Importing user data as PHP variables

Question

I have a data file that my users upload with a section comprising of keys and values separated by tabs and line breaks:

key     value
city    London
year    1984

I import this into a script, then assign PHP variables with the names equal to the value:

$key = 'value';
$city = 'London';
$year = 1984;

This is used to populate templates that they've also uploaded.

This is my script that assigns to keys and values:

$userdata = explode("\n", $file);
foreach($userdata as &$line){
    list($key, $value) = explode("\t", $line);
    $$key = $value;}

I'm wondering if this is the best way to assign keys to values, if there are any security precautions I should take such as prevent certain key names, and if there would be a way to make a key equal to an array if the line has multiple tabs.

I'd just assign the key / value(s) to an array, eg $props[$key] = $value — Phil
– Phil, Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 0:52
"if there are any security precautions I should take such as prevent certain key names" - Counter-question: What do you foresee as being a security risk? If you're using this to store sensitive information, then you should consider using a database; or place it outside the public root area and safeguard it throuh .htaccess if you need to. — Funk Forty Niner
– Funk Forty Niner, Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 1:23
Plus, text files are a lot of work when it comes to managing them. — Funk Forty Niner
– Funk Forty Niner, Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 1:24
The security risk would be having that text file available to the public. — StackSlave
– StackSlave, Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 1:24

StackSlave · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-06 01:26:45Z

0

I think you should do this:

<?php
$filePointer = @fopen($file, 'r');
while($line = fgets($filePointer)){
  $a = preg_split('/\b\s+\b/', $line);
  ${$a[0]} = $a[1];
}
echo "key:$key; city:$city; year:$year;"
?>

edited Apr 6, 2017 at 1:26

answered Apr 6, 2017 at 1:19

StackSlave

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