[RESOLVED] imploding and exploding associative arrays

I really need to be able to implode and explode and associative array but i have no idea at all how to do it????

Can anyone give me any suggestions at all? 😕 😕

Why wont the usual implode() and explode() functions work?

because the keys are text rather than numeric, when i implode the string it just seems to delete them

delete the keys i mean, then if i explode the string then it just turns it into a normal array with numbers for keys

The string doesnt maintain any information on the keys of the array from which it was constructed. You just have to keep the array around.

Why do you need to implode/explode your associative array in the first place and maintain the key association without keeping the array?

the array is for a shopping cart in a store

so the key is the product and the value is the quantity of that product.

I wanted to save the details of what they had ordered in a database and I thought imploding the basket and then saving it would be the best way

im starting to think that it isnt but cant really think of an alternative

Perhaps you're looking for [man]serialize/man?

this looks like what i am looking for i think. will this save into a mysql database with no problems?

[man]mysql_real_escape_string[/man] should solve the problem of having special chars in the serialized array

Serialize did what i wanted to be done with the arrays.

Thanks laserlight, you are a star 😃