Name for string that holds array?

Question

I am wondering what the proper name is for an array held in a string (string that holds an array).

Commonly used for storing tags or multiple variables in a database

EXAMPLE 1 (Image URLs for item): url1,url2,url3

Example 2 (Video Tags): tag1,tag2,tag3

Example 3 (quests complete): 2,3,1,6,7,4

These strings would get converted into an array with an explode in PHP usually.

To clarify: What is the proper name for these types of strings?

you could say "comma delimited string" or "comma separated string" ? — Umer Abbas, Oct 15 '19 at 06:02
*"Insufficiently applied encoding practices which will break if your values ever happen to contain a comma"*. To serialise an array to a string, use established serialisation formats like `serialize` or JSON or such… — deceze, Oct 15 '19 at 07:15
See also: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad — Progrock, Oct 15 '19 at 07:58

Miroslav Glamuzina · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-15T07:03:01.297

1

These values are stored as comma separated values or CSV. This is a relatively common practice as a way to store multiple data points uder a single entry.

From wikipedia

A comma-separated values (CSV) file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. A CSV file stores tabular data (numbers and text) in plain text. Each line of the file is a data record. Each record consists of one or more fields, separated by commas. The use of the comma as a field separator is the source of the name for this file format.

Hope this helps,

edited Oct 15 '19 at 07:03

answered Oct 15 '19 at 06:49

Miroslav Glamuzina

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Except that I doubt OP applies actual CSV rules, like using quotes if values contain commas… – deceze Oct 15 '19 at 07:16

Name for string that holds array?

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