display output of array

Question

I used a plugin to input data into a database. Now I am displaying the data and writing code to search/sort. My problem is that I am not familiar with arrays that are put into a single field in a database. I’m not even sure of the correct “name” for data in this format. So if anyone could please direct me to a tutorial or documentation, I would appreciate it. Here is a sample of the code contained in one field of the database.

a:4:{i:0;s:32:"Green";i:1;s:26:"Red";i:2;s:31:"Blue";i:3;s:33:"Yellow";}

Ultimately I will need to display this data with a <br/> separating each element in the array. I also need to understand it better so I can search the fields that are displayed this way. I also really want to learn about it, because I believe it is fairly common and I should understand it.

Can you post a link to the plugin that made this and send another sample line? — NaturalBornCamper
– NaturalBornCamper, Commented Jun 18, 2012 at 19:25

hackartist · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-18 19:29:12Z

3

this data has been serialized so call

$array = unserialize($data);
print_r($array);

another popular encoding is JSON which you should also look into.

just so you know what is going on

"a:4" says what follows will be an array with 4 elements
"i:0" says this is the 0th index in the array
"s:32" says what comes next is a string
"Green" is that string
the rest just follows this pattern

edited Jun 18, 2012 at 19:29

answered Jun 18, 2012 at 19:22

hackartist

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Comments

Fahim Parkar · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-18 19:24:26Z

1

That data has been serialized. unserialize it to get the array back.

edited Jun 18, 2012 at 19:24

Fahim Parkar

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answered Jun 18, 2012 at 19:23

Niet the Dark Absol

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