multidimensional array difference php

Question

I have two multidimensional arrays and I want the difference. For eg. I have taken two-dimensional two arrays below

$array1 = Array (
       [a1] => Array         


        

Answer 1

Almost a copy of @bernhardh's answer but posting here because my edit was rejected. Uses + instead of array_merge as array_merge will reindex array causing issues with indexed arrays.

/**
 * Given 2 arrays see what has changed when comparing defaults to the new values.
 *
 * @param array $defaults
 *   Array of default values.
  * @param mixed $new_values
 *   Array of new values.
 *
 * @return array
 *   Nested array strucutre; only the diff.
 */
function array_diff_multi(array $defaults, $new_values) {
  $result = array();

  foreach ($defaults as $key => $val) {
    if (is_array($val) && isset($new_values[$key])) {
      $tmp = array_diff_multi($val, $new_values[$key]);
      if ($tmp) {
        $result[$key] = $tmp;
      }
    }
    elseif (!isset($new_values[$key])) {
      $result[$key] = NULL;
    }
    elseif ($val != $new_values[$key]) {
      $result[$key] = $new_values[$key];
    }
    if (isset($new_values[$key])) {
      unset($new_values[$key]);
    }
  }

  $result = $result + $new_values;
  return $result;
}

Answer 2

I know this thread is kind of old, however I ran into a few problems with the original solution. So here is my solution of the problem.

private function array_diff_recursive($array1, $array2){
    $result = [];
    foreach($array1 as $key => $val) {
        if(array_key_exists($key, $array2)){
            if(is_array($val) || is_array($array2[$key])) {
                if (false === is_array($val) || false === is_array($array2[$key])) {
                    $result[$key] = $val;
                } else {
                    $result[$key] = $this->array_diff_recursive($val, $array2[$key]);
                    if (sizeof($result[$key]) === 0) {
                        unset($result[$key]);
                    }
                }
            }
        } else {
            $result[$key] = $val;
        }
    }
    return $result;
}

Problems Encountered / Fixed

1. Result populates with keys that have no difference
2. If one value is an array and the other is not, it doesn't consider it a difference

Answer 3

For multidimensional arrays, array_diff_assoc works better than array_diff in some cases. I had an issue with array_diff where it was not able to differentiate between 1 or 0 as value ( perhaps some other index had same value ) so array_diff_assoc solved it as it checks for indexes as well. Just for future users who might encounter the same issue.

Answer 4

Try the function:

<?php
$input = ['blue'  => 1, 'white' => ['purple' => 4, 'green' => 3], 'red' => 2];
$filter = ['blue' => 6, 'white' => ['yellow' => 7, 'green' => 5], 'red' => 2];

/**
 * @param array $input
 * @param array $filter
 * @return array
 */
function multidimensionalArrayDiffKey(array $input, array $filter)
{
    if ($diff = array_diff_key($input, $filter)){
        return $diff;
    }else{
        foreach($input as $key => $value){
            if(is_array($value) && $diff = multidimensionalArrayDiffKey($value, $filter[$key])){
                return [$key => $diff];
            }
        }
    }
    return [];
}
print_r(multidimensionalArrayDiffKey($input, $filter));

Result:

Array
(
    [white] => Array
        (
            [purple] => 4
        )

)

Answer 5

this solution ah been very helpful to me I hope can help them in something, no matter what the array are in disarray.

function your_array_diff($arraya, $arrayb) {

    foreach ($arraya as $keya => $valuea) {
        if (in_array($valuea, $arrayb)) {
            unset($arraya[$keya]);
        }
    }
    return $arraya;
}

$a1 = Array
    (
    "0" => Array
        (
        "Empresa" => "TMC01",
        "Paga" => "13/01/2015",
        "ID" => "M2",
        "Valor" => "200",
        "Nombre" => "BONI"
    ),

    "1" => Array
        (
        "Empresa" => "TMC01",
        "Paga" => "13/01/2015",
        "ID" => "M1",
        "Valor" => "100",
        "Nombre" => "SUELDO"
    )
);

$b1 = Array
    (
    "0" => Array
        (
        "Empresa" => "TMC01",
        "Paga" => "13/01/2015",
        "ID" => "M1",
        "Valor" => "100",
        "Nombre" => "SUELDO"
    ),
    "1" => Array
        (
        "Empresa" => "TMC01",
        "Paga" => "13/01/2015",
        "ID" => "M2",
        "Valor" => "200",
        "Nombre" => "BONI"
    )
);

$resultado = your_array_diff($a1, $b1);

echo "<pre>";
echo print_r($resultado);
echo "</pre>";

Answer 6

A better function that works just like the original array_diff.
Compares array1 against one or more other arrays and returns the values in array1 that are not present in any of the other arrays recursively.

