How to start a foreach loop at a specific index in PHP

Question

I am writing a foreach that does not start at the 0th index but instead starts at the first index of my array. Is there any way to offset the loop's starting point?

Answer 1

Keep it simple.

foreach ($arr as $k => $v) {
   if ($k < 1) continue;
   // your code here.
}

See the continue control structure in the manual.

Answer 2

A Foreach will reset the array:

Note: When foreach first starts executing, the internal array pointer is automatically reset to the first element of the array. This means that you do not need to call reset() before a foreach loop.

Either use a for loop (only if this is not an associative array)

$letters = range('a','z');
for($offset=1; $offset < count($letters); $offset++) {
    echo $letters[$offset];
}

or a while loop (can be any array)

$letters = range('a','z');
next($letters);
while($letter = each($letters)) {
    echo $letter['value'];
}

or with a LimitIterator

$letters = new LimitIterator(new ArrayIterator(range('a','z')), 1);
foreach($letters as $letter) {
    echo $letter;
}

which lets you specify start offset and count through the constructor.

All of the above will output the letters b to z instead of a to z

Answer 3

You can use the array_slice function:

$arr = array(); // your array
foreach(array_slice($arr, 1) as $foo){
   // do what ever you want here
}

Of course, you can use whatever offset value you want. In this case, 1 'skip' the first element of the array.

Answer 4

In a foreach you cant do that. There are only two ways to get what you want:

1. Use a for loop and start at position 1
2. use a foreach and use a something like if($key>0) around your actual code

A foreach does what its name is telling you. Doing something for every element :)

EDIT: OK, a very evil solution came just to my mind. Try the following:

foreach(array_reverse(array_pop(array_reverse($array))) as $key => $value){
    ...
}

That would reverse the array, pop out the last element and reverse it again. Than you'll have a element excluding the first one.

But I would recommend to use one of the other solutions. The best would be the first one.

And a variation: You can use array_slice() for that:

foreach(array_slice($array, 1, null, true) as $key => $value){
    ...
} 

But you should use all three parameters to keep the keys of the array for your foreach loop:

Answer 5

Seems like a for loop would be the better way to go here, but if you think you MUST use foreach you could shift the first element off the array and unshift it back on:

$a = array('foo','bar');
$temp = array_shift($a);
foreach ( $a as $k => $v ) {
  //do something
}
array_unshift($a, $temp);