SYNOPSIS

string * explode( string str, string del)

DESCRIPTION

Return an array of strings, created when the string str is split into substrings as divided by del.

Note

implode(explode(str, del), del) == str is always true.

USAGE

function                    returns
-------------------------------------------------------------------
explode(" ab cd ef ", " ")  ({ "", "ab", "cd", "ef", "" })
explode("abc", "abc")       ({ "", "" })
explode("", "")             ({ "" })
explode("", <whatever>)     ({ "" })
explode("abc", "xyz")       ({ "abc" })
explode("abc", "")          ({ "a", "b", "c" })

HISTORY

  • changed (unknown) – explode(" ab cd ef ", " ") formerly returned ({ "ab", "cd", "ef" }) instead of ({ "", "ab", "cd", "ef", "" }), i. e. the empty strings were ignored. The new behaviour is more consistent, because now implode(explode(str, del), del) == str is always true.
  • changed (3.5.0) – explode(“”,””) returns ({“”}), so it is guaranteed to return a non-empty array.