Check if a specific value exists at a specific key in any subarray of a multidimensional array

Question

I need to search a multidimensional array for a specific value in any of the indexed subarrays.

In other words, I need to check a single column of the multidimensional array for a value. If the value exists anywhere in the multidimensional array, I would like to return true otherwise false

$my_array = array(    
    0 =>  array(  
        "name"   => "john",  
        "id"    =>  4  
    ),  
    1   =>  array(  
        "name" =>  "mark",  
        "id" => 152  
    ), 
    2   =>  array(  
        "name" =>  "Eduard",  
        "id" => 152  
    )
);

I would like to know the fastest and most efficient way to check if the array $my_array contains a value with the key "id". For example, if id => 152 anywhere in the multidimensional array, I would like true.

Answer 1

Nothing will be faster than a simple loop. You can mix-and-match some array functions to do it, but they'll just be implemented as a loop too.

function whatever($array, $key, $val) {
    foreach ($array as $item)
        if (isset($item[$key]) && $item[$key] == $val)
            return true;
    return false;
}