PHP explode string into array with space delimiter when string has multiple spaces?

Question

My PHP code below will explode a string into array. It allows to use multiple delimiters for detecting where the array values should be from the string.

In the demo one of the delimiter values is a space. The problem is if the string has more than 1 consecutive space, it will generate empty array values.

For example key key2 key3 key4 would generate array with:

Array
(
    [0] => key
    [1] => key2
    [2] => key3
    [3] => 
    [4] => key4
)

and the desired output is:

Array
(
    [0] => key
    [1] => key2
    [2] => key3
    [4] => key4
)

How can I fix this?

/**
 * Explode a string into array with multiple delimiters instead of the default 1 delimeter that explode() allows!
 * @param  array $delimiters - array(',', ' ', '|') would make a string with spaces, |, or commas turn into array
 * @param string $string  text with the delimeter values in it that will be truned into an array
 * @return array - array of items created from the string where each delimiter  in string made a new array key
 */
function multiexplode ($delimiters, $string) {
    $ready = str_replace($delimiters, $delimiters[0], $string);
    $array = explode($delimiters[0], $ready);
    $array = array_map('trim', $array);
    return  $array;
}

$tagsString  = 'PHP JavaScript,WebDev Apollo   jhjhjh';
$tagsArray = multiexplode(array(',',' '), $tagsString);
print_r($tagsArray);

Output array

Array
(
    [0] => PHP
    [1] => JavaScript
    [2] => WebDev
    [3] => Apollo
    [4] => 
    [5] => 
    [6] => jhjhjh
)

Just use preg_split(). Once you start using regular expressions you'll never turn back. — jjwdesign
– jjwdesign, Commented Feb 15, 2016 at 21:09
what bout replacing $array = array_map('trim', $array); to $array = array_filter($array, "strlen"); ? saw this one awhile ago in the php docs to remove space, null, false — Andrew
– Andrew, Commented Feb 15, 2016 at 21:35

Rizier123 · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-15 21:31:31Z

11

You can solve your problem and simplify the code by using preg_split(). You can apply a regex including all delimiters in a character class with a quantifier and \s* to consume whitespaces around the delimiters.

Code:

$array = preg_split("/\s*[" . preg_quote(implode("", $delimiters), "/") . "]+\s*/", $str);
                      └┬┘└────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┘└┬┘ 
      Consuming any whitespaces                   │             Consuming any whitespaces 
      around delimiter                            │             around delimiter
                                   ┌──────────────┘
                                   ├ []           → Character class with quantifier
                                   ├ implode()    → Converting array into a string
                                   └ preg_quote() → Escaping special characters

edited Feb 15, 2016 at 21:31

answered Feb 15, 2016 at 21:05

Rizier123

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2 Comments

Jay Blanchard Over a year ago

Excellent RR! I was headed for the bull-in-a-China-shop approach with preg_replace() then explode() like this $foo_array = explode(' ', preg_replace('/\s{2,}/', ' ', $str));

mickmackusa Over a year ago

When imploding with an empty string as the glue, the glue parameter can be omitted.

FareedMN · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-15 21:09:00Z

2

You can also use :

array_filter($tagsArray);

Or use :

array_diff( $tagsArray, array( '' ));

answered Feb 15, 2016 at 21:09

FareedMN

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1 Comment

JasonDavis Over a year ago

Nice simple approach!

AbraCadaver · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-15 17:48:04Z

0

There is already a working preg_split() answer, but maybe more flexible to just use PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY:

$tagsArray = preg_split('/[ ,]/', $tagsString, null, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);  // or '/ |,/'

edited Mar 15, 2022 at 17:48

answered Feb 15, 2016 at 21:58

AbraCadaver

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2 Comments

JasonDavis Over a year ago

Would this limit to just 1 type of delimiter though?

AbraCadaver Over a year ago

No. The code uses spaces and commas and you can add whatever you want either separated by the OR | operator or in a character class [].

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