    <?php

    function md_array_diff(array $array1, array $array2, array $_ = null) {
        $diff = [];
        $args = array_slice(func_get_args(), 1);

        foreach ($array1 as $key => $value) {
            foreach ($args as $item) {
                if (is_array($item)) {
                    if (array_key_exists($key, $item)) {
                        if (is_array($value) && is_array($item[$key])) {
                            $tmpDiff = md_array_diff($value, $item[$key]);

                            if (!empty($tmpDiff)) {
                                foreach ($tmpDiff as $tmpKey => $tmpValue) {
                                    if (isset($item[$key][$tmpKey])) {
                                        if (is_array($value[$tmpKey]) && is_array($item[$key][$tmpKey])) {
                                            $newDiff = array_diff($value[$tmpKey], $item[$key][$tmpKey]);
                                        } else if ($value[$tmpKey] !== $item[$key][$tmpKey]) {
                                            $newDiff = $value[$tmpKey];
                                        }

                                        if (isset($newDiff)) {
                                            $diff[$key][$tmpKey] = $newDiff;
                                        }
                                    } else {
                                        $diff[$key][$tmpKey] = $tmpDiff;
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        } else if ($value !== $item[$key]) {
                            $diff[$key] = $value;

                        }
                    } else {
                        $diff[$key] = $value;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        return $diff;
    }

    $arr1 = [
      "A" => [
        "A1" => ['A1-0', 'A1-1', 'A1-2', 'A1-3'],
        "A2" => ['A2-0', 'A2-1', 'A2-2', 'A2-3'],
        "A3" => ['A3-0', 'A3-1', 'A3-2', 'A3-3']
      ],
      "B" => [
        "B1" => ['B1-0', 'B1-1', 'B1-2', 'B1-3'],
        "B2" => ['B2-0', 'B2-1', 'B2-2', 'B2-3'],
        "B3" => ['B3-0', 'B3-1', 'B3-2', 'B3-3']
      ],
      'C' => 123
    ];

    $arr2 = [
      "A" => [
        "A1" => ['A1-1', 'A1-2', 'A1-3'],
        "A2" => ['A2-0', 'A2-1', 'A2-2', 'A2-3'],
        "A3" => ['A3-0', 'A3-1', 'A3-2']
      ],
      "B" => [
        "B1" => ['B1-0', 'B1-2', 'B1-3'],
        "B2" => ['B2-0', 'B2-1', 'B2-2', 'B2-3'],
        "B3" => ['B3-0', 'B3-1', 'B3-3']
      ]
    ];

    $arr3 = [
      "A" => [
        "A1" => ['A1-0', 'A1-1', 'A1-2', 'A1-3'],
        "A2" => ['A2-0', 'A2-1', 'A2-2', 'A2-3'],
        "A3" => ['A3-0', 'A3-1', 'A3-2']
      ],
      "B" => [
        "B1" => ['B1-0', 'B1-2', 'B1-3'],
        "B2" => ['B2-0', 'B2-1', 'B2-2', 'B2-3'],
        "B3" => ['B3-0', 'B3-1', 'B3-3']
      ]
    ];

    $diff = md_array_diff($arr1, $arr2, $arr3);

    ?>
    Will Output:
    array (size=3)
      'A' =>
          array (size=2)
            'A1' =>
              array (size=1)
                0 => string 'A1-0' (length=4)
            'A3' =>
              array (size=1)
                3 => string 'A3-3' (length=4)
      'B' =>
          array (size=2)
            'B1' =>
              array (size=1)
                1 => string 'B1-1' (length=4)
            'B3' =>
              array (size=1)
                2 => string 'B3-2' (length=4)
      'C' => int 123