Simple question, comma delimited id's to array in php 5.2

Question

I've got a comma delimited string of id's coming in and I need some quick way to split them into an array. I know that I could hardcode it, but that's just gross and pointless.

I know nothing about regex at all and I can't find a SIMPLE example anywhere on the internet, only huge tutorials trying to teach me how to master regular expressions in 2 hours or something.

fgetcsv is only applicable for a file and str_getcsv is only available in PHP 5.3 and greater.

So, am I going to have to write this by hand or is there something out there that will do it for me? I would prefer a simple regex solution with a little explanation as to why it does what it does.

Answer 1

$string = "1,3,5,9,11";
$array = explode(',', $string);

See explode()

Returns an array of strings, each of which is a substring of string formed by splitting it on boundaries formed by the string delimiter .

Answer 2

Any problem with normal split function?

$array = split(',', 'One,Two,Three');

will give you

Array
(
  [0] => One
  [1] => Two
  [2] => Three
)

Answer 3

A simple regular expression should do the trick.

$a_ids = preg_split('%,%', $ids);

Answer 4

If you want to just split on commas:

$values = explode(",", $string);

If you also want to get rid of whitespace around the commas (eg: your string is 1, 3, 5)

$values = preg_split('/\s*,\s*/', $string)

If you want to be able to have commas in your string when surrounded by quotes, (eg: first, "se,cond", third)

$regex = <<<ENDOFREGEX
            /  "  ( (?:[^"\\\\]++|\\\\.)*+ ) \"
             | '  ( (?:[^'\\\\]++|\\\\.)*+ ) \'
             | ,+
            /x
ENDOFREGEX;
$values = preg_split($regex, $string, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY | PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE);