[Resolved] Problem with Explode

kilbey1

When I draw information out of a database, I am noticing that upon explode (based on spaces) it's not catching all the spaces. I have even tried replacing the spaces. Here's what I mean:

Code:

//explode the skills located in database
$skills_temp = explode(" ",
$row_skills['Section_Value']);
$newskills = str_replace(' ', '', $skills_temp);
						//print_r($skills_temp);
$skills = array();
foreach($newskills as $value) {
	$skills2 = strtolower($value);			$skills[] = $skills2;			
}
						print_r($skills);

Output:

Array ( ...snip... [17] => clearance. technical [18] => skills operating [19] => systems: [20] => unix, [21] => sun [22] => solaris [23] => 2.6, [24] => 7, [25] => 8; [26] => vms; [27] => hp-ux; [28] => bsd, [29] => mac [30] => os [31] => 6, [32] => 7, [33] => 8, [34] => 9 [35] => &  [36] => x; [37] => winnt; [38] => win2k network [39] => &  [40] => protocols [41] => [42] => : [43] => [44] => ethernet, [45] => tcp/ip, [46] => dhcp, [47] => ftp, [48] => http, [49] => ldap, [50] => dns, [51] => asip, [52] => pop3, [53] => smtp, [54] => snmp, [55] => nat, [56] => decnet, [57] => nfs, [58] => x-windows, [59] => firewalls hardware [60] => : [61] => [62] => [63] => sparc, [64] => vax, [65] => pc [66] => &  [67] => macintosh [68] => hardware; [69] => ethernet [70] => hubs, [71] => routers [72] => and [73] => switches )

devinemke

what exactly is the contents of $row_skills['Section_Value'] ?

kilbey1

OOOOH. it's a newline.

Over 20 years of IT experience and more than 5 years as UNIX Administrator.
Have Active Secret security clearance.

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Operating Systems: Unix, Sun Solaris 2.6, 7, 8; VMS; HP-UX; BSD, Mac OS 6, 7, 8, 9 & X; WinNT; Win2K
Network & Protocols  :  Ethernet, TCP/IP, DHCP, FTP, HTTP, LDAP, DNS, ASIP, POP3, SMTP, SNMP, NAT, DECnet, NFS, X-Windows, firewalls
Hardware :   SPARC, VAX, PC & Macintosh hardware; Ethernet hubs, routers and switches

OK then, what's the best way to strip multiple identifiers, in addition to spaces?

devinemke

$string = '    This string has 
newlines and 
spaces and lots more spaces 
at the begining and end    ';

$string = trim($string);
$string = str_replace("\r\n", '', $string);
$string = str_replace("\r", '', $string);
$string = str_replace("\n", '', $string);

$array = explode(' ', $string);
print_r($array);

kilbey1

Interesting. I changed my code to this:

//explode the skills located in database
						$string = trim($row_skills['Section_Value']);
						$string = str_replace("\r\n\t", '', $string);
						$string = str_replace("\r", '', $string);
						$string = str_replace("\n", '', $string);
						$string = str_replace("\t", '', $string);

					$skills_temp = explode(' ', $string); 

					print_r($skills_temp);

My array comes out like so:

Array ( [0] => Over [1] => 20 [2] => years [3] => of [4] => IT [5] => experience [6] => and [7] => more [8] => than [9] => 5 [10] => years [11] => as [12] => UNIX [13] => Administrator.Have [14] => Active [15] => Secret [16] => security [17] => clearance.TECHNICAL [18] => SKILLSOperating [19] => Systems: [20] => Unix, [21] => Sun [22] => Solaris [23] => 2.6, [24] => 7, [25] => 8; [26] => VMS; [27] => HP-UX; [28] => BSD, [29] => Mac [30] => OS [31] => 6, [32] => 7, [33] => 8, [34] => 9 [35] => &  [36] => X; [37] => WinNT; [38] => Win2KNetwork [39] => &  [40] => Protocols [41] => [42] => : [43] => [44] => Ethernet, [45] => TCP/IP, [46] => DHCP, [47] => FTP, [48] => HTTP, [49] => LDAP, [50] => DNS, [51] => ASIP, [52] => POP3, [53] => SMTP, [54] => SNMP, [55] => NAT, [56] => DECnet, [57] => NFS, [58] => X-Windows, [59] => firewallsHardware [60] => : [61] => [62] => [63] => SPARC, [64] => VAX, [65] => PC [66] => &  [67] => Macintosh [68] => hardware; [69] => Ethernet [70] => hubs, [71] => routers [72] => and [73] => switches ) Array ( [0] => unix [1] => html [2] => network )

