How to explode a string, with spaces and new lines?

Question

I would like to explode a string (separated based on a delimiter and placed into an array), using both a space (" ") and a newline ("\n") as a delimiter.

The method (which I don't think is the best way) is to:

Explode the array by spaces
Remake the string from the array
Explode it again for new lines
MySQL escape the individual elements.

Question: How do I exploded a string by both a space and new line?

Reference to: new line Array

You can use regular expressions which is probably most efficient here. The other way is to explode twice, first by spaces and then each resulting array by new line character. At last, join all arrays into one (array_merge) — Voitcus, Jul 29 '13 at 07:39

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 16 '21 at 06:10

25

You could just do a

$segments = preg_split('/[\s]+/', $string);

This function will split $string at every whitespace (\s) occurrence, including spaces, tabs and newlines. Multiple sequential white spaces will count as one (e.g. "hello, \n\t \n\nworld!" will be split in hello, and world! only, without empty strings in the middle.

See function reference here.

edited Jul 16 '21 at 06:10

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answered Jul 29 '13 at 07:41

Paolo Stefan

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I've been searching absolutely everywhere using preg_match, str_replace all sorts to find this perfect solution. Thank you very much. – TLG123 Apr 17 '20 at 08:19
It also removes multiple empty lines. Nice. No need to go over the resulting array and find empty slots. – Avatar Jul 16 '21 at 06:11

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '13 at 07:39

7

You can use preg_split to explode the content using multiple delimiter

$pattern = '/[ \n]/';
$string = "something here ; and there, oh,that's all!";
echo '<pre>', print_r( preg_split( $pattern, $string ), 1 ), '</pre>';

answered Jul 29 '13 at 07:39

Yogesh Suthar

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you should replace the `,` with `.` in your echo. – Tobias Golbs Jul 29 '13 at 07:52
@TobiasKun It will not create any error. See its syntax `echo ( string $arg1 [, string $... ] )` – Yogesh Suthar Jul 29 '13 at 07:54
Although Tobias way is valid... it just hurts my eyes... changed it to be more readable to traditional folk like myself. – ftrotter Nov 01 '13 at 20:33

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '13 at 07:38

Always go from the bigger to the smaller one.

So first split by "\n" and then split by " ".

$data = "This is a test\nAnd something new happens.";
$rows = explode("\n", $data);
$words = array();
foreach($rows as $row) {
    $temp = explode(" ", $row);
    foreach($temp as $word)
        $words[] = $word;
}

Will give you an array with all words in it.

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 03 '15 at 13:04

You can use to explode the content using multiple delimiter.

Sample code

<?php
$str = "Brand : Pandora~ Collection : Summer 13~ Colour : Multi~ Gender : Ladies~ Material : Murano Glass~ Our Code : 0573835~ Packaging : Pandora Branded Packaging~ Product Code : 750513~ Product Type : Bead~ Style : Contemporary";
$r1 = explode("~", $str);
$stringtxt = '<table>';
if (count($r1) > 0) {
    foreach ($r1 as $value) {
        $rows = explode(":", $value);
        $stringtxt .= '<tr>';
        $stringtxt .= '<td>' . $rows[0] . '</td><td>' . $rows[1] . '</td>';
        $stringtxt .= '</tr>';
    }
}
$stringtxt .= '</table>';
print $stringtxt;
?>

Output

<table>
<tr><td>Brand </td><td> Pandora</td></tr>
<tr><td> Collection </td><td> Summer 13</td></tr>
<tr><td> Colour </td><td> Multi</td></tr>
<tr><td> Gender </td><td> Ladies</td></tr>
<tr><td> Material </td><td> Murano Glass</td></tr>
<tr><td> Our Code </td><td> 0573835</td></tr>
<tr><td> Packaging </td><td> Pandora Branded Packaging</td></tr>
<tr><td> Product Code </td><td> 750513</td></tr>
<tr><td> Product Type </td><td> Bead</td></tr>
<tr><td> Style </td><td> Contemporary</td></tr>
</table>

How to explode a string, with spaces and new lines?

4 Answers4