Why isn't array_unique with SORT_REGULAR working as expected?

Question

I'm trying to get to one array that don't have duplicate values for a specific field in an array of objects. I've merged two array's of objects together and am using $unique = array_unique($merged, SORT_REGULAR) to remove any duplicate values that the merged array might have.

Unfortunately I cannot get a result of one array without the duplicate value (let's say for the email field) as the resulting array still contains two instances of one email.

It's my understanding that using the SORT_REGULAR flag is supposed to catch that but it obviously doesn't. Can someone explain why, and perhaps what I'm missing to do it right?

The two objects:

$tracks = $em->getRepository('AppBundle:Trak')->findByGrace($arrayNum);

$grades = $em->getRepository('AppBundle:Grade')->findByGrace($arrayGrad);

How I merge them:

$merge = array_merge($tracks, $grades);

Using Array Unique:

$unique = array_unique($merge, SORT_REGULAR);

My output for $tracks, $merge & $unique are as follows. They each start exactly the same way (as it uses the first object from $tracks) and the culprit that has the duplicate email is the first instance in the object. I hope this helps:

Array
(
    [0] => AppBundle\Entity\Trak Object
        (
            [id:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => 657
            [active:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => 1
            [sid:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => 1554
            [firstName:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => X
            [lastName:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => Y
            [title:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => ISW
            [organization:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => Self Employed
            [email:AppBundle\Entity\Trak:private] => XY@gmail.com
            ..........

The code you provide does not show what those variables contain. Please provide sample data. — trincot, Jan 24 '18 at 21:08
Some `print_r($tracks);` `print_r($merge);` `print_r($unique);` would go a long way here ;) — IncredibleHat, Jan 24 '18 at 21:10
Quick test: http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/6025ec0f0187d42cceceb9889766a7d8146670d0 — biziclop, Jan 24 '18 at 21:31
@biziclop, that's neat but that's why I'm confused why it's not working for me... — Ale, Jan 24 '18 at 21:32
Maybe you could `serialize` the two supposedly same items and compare the serialized strings if they are different. — biziclop, Jan 24 '18 at 21:36
oh wait a minute, is it because the entities are different? One entity being `AppBundle\Entity\Trak` and another `AppBundle\Entity\Grade`??? — Ale, Jan 24 '18 at 21:40
It seems you won: http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/cc67370b6811e356d8e81124b074dcdc81c74659 You should answer your own question to help other people. — biziclop, Jan 24 '18 at 21:41
Also you could do something similar: `foreach( $merged as $o ) $merged2[ $o->someUniqueKey ] = $o;` — biziclop, Jan 24 '18 at 21:45

Why isn't array_unique with SORT_REGULAR working as expected?

0 Answers0