Setting object in php object array - the object not keeping changed data after loop

Question

I have an object array of Categories and in each one i have a list of subcategories of the same type ie. item A -> itemA 1, itemA 2 etc. item B ... when i traverse through and match the sub cat, the data is not saved when changes are set. The code appears fine, any thoughts?

            foreach ($cats as $cat) {
            if($cat->getId() == $catChanged->getCategory_id()) {
                foreach ($cat->getSubCats() as $sc) {
                    if($sc->getId() == $id) {                           
                        var_dump($sc, $key);
                        $sc = $catChanged;                          
                        var_dump($sc, $key);    
                    }
                }               
            }   
        }   
        var_dump(serialize($cats));

As you can see var_dumps have been used showing the before and after however the $cats at the end is un-changed when it should be?

__________FIX_________

In the end i removed that element from the array and inserted the edited object in the same position. Works fine, thanks for your responses.

        foreach ($cats as $cat) {
            if($cat->getId() == $catChanged->getCategory_id()) {
                $i = -1;
                foreach ($cat->getSubCats() as $sc) {
                    $i++;
                    if($sc->getId() == $id) {                           
                        $tmp = AdminUtils::removeItem($cat->getSubCats(), $i);  //remove item
                        $cat->setSubCats(AdminUtils::insertArrayIndex($tmp, $catChanged, $i)); //re-insert at index
                        break(2); 
                    }
                }               
            }   
        }

Answer 1

It's a known PHP gotcha. You can't change the value of an array object by changing the enumator. You'll need to change your code so that this line - $sc = $catChanged; - operates on the actual array object. It'll look something like $cats[$catnum]->getSubCats()[$subcatnum] = $catChanged;.

You can either do this by using integers to iterate through the array and subarrays, or you can stay with the existing approach but increment position integers as you traverse the arrays. The former is more elegant, but the latter also works.

Answer 2

Try this. You need to refer back to the $cat object.

foreach ($cat->getSubCats() as $sc) 
{
    if($sc->getId() == $id) 
    {                           
        var_dump($sc, $key);
         $cat->resetSubCat($id, $catChanged); 
    ]
}   

edit: i just reread your fix. You should put the array logic into the $cat object.