passArray[0] = "orange"; 
}
echo $array[0]; //this now echo orange

Answer 6

I was looking for an easier method than i'm using but it isn't answered in this post. However, my method works and i don't use any of the aforementioned methods:

function MyFunction() {
  $lookyHere = array(
    'value1' => array('valuehere'),
    'entry2' => array('valuehere')
  );
  return $lookyHere;
}

I have no problems with my function. I read the data in a loop to display my associated data. I have no idea why anyone would suggest the above methods. If you are looking to store multiple arrays in one file but not have all of them loaded, then use my function method above. Otherwise, all of the arrays will load on the page, thus, slowing down your site. I came up with this code to store all of my arrays in one file and use individual arrays when needed.