= 0; $i--) { if(strlen($list[$i]) < 1 || $list[$i][0] === '#') unset($list[$i]); } // Re-index list after possible unset() activity $newlist = array_values($list); return $newlist; } function filterArray(&$inArray) { $outArray = array(); foreach ($inArray as $key=>$value) { if (is_array($value)) { $outArray[htmlspecialchars($key)] = filterArray($value); } else { $outArray[htmlspecialchars($key)] = htmlspecialchars($value); } } return $outArray; } // Protect against XSS attacks $list = filterArray($list); echo json_encode(array_values($list));