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    explode

    (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

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

    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

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    User Contributed Notes 5 notes

    up
    5
    Emilio Bravo
    3 years 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

    */
    up
    2
    henrik Schmidt
    3 years ago
    "Return value" text needs updating for php 8, an empty delimiter now throws an Exception.
    up
    4
    bocoroth
    3 years 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" }
    up
    -7
    David Spector
    3 years 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[$last]);
        } // IgnoreEmptyLastLine
    up
    -29
    leandro at primersistemas dot com dot br
    3 years ago
    function aexplode($delimiters,$string,$trimduplicate = false) {
        if (!is_array($delimiters))
            return explode($delimiters,$string);
        $stringaux = str_replace($delimiters, $delimiters[0], $string);
        if ($trimduplicate)
            while (strpos($stringaux,$delimiters[0].$delimiters[0]) !== false)
                $stringaux = str_replace($delimiters[0].$delimiters[0],$delimiters[0],$stringaux);
        return explode($delimiters[0],$stringaux);
    }

    This functions will work and accept array.
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