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</div><hr /><div id="function.explode" class="refentry">
<div class="refnamediv">
<h1 class="refname">explode</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 4, PHP 5)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">explode</span> — <span class="dc-title">Split a string by string</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-function.explode-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="type">array</span> <span class="methodname"><strong>explode</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">string</span> <code class="parameter">$delimiter</code></span>
, <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">string</span> <code class="parameter">$string</code></span>
[, <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">int</span> <code class="parameter">$limit</code></span>
] )</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
Returns an array of strings, each of which is a substring of
<em><code class="parameter">string</code></em> formed by splitting it on
boundaries formed by the string <em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em>.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-function.explode-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
The boundary string.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">string</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
The input string.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
If <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> is set and positive, the returned array will contain
a maximum of <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> elements with the last
element containing the rest of <em><code class="parameter">string</code></em>.
</p>
<p class="para">
If the <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> parameter is negative, all components
except the last -<em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> are returned.
</p>
<p class="para">
If the <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> parameter is zero, then this is treated as 1.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
</dl>
</p>
<p class="para">
Although <span class="function"><a href="function.implode.html" class="function">implode()</a></span> can, for historical reasons,
accept its parameters in either order,
<span class="function"><strong>explode()</strong></span> cannot. You must ensure that the
<em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em> argument comes before the
<em><code class="parameter">string</code></em> argument.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-function.explode-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
Returns an <span class="type"><a href="language.types.array.html" class="type array">array</a></span> of <span class="type"><a href="language.types.string.html" class="type string">string</a></span>s
created by splitting the <em><code class="parameter">string</code></em> parameter on
boundaries formed by the <em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em>.
</p>
<p class="para">
If <em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em> is an empty <span class="type"><a href="language.types.string.html" class="type string">string</a></span> (""),
<span class="function"><strong>explode()</strong></span> will return <strong><code>FALSE</code></strong>.
If <em><code class="parameter">delimiter</code></em> contains a value that is not
contained in <em><code class="parameter">string</code></em> and a negative
<em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> is used, then an empty <span class="type"><a href="language.types.array.html" class="type array">array</a></span> will be
returned, otherwise an <span class="type"><a href="language.types.array.html" class="type array">array</a></span> containing
<em><code class="parameter">string</code></em> will be returned.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 changelog" id="refsect1-function.explode-changelog">
<h3 class="title">Changelog</h3>
<p class="para">
<table class="doctable informaltable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Version</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr>
<td>5.1.0</td>
<td>
Support for negative <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em>s was added
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4.0.1</td>
<td>
The <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> parameter was added
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-function.explode-examples">
<h3 class="title">Examples</h3>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-4828">
<p><strong>Example #1 <span class="function"><strong>explode()</strong></span> examples</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// Example 1<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pizza </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"piece1 piece2 piece3 piece4 piece5 piece6"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pieces </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">" "</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pizza</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pieces</span><span style="color: #007700">[</span><span style="color: #0000BB">0</span><span style="color: #007700">]; </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// piece1<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pieces</span><span style="color: #007700">[</span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">]; </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// piece2<br /><br />// Example 2<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$data </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"foo:*:1023:1000::/home/foo:/bin/sh"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br />list(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$user</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pass</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$uid</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$gid</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$gecos</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$home</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$shell</span><span style="color: #007700">) = </span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">":"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$data</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$user</span><span style="color: #007700">; </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// foo<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$pass</span><span style="color: #007700">; </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// *<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-4829">
<p><strong>Example #2 <span class="function"><strong>explode()</strong></span> return examples</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* <br /> A string that doesn't contain the delimiter will simply<br /> return a one-length array of the original string.<br />*/<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$input1 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"hello"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$input2 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"hello,there"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_dump</span><span style="color: #007700">( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">( </span><span style="color: #DD0000">','</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$input1 </span><span style="color: #007700">) );<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_dump</span><span style="color: #007700">( </span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">( </span><span style="color: #DD0000">','</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$input2 </span><span style="color: #007700">) );<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
array(1)
(
[0] => string(5) "hello"
)
array(2)
(
[0] => string(5) "hello"
[1] => string(5) "there"
)
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-4830">
<p><strong>Example #3 <em><code class="parameter">limit</code></em> parameter examples</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br />$str </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">'one|two|three|four'</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// positive limit<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">print_r</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'|'</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$str</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">));<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// negative limit (since PHP 5.1)<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">print_r</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">explode</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'|'</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$str</span><span style="color: #007700">, -</span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">));<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
Array
(
[0] => one
[1] => two|three|four
)
Array
(
[0] => one
[1] => two
[2] => three
)
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 notes" id="refsect1-function.explode-notes">
<h3 class="title">Notes</h3>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>: <span class="simpara">This function is
binary-safe.</span></p></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 seealso" id="refsect1-function.explode-seealso">
<h3 class="title">See Also</h3>
<p class="para">
<ul class="simplelist">
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.preg-split.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">preg_split()</a> - Split string by a regular expression</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.str-split.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">str_split()</a> - Convert a string to an array</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.mb-split.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">mb_split()</a> - Split multibyte string using regular expression</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.str-word-count.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">str_word_count()</a> - Return information about words used in a string</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.strtok.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">strtok()</a> - Tokenize string</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.implode.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">implode()</a> - Join array elements with a string</span></li>
</ul>
</p>
</div>
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