<?php
/**
* array_merge_recursive does indeed merge arrays, but it converts values with duplicate
* keys to arrays rather than overwriting the value in the first array with the duplicate
* value in the second array, as array_merge does. I.e., with array_merge_recursive,
* this happens (documented behavior):
*
* array_merge_recursive(array('key' => 'org value'), array('key' => 'new value'));
* => array('key' => array('org value', 'new value'));
*
* array_merge_recursive_distinct does not change the datatypes of the values in the arrays.
* Matching keys' values in the second array overwrite those in the first array, as is the
* case with array_merge, i.e.:
*
* array_merge_recursive_distinct(array('key' => 'org value'), array('key' => 'new value'));
* => array('key' => array('new value'));
*
* Parameters are passed by reference, though only for performance reasons. They're not
* altered by this function.
*
* @param array $array1
* @param mixed $array2
* @return array
* @author [email protected]
*/
function &array_merge_recursive_distinct(array &$array1, &$array2 = null)
{
$merged = $array1;
if (is_array($array2))
foreach ($array2 as $key => $val)
if (is_array($array2[$key]))
$merged[$key] = is_array($merged[$key]) ? array_merge_recursive_distinct($merged[$key], $array2[$key]) : $array2[$key];
else
$merged[$key] = $val;
return $merged;
}
?>