simplifing arrays

Is there a way I can do this. I know Im being lazy here. $val_1 = $r["val_1"]; $val_2 = $r["val_2"]; $product[$val_1][$val_2] = $r["val_3"]; I want to write it like this, but this wont work. $product[$r["val_1"]][$r["val_2"]] = $r["val_3"]; I tried this too $product[{$r["val_1"]}][{$r["val_2"]}] = $r["val_3"]; both are a nogo. /---------- on another question, sometimes I want to display the first element of an array, its not allways '0' either. $tmp_array = $some_array; list ($key, $val) = each ($tmp_array); echo "$val <br>\n"; is there a simple way to put that on one nice easy line ? Its such a simple thing. I have to use a tmp_array so that I don't loose my current position in the array, that would happen if I did a reset($some_array). Chris Lee Mediawaveonline.com