PHP explode() Function

PHP String Functions

Example

Splitting strings into arrays:

<?php
$str = "Hello world. I love Shanghai!";
print_r (explode(" ", $str));
?>

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Definition and Usage

The explode() function splits a string into an array.

Note:"separator"Parameter cannot be an empty string.

Note:This function is binary safe.

Syntax

explode(separator,string,limit)
Parameters Description
separator Required. Specifies where to split the string.
string Required. The string to be split.
limit

Optional. Specifies the number of array elements to return.

Possible Values:

  • Greater than 0 - Returns an array containing up to limit An array of elements
  • Less than 0 - Returns an array containing all elements except the lastlimit An array of all elements except the element outside of
  • 0 - Returns an array containing one element

Technical Details

Return Value: Returns an array of strings
PHP Version: 4+
Update Log: Negative numbers were added in PHP 4.0.1. limit Parameters. Negative numbers were added in PHP 5.1.0. limit support.

More Examples

Example 1

Usage limit Parameters to return some array elements:

<?php
$str = 'one,two,three,four';
// Zero limit
print_r(explode(',', $str, 0));
// Positive limit
print_r(explode(',', $str, 2));
// Negative limit
print_r(explode(',', $str, -1));
?>

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PHP String Functions