PHP Manual: Return the values from a single column in the input array

Description

array array_column ( array $array , mixed $column_key [, mixed $index_key = null ] )

array_column returns the values from a single column of the array, identified by the column_key. Optionally, you may provide an index_key to index the values in the returned array by the values from the index_key column in the input array.

Parameters

array: A multi-dimensional array (record set) from which to pull a column of values.
column_key: The column of values to return. This value may be the integer key of the column you wish to retrieve, or it may be the string key name for an associative array. It may also be NULL to return complete arrays (useful together with index_key to reindex the array).
index_key: The column to use as the index/keys for the returned array. This value may be the integer key of the column, or it may be the string key name.

Return Values

Returns an array of values representing a single column from the input array.

Examples

Example #1 Get column of first names from recordset


<?php
// Array representing a possible record set returned from a database
$records = array(
    array(
        'id' => 2135,
        'first_name' => 'John',
        'last_name' => 'Doe',
    ),
    array(
        'id' => 3245,
        'first_name' => 'Sally',
        'last_name' => 'Smith',
    ),
    array(
        'id' => 5342,
        'first_name' => 'Jane',
        'last_name' => 'Jones',
    ),
    array(
        'id' => 5623,
        'first_name' => 'Peter',
        'last_name' => 'Doe',
    )
);
 
$first_names = array_column($records, 'first_name');
print_r($first_names);
?>

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [0] => John
    [1] => Sally
    [2] => Jane
    [3] => Peter
)

Example #2 Get column of last names from recordset, indexed by the "id" column


<?php
// Using the $records array from Example #1
$last_names = array_column($records, 'last_name', 'id');
print_r($last_names);
?>

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [2135] => Doe
    [3245] => Smith
    [5342] => Jones
    [5623] => Doe
)