LordShryku

You'll probably want to replace the \n with a space instead of a blank. Though, if the point is to just get an array with each word as an element, you could do it with [man]str_word_count[/man].

kilbey1

Thanks! That would've been ideal, except I'm limited to PHP 4.2.1 and that function is 4.3.0 and greater. 🙁

My array comes across as I want to now except some array elements are empty; is there a function bultin for determining if an array field is empty?

Array ( [0] => Over [1] => 20 [2] => years [3] => of [4] => IT [5] => experience [6] => and [7] => more [8] => than [9] => 5 [10] => years [11] => as [12] => UNIX [13] => Administrator. [14] => Have [15] => Active [16] => Secret [17] => security [18] => clearance. [19] => [20] => TECHNICAL [21] => SKILLS [22] => Operating [23] => Systems: [24] => Unix, [25] => Sun [26] => Solaris [27] => 2.6, [28] => 7, [29] => 8; [30] => VMS; [31] => HP-UX; [32] => BSD, [33] => Mac [34] => OS [35] => 6, [36] => 7, [37] => 8, [38] => 9 [39] => &  [40] => X; [41] => WinNT; [42] => Win2K [43] => Network [44] => &  [45] => Protocols [46] => [47] => : [48] => [49] => Ethernet, [50] => TCP/IP, [51] => DHCP, [52] => FTP, [53] => HTTP, [54] => LDAP, [55] => DNS, [56] => ASIP, [57] => POP3, [58] => SMTP, [59] => SNMP, [60] => NAT, [61] => DECnet, [62] => NFS, [63] => X-Windows, [64] => firewalls [65] => Hardware [66] => : [67] => [68] => [69] => SPARC, [70] => VAX, [71] => PC [72] => &  [73] => Macintosh [74] => hardware; [75] => Ethernet [76] => hubs, [77] => routers [78] => and [79] => switches )

LordShryku

Man...time to upgrade 😉

No function that I know of. But a small loop should take care of it.

foreach($array as $key => $val) {
   if(empty($val)) {
      unset($array[$key]);
   }
}

kilbey1

I must not be doing something right in the code here. Empty arrays are still showing up, and the values aren't unsetting...

						//explode the skills located in database
						$string = trim($row_skills['Section_Value']);
						$string = str_replace("\r", '', $string);
						$string = str_replace("\n", ' ', $string);
						$string = str_replace("\r\n", ' ', $string);
						$skills_temp = explode(' ', $string); 

					//print_r($skills_temp);

					$skills = array();

					foreach($skills_temp as $key => $value) {
						if(empty($value)) {
							unset($skills_temp[$key]);
				   		} 
						$skills2 = strtolower($value);						
						$skills[] = $skills2;
					}
					print_r($skills);

devinemke

$string = trim($row_skills['Section_Value']);
$string = str_replace("\r\n", ' ', $string);
$string = str_replace("\r", ' ', $string);
$string = str_replace("\n", ' ', $string);

$skills_temp = explode(' ', $string);  

$skills = array(); 

foreach ($skills_temp as $key => $value)
{ 
	if (!empty($value)) {$skills[] = strtolower($value);}
}

print_r($skills);

LordShryku

It's the logic. By unsetting the $skills_temp array, then ignoring that unset and just adding it to the $skills array, you're not catching your unsets. If you're going to do it that way, do this instead.

foreach($skills_temp as $key => $value) {
   if(!empty($value)) {
      $skills[] = strtolower($value);
   }
}

kilbey1

Ah, thank you both for the syntax and explanation! I didn't catch I was unsetting the entire array, and instead wanted to unset each empty value (where the $skills[] comes in, in the foreach). Thanks for all your help, I tested this out and it works great!

I'll need to study a bit more about array manipulation...