Re: array_seek function

On 17-mrt-2010, at 17:00, Patrick ALLAERT wrote: > 2010/3/16 Felix De Vliegher <felix.devliegher@gmail.com>: >> Hi all >> >> I recently needed seek functionality in arrays, and couldn't find it in the regular >> set of array functions, so I wrote a function for it. (Seek = getting an array value based on the >> position (or offset, if you want to call it like that), and not the key of the item) >> >> Basically you can use it like this: >> $input = array(3, 'bar', 'baz'); >> echo array_seek($input, 2); // returns 'baz' >> echo array_seek($input, 0); // returns 3 >> echo array_seek($input, 5); // returns NULL, emits an out of range warning >> >> I was wondering if it's useful to add this to the family of array functions. I know >> there is a somewhat similar thing in SPL (ArrayIterator::seek), but that doesn't work exactly >> like what I was aiming for. >> >> Attached is a patch for the function against the 5.3 branch. If approved, I could add it to >> svn + testcases + docs. Feedback please :-) >> >> >> Kind regards, >> Felix > > Hi Felix, > > What about adding a new int parameter to PHP array function: next() > and prev() instead of adding a new one? Hi Patrick That's of course possible, but that would only allow seeking to a relative position to where the array pointer is at that moment. The functionality also gets a bit ambiguous by adding an optional parameter. You're not going to the next or prev position of the array anymore. And I think functions like next, prev, current etc should be kept easy to use. If you want seek-like functionality, use the designated array function for that (if this one should make it into php, that is). Cheers, Felix