[RESOLVED] How to count values ina string?

[zzz]

I am inputting values into a database like this:

$info  = implode(", ", $array);

SO basically I store a string like:

item1, item2, item3, ...

Later when I retreave this data, can I count how many items are in the string?

😕

[Plasma]

$count = sizeof($array);

[obsidian]

Plasma wrote:

$count = sizeof($array);

he's not importing them as an array.

you'll need to explode it first, then you can count the pieces:

<?php
$string = "text1, text2, text3";
$arr = explode(",", $string);
echo count($arr);

// also, if you're positive that your content will never have a comma in it, you could 
// always just count the commas and add one:
$string = "text1, text2, text3";
preg_match('|,|', $string, $match);
echo (count($match) + 1;
?>

hope this helps

[laserlight]

explode() is a dumb about separators, so there must be the guarantee that the separator will not also be part of the content. If you are going to use explode() anyway, then use count() on the array returned. If you are only going to deal with the string retrieved from the database, then use:

$count = substr_count($string, ',') + 1;

[zzz]

Wow, thanks for both suggestions. In this particular case I will output only a string, so I will nto be exploading it into an array.