array_merge & array_unique

Question

Is there an array function in PHP that somehow does array_merge, comparing the values, ignoring the keys? I think that array_unique(array_merge($a, $b

Answer 1

To answer the question as asked, for a general solution that also works with associative arrays while preserving keys, I believe that you will find this solution most satisfactory:

/**
 * array_merge_unique - return an array of unique values,
 * composed of merging one or more argument array(s).
 *
 * As with array_merge, later keys overwrite earlier keys.
 * Unlike array_merge, however, this rule applies equally to
 * numeric keys, but does not necessarily preserve the original
 * numeric keys.
 */
function array_merge_unique(array $array1 /* [, array $...] */) {
  $result = array_flip(array_flip($array1));
  foreach (array_slice(func_get_args(),1) as $arg) { 
    $result = 
      array_flip(
        array_flip(
          array_merge($result,$arg)));
  } 
  return $result;
}