current

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

currentReturn the current element in an array

Description

mixed current ( array &$array )

Every array has an internal pointer to its "current" element, which is initialized to the first element inserted into the array.

Parameters

array

The array.

Return Values

The current() function simply returns the value of the array element that's currently being pointed to by the internal pointer. It does not move the pointer in any way. If the internal pointer points beyond the end of the elements list or the array is empty, current() returns FALSE.

Warning

This function may return Boolean FALSE, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to FALSE. Please read the section on Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

Examples

Example #1 Example use of current() and friends

<?php
$transport 
= array('foot''bike''car''plane');
$mode current($transport); // $mode = 'foot';
$mode next($transport);    // $mode = 'bike';
$mode current($transport); // $mode = 'bike';
$mode prev($transport);    // $mode = 'foot';
$mode end($transport);     // $mode = 'plane';
$mode current($transport); // $mode = 'plane';

$arr = array();
var_dump(current($arr)); // bool(false)

$arr = array(array());
var_dump(current($arr)); // array(0) { }
?>

Notes

Note: You won't be able to distinguish the end of an array from a boolean FALSE element. To properly traverse an array which may contain FALSE elements, see the each() function.

See Also

  • end() - Set the internal pointer of an array to its last element
  • key() - Fetch a key from an array
  • each() - Return the current key and value pair from an array and advance the array cursor
  • prev() - Rewind the internal array pointer
  • reset() - Set the internal pointer of an array to its first element
  • next() - Advance the internal array pointer of an array

Коментарии

The docs do not specify this, but adding to the array using the brackets syntax:
     <?php $my_array[] = $new_value?>
will not advance the internal pointer of the array. therefore, you cannot use current() to get the last value added or key() to get the key of the most recently added element.

You should do an end($my_array) to advance the internal pointer to the end ( as stated in one of the notes on end() ), then

    <?php
     $last_key 
key($my_array);  // will return the key
     
$last_value current($my_array);  // will return the value
   
?>

If you have no need in the key, $last_value = end($my_array) will also do the job.

- Sergey.
2003-03-01 20:31:33
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Note that by copying an array its internal pointer is lost:

<?php
$myarray 
= array(0=>'a'1=>'b'2=>'c');
next($myarray);
print_r(current($myarray));
echo 
'<br>';
$a $myarray;
print_r(current($a));
?>

Would output 'b' and then 'a' since the internal pointer wasn't copied. You can cope with that problem using references instead, like that:

<?php
$a 
=& $myarray;
?>
2003-12-02 04:10:00
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
For large array(my sample was 80000+ elements), if you want to traverse the array in sequence, using array index $a[$i] could be very inefficient(very slow). I had to switch to use current($a).
2004-04-24 02:04:00
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
To that "note": You won't be able to distinguish the end of an array from a boolean FALSE element, BUT you can distinguish the end from a NULL value of the key() function.

Example:
<?php
if (key($array) === null) {
    echo 
"You are in the end of the array.";
} else {
    echo 
"Current element: " current($array);
}
?>
2007-08-13 12:23:37
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
It took me a while to figure this out, but there is a more consistent way to figure out whether you really went past the end of the array, than using each().

You see, each() gets the value BEFORE advancing the pointer, and next() gets the value AFTER advancing the pointer. When you are implementing the Iterator interface, therefore, it's a real pain in the behind to use each().

And thus, I give you the solution:
To see if you've blown past the end of the array, use key($array) and see if it returns NULL. If it does, you're past the end of the array -- keys can't be null in arrays.

Nifty, huh? Here's how I implemented the Iterator interface in one of my classes:

<?php

/**
 * DbRow file
 * @package PalDb
 */

/**
 * This class lets you use Db rows and object-relational mapping functionality.
 */
 
class DbRow implements Iterator
{
   
/**
     * The DbResult object that gave us this row through fetchDbRows
     * @var DbResult
     */
   
protected $result;
   
   
/**
     * The fields of the row
     * @var $fields
     */
   
protected $fields;
       
   
/**
     * Constructor
     *
     * @param PDOStatement $stmt
     *  The PDO statement object that this result uses
     * @param DbResult $result
     *  The result that produced this row through fetchDbRows 
     */
   
function __construct($result)
    {
       
$this->result $result;
    }
   
   
/**
     * Get the DbResult object that gave us this row through fetchDbRows
     * @return DbResult
     *
     * @return unknown
     */
   
function getResult()
    {
        return 
$this->result;
    }
   
    function 
__set(
       
$name
       
$value)
    {
       
$this->fields[$name] = $value;
    }
   
    function 
__get(
       
$name)
    {
        if (isset(
$this->fields[$name])) 
            return 
$this->fields[$name];
        else
            return 
null;
    }
   
