I found out that in_array will *not* find an associative array within a haystack of associative arrays in strict mode if the keys were not generated in the *same order*:
<?php
$needle = array(
'fruit'=>'banana', 'vegetable'=>'carrot'
);
$haystack = array(
array('vegetable'=>'carrot', 'fruit'=>'banana'),
array('fruit'=>'apple', 'vegetable'=>'celery')
);
echo in_array($needle, $haystack, true) ? 'true' : 'false';
echo in_array($needle, $haystack) ? 'true' : 'false';
?>
I had wrongly assumed the order of the items in an associative array were irrelevant, regardless of whether 'strict' is TRUE or FALSE: The order is irrelevant *only* if not in strict mode.
