A simple function to check if arrays are similar.

array_are_similar.php

     /**
     * Determine if two associative arrays are similar
     *
     * Both arrays must have the same indexes with identical values
     * without respect to key ordering 
     * 
     * @param array $a
     * @param array $b
     * @return bool
     */
    function arrays_are_similar($a, $b) {
        // if the indexes don't match, return immediately
        if (count(array_diff_assoc($a, $b))) {
            return false;
        }

        // we know that the indexes, but maybe not values, match.
        // compare the values between the two arrays
        foreach($a as $k => $v) {
            if ($v !== $b[$k]) {
                return false;
            }
        }

        // we have identical indexes, and no unequal values
        return true;
    }