imploding an array of strings

[mark_wales5]

I'm imploding an array of numbers and strings which are then separated by a colon character:

$output = implode(":", $outputArray);

$outputArray is an array containing 4 elements - id_number (a 10 digit integer), family name (a string), given name (a string) and date of birth (a string of format 21/02/81).

$output works perfectly if just the id_number the family name and the given name are imploded. But as soon as date of birth is added it causes bizarre formatting of the output string.

e.g.

2002112345:Roe:Jane

but with the date of birth it becomes:

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[LordShryku]

Sounds like there's something wrong in the array. implode should work the same, regardless of what's in the array. Do a print_r($outputArray) before doing the implode when there's a date of birth and see how that looks.

[mark_wales5]

The array is:

Array
(
     [0] => 2002112345
     [1] => Roe
     [2] => Jane
     [3] => 02/11/81
)

I think the forward slashes may be part of the problem but i don't know what to do about them.

[Weedpacket]

Originally posted by mark_wales5
The array is:

Array
(
     [0] => 2002112345
     [1] => Roe
     [2] => Jane
     [3] => 02/11/81
)

I think the forward slashes may be part of the problem but i don't know what to do about them. [/B]

So you're saying

$array = array('2002112345','Roe','Jane','02/11/81');
$implode = implode(':', $array);
echo $implode;

produces ":02/11/815:Roe:Jane"? That is weird.

[mark_wales5]

Yeh thats what it does. It seems to write over the beginning of the string with the date of birth. The length of this bad string is exactly the same as a good string without the date of birth though, is it a coincidence?? I don't have a clue. I just know it's very annoying.

If I leave $date_of_birth separate from the array and try and concatenate it I get the same result :S

[mark_wales5]

I used:

var_dump($completeOutput);

and I got:

:02/11/81" "2002112345:Roe:Jane

Which is the right output but it looks the string is split in two. Any ideas?

[Weedpacket]

Originally posted by mark_wales5
I used:

var_dump($completeOutput);

and I got:

:02/11/81" "2002112345:Roe:Jane

Which is the right output but it looks the string is split in two. Any ideas? [/B]

Not without seeing more of the code that's causing the problem (e.g., where $completeOutput is getting its value).

[mark_wales5]

I've fixed it. The data I was reading in had a newline at the end which i'd forgotten to trim. It works great now thanks for the help guys. Sorry to waste peoples time.