   
/**
     * Iterator implementation - rewind
     */
   
function rewind()
    {
       
$this->beyondLastField false;
        return 
reset($this->fields);
    }
   
    function 
valid()
    {
        return !
$this->beyondLastField;
    }
   
    function 
current()
    {
        return 
current($this->fields);
    }
   
    function 
key()
    {
        return 
key($this->fields);
    }
   
    function 
next()
    {
       
$next next($this->fields);
       
$key key($this->fields);           
        if (isset(
$key)) {
            return 
$next[1];
        } else {
           
$this->beyondLastField true;
            return 
false// doesn't matter what we return here, see valid()
       
}
    }
   
    private 
$beyondLastField false;
};

Hope this helps someone.
2008-02-27 23:07:34
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Автор:
A simple copy function that not only copies the given array but ensures the copy's pointer is set to the exact same position:

<?php
function array_copy(&array)
{
   
$key key($array);
   
$copy $array;

    while ((
$copy_key key($copy)) !== NULL) {
        if (
$copy_key == $key) break;
       
next($copy);
    }

    return 
$copy;
}
?>

That's all ... bye.
2008-05-15 11:39:40
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
current() also works on objects:

<?php

 
echo current((object) array('one''two')); // Outputs: one

?>
2012-01-10 21:44:59
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Note, that you can pass array by expression, not only by reference (as described in doc).

<?php
var_dump
current( array(1,2,3) ) ); // (int) 1
?>
2013-10-30 09:11:28
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Автор:
If we unset any element from an array, and then try the current function, I noted it returned FALSE. To overcome this limitation, you can use array_values function to re-order the tree.
2014-05-14 08:55:07
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
If you do current() after using uset() on foreach statement, you can get FALSE in PHP version 5.2.4 and above.
There is example:
<?php
$prices 
= array(
   
=> '1300990',
   
=> '500',
   
=> '600'
);
foreach(
$prices as $key => $price){
    if(
$price 1000){
        unset(
$prices[$key]);
    }
}

var_dump(current($prices)); // bool(false)
?>
If you do unset() without foreach? all will be fine.
<?php
$prices 
= array(
   
=> '1300990',
   
=> '500',
   
=> '600'
);
unset(
$prices[1]);
unset(
$prices[2]);

var_dump(current($prices));
?>
2014-11-12 10:51:11
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
As Sergey stated a long time ago in this notes, when adding to the array using the brackets syntax, current won't return the last added value. Instead of moving the pointer with end(), you simply can get the last value with <?php $my_array[count($my_array) - 1?> (only applies to a non-associative array).
2016-09-16 17:50:36
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Based on this example function.current#116128 i would like to add the following.  As Vasily points out in his example 
<?php
$prices 
= array(
   
=> '1300990',
   
=> '500',
   
=> '600'
);
foreach(
$prices as $key => $price){
    if(
$price 1000){
        unset(
$prices[$key]);
    }
}

var_dump(current($prices)); // bool(false)
?>
The above example will not work and return false for version of PHP between 5.2.4 and 5.6.29. The issue is not present on PHP versions >= 7.0.1
A different workaround (at least from Vasily's example) would be to use reset() before using current() in order to reset the array pointer to start.
<?php
$prices 
= array(
   
=> '1300990',
   
=> '500',
   
=> '600'
);
foreach(
$prices as $key => $price){
    if(
$price 1000){
        unset(
$prices[$key]);
    }
}
reset($prices);
var_dump(current($prices)); // string(7) "1300990"
?>
2017-08-06 09:22:21
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Array functions, such as `current()` and `rewind()` will work on `Traversable` as well, PHP 5.0 - 7.3, but not in HHVM:

<?php

$queue 
= new ArrayIterator(array('adasdasd'));
reset($queue);
$current current($queue);
var_dump($current);

?>

See https://3v4l.org/VjCHR
2018-07-10 16:28:26
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
Array can be passed by both REFERENCE and EXPRESSION on `current`, because current doesn't move array's internal pointer,
this is not true for other functions like: `end`, `next`, `prev` etc.

<?php
   
function foo() {return array(1,2,3);}
    echo 
current(foo());  // this print '1'
   
echo end(foo());      // this print error: Only variables should be passed by reference
?>
2019-09-24 11:02:51
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html
It looks like `current()` is deprectated for calling on objects since PHP 7.4. 

Consider this code

```
$a = new ArrayIterator([1,2,3]);

var_dump(current($a), $a->current());
```

It returns 
```
int(1)
int(1)
```

In PHP 7.3, but in PHP7.4 you get:
```
bool(false)
int(1)
```

And in PHP8:
```
Deprecated: current(): Calling current() on an object is deprecated in /in/fdrNR on line 5
bool(false)
int(1)
```
2021-10-19 13:45:19
http://php5.kiev.ua/manual/ru/function.current.html

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