php man page for explode

EXPLODE(3)								 1								EXPLODE(3)

explode - Split a string by string

SYNOPSIS
       array explode (string  $delimiter, string  $string, [int  $limit])

DESCRIPTION
	Returns an array of strings, each of which is a substring of $string formed by splitting it on boundaries formed by the string $delimiter.

PARAMETERS
	      o $delimiter
		- The boundary string.

	      o $string
		- The input string.

	      o $limit
		- If $limit is set and positive, the returned array will contain a maximum of $limit elements with the last element containing the
		rest of $string.  If the $limit parameter is negative, all components except the last -$limit are returned.  If the $limit parame-
		ter is zero, then this is treated as 1.

       Note

	       Although implode(3) can, for historical reasons, accept its parameters in either order, explode(3) cannot. You must ensure that the
	      $delimiter argument comes before the $string argument.

RETURN VALUES
	Returns an array of strings created by splitting the $string parameter on boundaries formed by the $delimiter.

	If $delimiter is an empty string (""), explode(3) will return FALSE. If $delimiter contains a value that is not contained in $string and a
       negative $limit is used, then an empty array will be returned, otherwise an array containing $string will be returned.

CHANGELOG
       +--------+-----------------------------------------+
       |Version |					  |
       |	|					  |
       |	|		Description		  |
       |	|					  |
       +--------+-----------------------------------------+
       | 5.1.0	|					  |
       |	|					  |
       |	|  Support for negative $limits was added |
       |	|					  |
       +--------+-----------------------------------------+
EXAMPLES
       Example #1

	      explode(3) examples

	      <?php
	      // Example 1
	      $pizza  = "piece1 piece2 piece3 piece4 piece5 piece6";
	      $pieces = explode(" ", $pizza);
	      echo $pieces[0]; // piece1
	      echo $pieces[1]; // piece2

	      // Example 2
	      $data = "foo:*:1023:1000::/home/foo:/bin/sh";
	      list($user, $pass, $uid, $gid, $gecos, $home, $shell) = explode(":", $data);
	      echo $user; // foo
	      echo $pass; // *

	      ?>

       Example #2

	      explode(3) return examples

	      <?php
	      /*
		 A string that doesn't contain the delimiter will simply
		 return a one-length array of the original string.
	      */
	      $input1 = "hello";
	      $input2 = "hello,there";
	      var_dump( explode( ',', $input1 ) );
	      var_dump( explode( ',', $input2 ) );

	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      array(1)
	      (
		  [0] => string(5) "hello"
	      )
	      array(2)
	      (
		  [0] => string(5) "hello"
		  [1] => string(5) "there"
	      )

       Example #3

	      $limit parameter examples

	      <?php
	      $str = 'one|two|three|four';

	      // positive limit
	      print_r(explode('|', $str, 2));

	      // negative limit (since PHP 5.1)
	      print_r(explode('|', $str, -1));
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      Array
	      (
		  [0] => one
		  [1] => two|three|four
	      )
	      Array
	      (
		  [0] => one
		  [1] => two
		  [2] => three
	      )

NOTES
       Note

	      This function is binary-safe.

SEE ALSO
       preg_split(3), str_split(3), mb_split(3), str_word_count(3), strtok(3), implode(3).

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