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<refentry xml:id="function.explode" xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>explode</refname>
  <refpurpose>Split a string by a string</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 
 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type>array</type><methodname>explode</methodname>
   <methodparam><type>string</type><parameter>separator</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam><type>string</type><parameter>string</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>int</type><parameter>limit</parameter><initializer><constant>PHP_INT_MAX</constant></initializer></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <para>
   Returns an array of strings, each of which is a substring of
   <parameter>string</parameter> formed by splitting it on
   boundaries formed by the string <parameter>separator</parameter>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="parameters">
  &reftitle.parameters;
  <para>
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>separator</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The boundary string.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>string</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The input string.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>limit</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       If <parameter>limit</parameter> is set and positive, the returned array will contain
       a maximum of <parameter>limit</parameter> elements with the last
       element containing the rest of <parameter>string</parameter>.
      </para>
      <para>
       If the <parameter>limit</parameter> parameter is negative, all components
       except the last -<parameter>limit</parameter> are returned.
      </para>
      <para>
       If the <parameter>limit</parameter> parameter is zero, then this is treated as 1.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
  <note>
   <para>
    Prior to PHP 8.0, <function>implode</function> accepted its parameters in either order.
    <function>explode</function> has never supported this: you must ensure that the
    <parameter>separator</parameter> argument comes before the
    <parameter>string</parameter> argument.
   </para>
  </note>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   Returns an <type>array</type> of <type>string</type>s
   created by splitting the <parameter>string</parameter> parameter on
   boundaries formed by the <parameter>separator</parameter>.
  </para>
  <para>
   If <parameter>separator</parameter> is an empty <type>string</type> (""),
   <function>explode</function> throws a <classname>ValueError</classname>.
   If <parameter>separator</parameter> contains a value that is not
   contained in <parameter>string</parameter> and a negative
   <parameter>limit</parameter> is used, then an empty <type>array</type> will be
   returned, otherwise an <type>array</type> containing
   <parameter>string</parameter> will be returned. If <parameter>separator</parameter> 
   values appear at the start or end of <parameter>string</parameter>, said values 
   will be added as an empty <type>array</type> value either in the first or last 
   position of the returned <type>array</type> respectively.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="changelog">
  &reftitle.changelog;
  <informaltable>
   <tgroup cols="2">
    <thead>
     <row>
      <entry>&Version;</entry>
      <entry>&Description;</entry>
     </row>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
     <row>
      <entry>8.0.0</entry>
      <entry>
       <function>explode</function> will now throw <classname>ValueError</classname>
       when <parameter>separator</parameter> parameter is given an empty string
       (<literal>""</literal>).
       Previously, <function>explode</function> returned &false; instead.
      </entry>
     </row>
    </tbody>
   </tgroup>
  </informaltable>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title><function>explode</function> examples</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
// Example 1
$pizza  = "piece1 piece2 piece3 piece4 piece5 piece6";
$pieces = explode(" ", $pizza);
echo $pieces[0], PHP_EOL; // piece1
echo $pieces[1], PHP_EOL; // piece2

// Example 2
$data = "foo:*:1023:1000::/home/foo:/bin/sh";
list($user, $pass, $uid, $gid, $gecos, $home, $shell) = explode(":", $data);
echo $user, PHP_EOL; // foo
echo $pass, PHP_EOL; // *
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
   </example>
  </para>
  <para>
   <example>
    <title><function>explode</function> return examples</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?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";
$input3 = ',';
var_dump( explode( ',', $input1 ) );
var_dump( explode( ',', $input2 ) );
var_dump( explode( ',', $input3 ) );

?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
array(1)
(
    [0] => string(5) "hello"
)
array(2)
(
    [0] => string(5) "hello"
    [1] => string(5) "there"
)
array(2)
(
    [0] => string(0) ""
    [1] => string(0) ""
)
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
  </para>
  <para>
   <example>
    <title><parameter>limit</parameter> parameter examples</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
$str = 'one|two|three|four';

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

// negative limit
print_r(explode('|', $str, -1));
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
Array
(
    [0] => one
    [1] => two|three|four
)
Array
(
    [0] => one
    [1] => two
    [2] => three
)
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="notes">
  &reftitle.notes;
  &note.bin-safe;
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>preg_split</function></member>
    <member><function>str_split</function></member>
    <member><function>mb_split</function></member>
    <member><function>str_word_count</function></member>
    <member><function>strtok</function></member>
    <member><function>implode</function></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>
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