(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
explode — Split a string by a string
Description
explode(string $separator, string $string, int $limit = PHP_INT_MAX): array
Parameters
separator The boundary string.
string The input string.
limit If limit is set and positive, the returned array will contain a maximum of limit elements with the last element containing the rest of string.
If the limit parameter is negative, all components except the last -limit are returned.
If the limit parameter is zero, then
this is treated as 1.
Note:
Prior to PHP 8.0, implode() accepted its parameters in either order. explode() has never supported this: you must ensure that the separator argument comes before the string argument.
Return Values
Returns an
array of strings created by splitting the string parameter on boundaries formed by the separator.
If separator is an empty string (""), explode() throws a ValueError. If separator contains a value that is not contained in string and a negative limit is used, then an empty array will be returned, otherwise an
array containing string will be returned. If separator values appear at the start or end of string, said values will be added as an empty array value either in the first or last position of the returned array respectively.
Changelog
| Version | Description |
|---|
| 8.0.0
| explode() will now throw ValueError when separator parameter is given an empty string (""). Previously, explode() returned false instead.
|
Examples
Example #1 explode() examples
<?php
// Example 1
$pizza = "piece1 piece2 piece3 piece4 piece5 piece6";
$pieces = explode(" ", $pizza);
echo $pieces[0]; // piece1
echo $pieces[1]; // piece2
// Example 2
$data = "foo:*:1023:1000::/home/foo:/bin/sh";
list($user, $pass, $uid, $gid, $gecos, $home, $shell) = explode(":", $data);
echo $user; // foo
echo $pass; // *?>
Example #2 explode() return examples
<?php
/*
A string that doesn't contain the delimiter will simply
return a one-length array of the original string.
*/
$input1 = "hello";
$input2 = "hello,there";
$input3 = ',';
var_dump( explode( ',', $input1 ) );
var_dump( explode( ',', $input2 ) );
var_dump( explode( ',', $input3 ) );?>
The above example will output:
array(1)
(
[0] => string(5) "hello"
)
array(2)
(
[0] => string(5) "hello"
[1] => string(5) "there"
)
array(2)
(
[0] => string(0) ""
[1] => string(0) ""
)
Example #3 limit parameter
examples
<?php
$str = 'one|two|three|four';// positive limit
print_r(explode('|', $str, 2));// negative limit
print_r(explode('|', $str, -1));
?>
The above example will output:
Array
(
[0] => one
[1] => two|three|four
)
Array
(
[0] => one
[1] => two
[2] => three
)
Notes
Note: This function is binary-safe.
See Also
- preg_split() - Split string by a regular
expression
- str_split() - Convert a string to an array
- mb_split() - Split multibyte string using regular expression
- str_word_count() - Return information about words used in a string
- strtok() - Tokenize string
- implode() - Join array elements with a string
Gerben ¶
6 months ago
Note that an empty input string will still result in one element in the output array. This is something to remember when you are processing unknown input.
For example, maybe you are splitting part of a URI by forward slashes (like "articles/42/show" => ["articles", "42", "show"]). And maybe you expect that an empty URI will result in an empty array ("" => []). Instead, it will contain one element, with an empty string:
<?php
$uri
= '';
$parts = explode('/', $uri));
var_dump($parts);?>
Will output:array(1) {
[0]=>
string(0) ""
}
And not:
array(0) {
}
bocoroth ¶
1 year ago
Be careful, while most non-alphanumeric data types as input strings return an array with an empty string when used with a valid separator, true returns an array with the string "1"!
var_dump(explode(',', null)); //array(1) { [0]=> string(0) "" }
var_dump(explode(',', false)); //array(1) { [0]=> string(0) "" }
var_dump(explode(',', true)); //array(1) { [0]=> string(1) "1" }
henrik Schmidt ¶
1 year ago
"Return value" text needs updating for php 8, an empty delimiter now throws an Exception.
Emilio Bravo ¶
1 year ago
$string = "PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION";
$exploded = explode("::",$string);
/*
explode('::',$string) = eliminate every :: and for each division of ::make an array element
Example:
PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION (exploded) = array (
[0] => string PDO
[1] => string ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
)
Example:
$exploded[0] = "PDO";
*/
foreach ($exploded as $index) {
echo $index . "\n";
}
/*
Output:
PDO
ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO
ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
*/
joshuachidiebere17217 at gmail dot com ¶
7 months ago
<?php
/*Array to split*/
$task =["Teach","Assess","Record ","Examine","Investigate"];
/*use Implode() function to convert
$task into arrays of string
*/
$string=implode(",", $task);
/*use explode() function to seperate $string into different
$task into arrays of string
*/
explode(",", $string);
foreach ($task as $variable => $tk) {
$variable>0;
$variable++;
echo '$variable_'.$variable.' is ' .$tk.'<br>';
}
echo min(3,6);
?>
David Spector ¶
1
year ago
When using 'explode' to create an array of strings from a user-specified string that contains newline characters, you may wish the resulting array to correctly reflect the user's intentions by ignoring any final empty line (many users like to end multi-line input with a final newline, for clarity).
Here is a function to call after 'explode' to support this effect:
// When using explode, delete the last line in the array of lines when it is empty
function IgnoreEmptyLastLine(&$linesArr)
{
$last=count($linesArr)-1;
if ($last>=0 && !$linesArr[$last])
unset($linesArr[$last]);
} // IgnoreEmptyLastLine
While explode() function is used to output an array by breaking apart a string with the help of another string, the implode() function is used to output a string by joining the elements(strings) of an array with the help of another string.
