Why does array_uintersect() compare elements between array1 & array2, array1 & array1, and array2 & array2?

Question

Test script

$i = 0;
array_uintersect(['foo', 'bar'], ['baz', 'qux'], function($a, $b) use (&$i) {
    print_r([$a, $b, $i++]);
});

Actual Result

Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => foo
    [2] => 0
)
Array
(
    [0] => qux
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 1
)
Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => qux
    [2] => 2
)
Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => foo
    [2] => 3
)

Expected Result

Array
(
    [0] => foo
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 0
)
Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => qux
    [2] => 1
)

In other words, what I am expecting to be passed to the callback is the current element of the left array, and the current element of the right array.

Furthermore, I would expect the same logic to apply if I were to pass an additional array to array_uintersect - one more argument being passed to the callback ($c, for example).

Can someone explain this behaviour?

Answer 1

I have no idea why do you expect anything from the comparison callback, except comparing the values of the arrays. The sole purpose of the callback is to compare the next pair of items from both arrays.

The function returns the result of intersection of the two arrays. In the callback you express your idea of how the values are supposed to be compared. For example, the following code assumes that the intersection should be performed by comparing the first characters of the strings:

$a = array_uintersect(['foo', 'bar'], ['baz', 'qux'], function($a, $b) {
  return strcmp($a[0], $b[0]);
});

print_r($a);

Output

Array
(
    [1] => bar
)

The order of the items passed to the callback is specified by the PHP internals, and may easily change in future.

So the comparison function is not supposed to do anything, except comparing two variables. There is not even a hint of use of the callback for any other purpose in the official documentation.

Answer 2

I believe the first two calls are being used to seed variables in the internal algorithm. But since you don't return anything that the algorithm can use to determine equality/sorting, it only runs the next two.

If you actually return 0, 1 or -1 then you see the full comparison chain that is needed to calculate the intersection:

$i = 0;
array_uintersect(['foo', 'bar'], ['baz', 'qux'], function($a, $b) use (&$i) {
    print_r([$a, $b, $i++]);

    if ($a === $b) return 0;
    if ($a  >  $b) return 1;
    return -1;
});

Yields:

Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => foo
    [2] => 0
)
Array
(
    [0] => qux
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 1
)
Array
(
    [0] => bar
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 2
)
Array
(
    [0] => foo
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 3
)
Array
(
    [0] => foo
    [1] => baz
    [2] => 4
)
Array
(
    [0] => foo
    [1] => qux
    [2] => 5
)

Answer 3

I think you are looking for this ;)

$result = array_map(function($a, $b) {
    return [$a, $b];
}, ['foo', 'bar'], ['baz', 'qux']);
var_dump($result);

This will output

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "foo"
    [1]=>
    string(3) "baz"
  }
  [1]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "bar"
    [1]=>
    string(3) "qux"
  }
}

Update: It returns the result you want with the array_uintersect method. It isn't the most efficient way to do this and didn't test it with different data sets etc but should work.

$entities = [
    [
        'id' => 1,
        'timestamp' => 1234
    ],
    [
        'id' => 2,
        'timestamp' => 12345
    ],
    [
        'id' => 3,
        'timestamp' => 123456
    ],
    [
        'id' => 8,
        'timestamp' => 123456
    ],
    [
        'id' => 10,
        'timestamp' => 123456
    ],
    [
        'id' => 11,
        'timestamp' => 123456
    ],
    [
        'id' => 12,
        'timestamp' => 123456
    ]
];

$identities = [1, 11, 2, 8, 10];

$result = array_uintersect($entities, $identities, function($a, $b) {

    // Both array skip
    if (is_array($a) && is_array($b)) {
        if ($a['id'] > $b['id']) {
            return 1;
        }
        return -1;
    }

    // Both int skip
    if (is_int($a) && is_int($b)) {
        if ($a > $b) {
            return 1;
        }
        return -1;
    }

    // $a is array
    if (is_array($a)) {
        if ($a['id'] == $b) {
            return 0;
        }
        elseif ($a['id'] > $b) {
            return 1;
        }
        return -1;
    }

    // $b is array
    if($b['id'] == $a) {
        return 0;
    }
    if($a > $b['id']) {
        return 1;
    }

    return -1;
});
var_dump($result);

and the result

array(5) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    int(1)
    ["timestamp"]=>
    int(1234)
  }
  [1]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    int(2)
    ["timestamp"]=>
    int(12345)
  }
  [3]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    int(8)
    ["timestamp"]=>
    int(123456)
  }
  [4]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    int(10)
    ["timestamp"]=>
    int(123456)
  }
  [5]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    int(11)
    ["timestamp"]=>
    int(123456)
  }
}