Returning an array is a little bit more complex. Here we take a string and a count and return an array with the specified number of elements containing the given string. So, to return an array you first call %array_init()% on the return_value zval and then populate the array by calling the various add_* functions. The functions available to populate an array are: Recall that PHP supports the non-indexed array syntax. eg. ]]> This same concept is available in the extension API using these functions: You can also create an array with non-numeric indices. Otherwise known as an associative array using these functions: To return a 2-dimensional array, you simply make new arrays and add them as elements of the top array. Like this: Note the use of %add_assoc_long_ex()% in the above example. If we know the length of the key, then this is slightly faster than calling %add_assoc_long()%. The macro definition shows why: