PHP array_slice() Function

❮ PHP Array Reference

Example

Start the slice from the third array element, and return the rest of the elements in the array:

<?php
$a=array("red","green","blue","yellow","brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,2));
?>

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Definition and Usage

The array_slice() function returns selected parts of an array.

Note: If the array have string keys, the returned array will always preserve the keys (See example 4).

Syntax

array_slice(array, start, length, preserve)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
array	Required. Specifies an array
start	Required. Numeric value. Specifies where the function will start the slice. 0 = the first element. If this value is set to a negative number, the function will start slicing that far from the last element. -2 means start at the second last element of the array.
length	Optional. Numeric value. Specifies the length of the returned array. If this value is set to a negative number, the function will stop slicing that far from the last element. If this value is not set, the function will return all elements, starting from the position set by the start-parameter.
preserve	Optional. Specifies if the function should preserve or reset the keys. Possible values: true - Preserve keys false - Default. Reset keys

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns selected parts of an array
PHP Version:	4+
PHP Changelog:	The preserve parameter was added in PHP 5.0.2

More Examples

Example 1

Start the slice from from the second array element, and return only two elements:

<?php
$a=array("red","green","blue","yellow","brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,1,2));
?>

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Example 2

Using a negative start parameter:

<?php
$a=array("red","green","blue","yellow","brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,-2,1));
?>

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Example 3

With the preserve parameter set to true:

<?php
$a=array("red","green","blue","yellow","brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,1,2,true));
?>

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Example 4

With both string and integer keys:

<?php
$a=array("a"=>"red","b"=>"green","c"=>"blue","d"=>"yellow","e"=>"brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,1,2));

$a=array("0"=>"red","1"=>"green","2"=>"blue","3"=>"yellow","4"=>"brown");
print_r(array_slice($a,1,2));
?>

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❮ PHP Array Reference