PHP: special character as key in array

Question

my problem is that i use the special character & as an key and this seems not to work

my array is like this

$legalforms = array(
    'GmbH & Co.KG' => array(
            'namesToSubmit' =>array(
                'companyName'=>'required',
                'location'=>'required', 
                'phone'=>null,
                'fax'=>null,
                'web'=>null,
                'registryCourt'=>'required',
                'registryNumber'=>'required',
                'companyNameAssociate'=>'required',
                'locationAssociate'=>'required',
                'registryCourtAssociate'=>'required',
                'registryNumberAssociate'=>'requuired',
                'ceo'=>'required'
            ),
       )
)

and when i want to use the namesToSubmit i get an error that property of nameToSubmit is null, if i remove the special character & out of it , it works.. so how can i get it to work with the & ?

edit:

$("#sendLegalForm").click(function () { 
         selection = $('#selection').val();
         $.ajax({
             type:'GET',
             url:'http://192.168.10.24/php/sig.php?selectedLegalform='+ selection,
             dataType:'json',
             success: function (data){  

                 $("#legalform").hide();
                 $("#fields").show();
                 var fieldnames =[];
                 for(property in data.namesToSubmit){
                    fieldnames.push(property);
                 }
                 var fields=[];
                 for(var i=0; i<data.textfieldHeaders.length; i++){               
                 fields.push(data.textfieldHeaders[i],'<br>','<input name="',fieldnames[i],'" type="text"                                                       ',data.namesToSubmit[fieldnames[i]] == "required"?"required":"",'>','<br/>');        
                 }                

                 fields.push("<br>", 'Pflichtfelder (*)');
                 $("#fieldsForm").prepend(fields.join(''));              
             },
             error: function(jqXHR,textStatus,errorThrown){
                console.log(jqXHR);
                console.log(textStatus);
                console.log(errorThrown);
             }
         });
     });

and i get the error in this line

for(property in data.namesToSubmit){

tried the md5 , didn´t work , but thanks for all your help

are you getting 'GmbH & Co.KG' dynamically or are you expecting it to be that? — JohnnyFaldo, Jul 25 '13 at 13:01
There is nothing wrong with such a key. Works fine on PHP 5.4 — user2180613, Jul 25 '13 at 13:04
it should work without problems..can you show how you access the array? — bitWorking, Jul 25 '13 at 13:35
try with `POST`. It looks to me your selection is `GmbH & Co.KG` right? If you send it via `GET` the `&` will be encoded.. — bitWorking, Jul 25 '13 at 14:01
i could upload the whole code of all files if someone is interested — Adrian, Jul 25 '13 at 14:02
@redreggae yes the selection would be GmbH & Co.KG, i´ll try with POST — Adrian, Jul 25 '13 at 14:06

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

From the PHP Manual:

The key can either be an integer or a string. The value can be of any type.

Additionally the following key casts will occur:

Strings containing valid integers will be cast to the integer type. E.g. the key "8" will actually be stored under 8. On the other hand "08" will not be cast, as it isn't a valid decimal integer.

Floats are also cast to integers, which means that the fractional part will be truncated. E.g. the key 8.7 will actually be stored under 8.

Bools are cast to integers, too, i.e. the key true will actually be stored under 1 and the key false under 0.

Null will be cast to the empty string, i.e. the key null will actually be stored under "".

Arrays and objects can not be used as keys. Doing so will result in a warning: Illegal offset type.

So, instead of using & in your array key, you can use str_replace() to replace it with an allowed character, and once the array is declared, you can replace it back with &.

An alternative would be to use md5(), as suggested here:

md5('GmbH & Co.KG' => array( ...

Hope this helps!

It works fine for me, but I think it's best not to have `&` to make sure it works everywhere. — Amal Murali, Jul 25 '13 at 13:15

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 25 '13 at 14:09

Change the request method to POST:

$.ajax({
    type:'POST',
    url: 'http://192.168.10.24/php/sig.php',
    data: {selectedLegalform: selection},
    ...

In PHP:

$data = $_POST['selectedLegalform'];

If you send the string GmbH & Co.KG via GET it becomes GmbH%20%26%20Co%2EKG. That should be the problem.

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 28 '16 at 10:12

1

You may replace the '&' with '-and-' in array and replacing back again when using an array. Hope it will help. I normally do it .

for replace, using str_replace()

edited Dec 28 '16 at 10:12

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answered Jul 25 '13 at 13:02

M Shahzad Khan

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PHP: special character as key in array

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