How to duplicate an element in a php array after it current position

Question

Hi I was wondering how I could duplicate an element in a php array x times. In such a way that the clones come after the original. If this is your original array.

array(
    [0]=>'Clone me please',
    [1]=>'I m here for decoration'
)

Resulting in :

array(
   [0]=>'Clone me please',
   [1]=>'Clone me please',
   [2]=>'Clone me please',
   [3]=>'I m here for decoration'
)

Thanks in advance.

Does this answer your question? [Insert new item in array on any position in PHP](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3797239/insert-new-item-in-array-on-any-position-in-php) — M. Eriksson, Mar 12 '22 at 00:24
If you only want to add it to the beginning, you can use [array_unshift()](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.array-unshift.php) — M. Eriksson, Mar 12 '22 at 00:25
You don't mention the condition for which the first element is "cloned" and the second isn't. But you can use `array_splice` as mentioned by @M.Eriksson above to add a new element in between elements. — Andrea Olivato, Mar 12 '22 at 00:25

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 12 '22 at 00:41

I first built a function to loop through the number of times you want to clone your element .. And I made a function that will insert the clone after the desired key .. It's an amalgamation of two functions I had already built for different purposes ..

<?php

$array = array();

$array[0] = 'Clone Me Please';
$array[1] = 'Clone Me Too Please';
$array[2] = 'I am here for decoration';



print_r ( cloneItem(0,$array,3) );
print_r ( cloneItem(1,$array,2) );

function cloneItem($itemKey, $array, $timesToDuplicate){

        $clone_me[0] = $array[$itemKey];

        for ($x = 1; $x <= $timesToDuplicate; $x++){
                $array = array_insert_after($array,$itemKey,$clone_me);
        }

        return $array;
}


function array_insert_after( $array, $key, $new ) {
        $keys = array_keys( $array );
        $index = array_search( $key, $keys );
        $pos = false === $index ? count( $array ) : $index + 1;

        return array_merge( array_slice( $array, 0, $pos ), $new, array_slice( $array, $pos ) );
}

Output ..

Array
(
    [0] => Clone Me Please
    [1] => Clone Me Please
    [2] => Clone Me Please
    [3] => Clone Me Please
    [4] => Clone Me Too Please
    [5] => I am here for decoration
)
Array
(
    [0] => Clone Me Please
    [1] => Clone Me Too Please
    [2] => Clone Me Too Please
    [3] => Clone Me Too Please
    [4] => I am here for decoration
)

gview · Answer 2 · 2022-03-12T01:30:23.673

Here's a simple function using a few php array functions.

function dupeElement(int $position, int $count, array $orig): array {
    
    $mid = array_fill(0, $count, $orig[$position]);
    $end = array_slice($orig, $position + 1);
    array_splice($orig, ++$position);
    
    return array_merge($orig, $mid, $end);
}

array_fill is used to create a new array, based on the index location of the element you want to dupe in the original array
array_slice is used to get the portion after the element you want to duplicate
array_splice in this function is used to remove the end portion of the array.
array_merge lets you merge numeric arrays in the order you provide them.

The $position param should be the exact numeric index of the item to be duped (0 based). The $count is the number of duplications you want. The final array will be $count + 1 of the items (as it includes the original).

For your example, assuming your array was named $a:

$a = dupeElement(0, 2, $a);

How to duplicate an element in a php array after it current position

2 Answers2