Add Associative Arrays in PHP to associative array using the same key

Question

I have issued with overriding assoc array in php by adding under the same key second associative array with different key.

my function is:

$this->data[$period]= [$i=> ['key'=>$value, 'key1'=>$value1]];

period takes fx 1,2 and $i takes fx 3,4,5.

the thing is that i want to add to $period key few tables with different $i key, but its overriding the whole array. For example if we take that $period = 1, and $i = 3 and 4:

$data[1] = [3=> ['key'=>key, 'key1'=>key1 ]];
$data[1] = [4=> ['key'=>keyX, 'key1'=>key1X ]];

if i var_dump table it shows only the data table contains

$data[1] = [4=> ['key'=>keyX, 'key1'=>key1X ]] 

and table with $i key = =3 is deleted.

how to add it correctly to have under $period 1 this two tables?

I know i can add extra assoc array before this two but maybe it is sth more proper?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can't have elements in an array with the same key, so you need to make $data[$period] an array itself and push the tables into it:

$data[1][] = [3=> ['key'=>'key', 'key1'=>'key1' ]];
$data[1][] = [4=> ['key'=>'keyX', 'key1'=>'key1X' ]];
print_r($data[1]);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [3] => Array
                (
                    [key] => key
                    [key1] => key1
                )
        )
    [1] => Array
        (
            [4] => Array
                (
                    [key] => keyX
                    [key1] => key1X
                )
        )
)