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PHP PHP Arrays and Control Structures PHP Arrays Multidimensional Arrays

nicholasgryczewski
nicholasgryczewski
2,919 Points

In the code below, we have a simple array of contact names. We want to use the $contacts array to fill in the hardcoded.

In the code below, we have a simple array of contact names. We want to use the $contacts array to fill in the hardcoded list of names an email addresses. To hold the email as well as the name for each contact, we need a multidimensional array, meaning each person in the contact list will have their own array. The first step is to make each person their own single item ASSOCIATIVE array, using 'name' as the key for these internal arrays.

index.php
<?php
//edit this array
$contacts = array('Alena Holligan'=>array(),
                  'Dave McFarland'=>array(),
                  'Treasure Porth'=>array(),
                  'Andrew Chalkley'=>array());
echo "<ul>\n";
//$contacts[0] will return 'Alena Holligan' in our simple array of names.
echo "<li>Alena Holligan : alena.holligan@teamtreehouse.com</li>\n";
echo "<li>Dave McFarland : dave.mcfarland@teamtreehouse.com</li>\n";
echo "<li>Treasure Porth : treasure.porth@teamtreehouse.com</li>\n";
echo "<li>Andrew Chalkley : andrew.chalkley@teamtreehouse.com</li>\n";
echo "</ul>\n";

1 Answer

Antonio De Rose
Antonio De Rose
20,885 Points

The answer is now that, the key "name" is pointing only to the email, you need not have to, set an array for every contact, had there been another field side by email eg, telephone, you could have pointed to array.

<?php
$contacts = array('Alena Holligan'=>'alena.holligan@teamtreehouse.com',
                  'Dave McFarland'=>'dave.mcfarland@teamtreehouse.com',
                  'Treasure Porth'=>'treasure.porth@teamtreehouse.com',
                  'Andrew Chalkley'=>'andrew.chalkley@teamtreehouse.com');
echo "<ul>\n";
//$contacts[0] will return 'Alena Holligan' in our simple array of names.
foreach($contacts as $cname => $cemail){
    echo "<li>".$cname." : ".$cemail."</li>\n";
};
echo "</ul>\n";
?>