Array implode to MySql and then retrieve values and explode back to same array not working if commas already existed in string

Question

If I implode an array $arr = ["Hello my, name is Steve", "How are you?"] to string to insert to MySQL database like so: $data = implode(',',$arr);, when I try to retrieve those values and explode it back into array: $arr2 = explode(',',$data); it returns : ["Hello my", "name is Steve", "How are you?"]

How do I get it to ignore the comma thats already in between quotes and explode as:

["Hello my, name is Steve", "How are you?"]

In a case like that, I'd suggest using a character not commonly found in a string, such as | — aynber
– aynber, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 19:30
You should normalize your database design so that you don't store comma separated values. Alternatively use JSON instead. — Nigel Ren
– Nigel Ren, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 19:31
@aynber The string comes from user input in a form, so should I just append a unique character to the end of the input so it can seperate from there? — Tiago Sa
– Tiago Sa, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 19:34
I meant use | for the imploding/exploding character, so you don't change the user input. But I agree with Nigel, using json would be a lot easier. — aynber
– aynber, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 19:36
Not every PHP scripts needs to involve implode/explode. Sometimes it's perfectly reasonable to keep JSON as storage format, if preserving structure is beneficial. xyproblem.info — mario
– mario, Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 20:02

Omi in a hellcat · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-24 20:28:12Z

1

Instead you can use json_encode and json_decode.

Try this out:

$arr = ["Hello my, name is Steve", "How are you?"]
$data = json_encode($arr); //Insert $data into mysql 
//Then to retrieve values 
$arr2 = json_decode($data); //returns ["Hello my, name is Steve", "How are you?"]

answered Feb 24, 2020 at 20:28

Omi in a hellcat

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