PHP array delete by value (not key)

You are loking for simplest function? Well, you won't find anything simpler.

function array_delete($array, $element) {
    return array_diff($array, [$element]);
}

array_delete( [312, 401, 1599, 3], 401 ) // returns [312, 1599, 3]

Or in standalone version:

array_diff( [312, 401, 1599, 3], [401] ) // returns [312, 1599, 3]

Disclaimer: This only works for arrays of objects that can be converted to strings.

One interesting way is by using array_keys():

foreach (array_keys($messages, 401, true) as $key) {
    unset($messages[$key]);
}

The array_keys() function takes two additional parameters to return only keys for a particular value and whether strict checking is required (i.e. using === for comparison).

This can also remove multiple array items with the same value (e.g. [1, 2, 3, 3, 4]).

If you know for definite that your array will contain only one element with that value, you can do

$key = array_search($del_val, $array);
if (false !== $key) {
    unset($array[$key]);
}

If, however, your value might occur more than once in your array, you could do this

$array = array_filter($array, function($e) use ($del_val) {
    return ($e !== $del_val);
});

Note: The second option only works for PHP5.3+ with Closures

$fields = array_flip($fields);
unset($fields['myvalue']);
$fields = array_flip($fields);

Have a look at following code:

$arr = array('nice_item', 'remove_me', 'another_liked_item', 'remove_me_also');

You can do:

$arr = array_diff($arr, array('remove_me', 'remove_me_also'));

And that will get you this array:

array('nice_item', 'another_liked_item')

By the following code, the repetitive values will be removed from the $messages.

$messages = array_diff($messages, array(401));

Or simply the good old fasion

foreach ($array as $key => $value){
    if ($value == $target_value) {
        unset(array[$key]);
    }
}

This is the safest of them because you have full control on your array

To delete multiple values try this one

while (($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false) 
{
    unset($messages[$key]);
}

function array_remove_by_value($array, $value)
{
    return array_values(array_diff($array, array($value)));
}

$array = array(312, 401, 1599, 3);

$newarray = array_remove_by_value($array, 401);

print_r($newarray);

Output

Array ( [0] => 312 [1] => 1599 [2] => 3 )

Get the key with array_search().

If you don't know its key it means it doesn't matter.

You could place the value as the key, it means it will instant find the value. Better than using searching in all elements over and over again.

$messages=array();
$messages[312] = 312;
$messages[401] = 401;
$messages[1599] = 1599;
$messages[3] = 3;

unset($messages[3]); // no search needed

If your values you want to delete are, or can, be in an array. Use the array_diff function. Seems to work great for things like this.

array_diff

$arrayWithValuesRemoved = array_diff($arrayOfData, $arrayOfValuesToRemove);

@Bojangles answer did help me. Thank you.

In my case, the array could be associative or not, so I added this function

function test($value, $tab) {

 if(($key = array_search($value, $tab)) !== false) {
    unset($tab[$key]); return true;

 } else if (array_key_exists($value, $tab)){
        unset($tab[$value]); return true;

 } else {
    return false; // the $value is not in the array $tab
 }

}

Regards

The Best way is Array Splice

$array = array(14,22,37,42,58,61,73,82,96,10);
array_splice($array, array_search(58, $array ), 1);
var_dump($array);

Reason for Best is here at http://www.programmerinterview.com/index.php/php-questions/how-to-delete-an-element-from-an-array-in-php/

If you have > php5.3, there is the one line code :

$array = array_filter($array, function($i){return $i != $value;}); 

you can do:

unset($messages[array_flip($messages)['401']]);

Explanation: Delete the element that has the key 401 after flipping the array.

Or a one-liner using the or operator:

($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false or unset($messages[$key]);

Another idea to delete a value of an array, use array_diff. If I want to

$my_array = array(1=>"a", "second_value"=>"b", 3=>"c", "d");
$new_array_without_value_c = array_diff($my_array, array("c"));

(Doc : http://php.net/manual/fr/function.array-diff.php)

OK.. I know this is not efficient at all but is simple, intuitive and easy to read.
So if someone is looking for a not so fancy solution which can be extended to work with more values, or more specific conditions .. here is a simple code:

$result = array();
$del_value = 401;
//$del_values = array(... all the values you don`t wont);

foreach($arr as $key =>$value){
    if ($value !== $del_value){
        $result[$key] = $value;
    }

    //if(!in_array($value, $del_values)){
    //    $result[$key] = $value;
    //}

    //if($this->validete($value)){
    //      $result[$key] = $value;
    //}
}

return $result