Insert new item in array on any position in PHP

How can I insert a new item into an array on any position, for example in the middle of array?

You may find this a little more intuitive. It only requires one function call to array_splice:

$original = array( 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e' );
$inserted = array( 'x' ); // not necessarily an array, see manual quote
 
array_splice( $original, 3, 0, $inserted ); // splice in at position 3
// $original is now a b c x d e

If replacement is just one element it is not necessary to put array() around it, unless the element is an array itself, an object or NULL.

RETURN VALUE: To be noted that the function does not return the desired substitution. The $original is passed by reference and edited in place. See the expression array &$array with & in the parameters list .

A function that can insert at both integer and string positions:

/**
 * @param array      $array
 * @param int|string $position
 * @param mixed      $insert
 */
function array_insert(&$array, $position, $insert)
{
    if (is_int($position)) {
        array_splice($array, $position, 0, $insert);
    } else {
        $pos   = array_search($position, array_keys($array));
        $array = array_merge(
            array_slice($array, 0, $pos),
            $insert,
            array_slice($array, $pos)
        );
    }
}

Integer usage:

$arr = ["one", "two", "three"];
array_insert(
    $arr,
    1,
    "one-half"
);
// ->
array (
  0 => 'one',
  1 => 'one-half',
  2 => 'two',
  3 => 'three',
)

String Usage:

$arr = [
    "name"  => [
        "type"      => "string",
        "maxlength" => "30",
    ],
    "email" => [
        "type"      => "email",
        "maxlength" => "150",
    ],
];

array_insert(
    $arr,
    "email",
    [
        "phone" => [
            "type"   => "string",
            "format" => "phone",
        ],
    ]
);
// ->
array (
  'name' =>
  array (
    'type' => 'string',
    'maxlength' => '30',
  ),
  'phone' =>
  array (
    'type' => 'string',
    'format' => 'phone',
  ),
  'email' =>
  array (
    'type' => 'email',
    'maxlength' => '150',
  ),
)

$a = array(1, 2, 3, 4);
$b = array_merge(array_slice($a, 0, 2), array(5), array_slice($a, 2));
// $b = array(1, 2, 5, 3, 4)

If you want to keep the keys of the initial array and also add an array that has keys, then use the function below:

function insertArrayAtPosition( $array, $insert, $position ) {
    /*
    $array : The initial array i want to modify
    $insert : the new array i want to add, eg array('key' => 'value') or array('value')
    $position : the position where the new array will be inserted into. Please mind that arrays start at 0
    */
    return array_slice($array, 0, $position, TRUE) + $insert + array_slice($array, $position, NULL, TRUE);
}

Call example:

$array = insertArrayAtPosition($array, array('key' => 'Value'), 3);