Splitting imploded array from mysql to variables in php

Question

Ok basically I can't figure out how to get the imploded result from mysql back to a usable variable in php. The array is throwing me for a loop, and driving me nuts. The checkboxes that are being dynamically created from the db: ``` <input name="tournament_id[]" value="'.$row['tournament_id'].'" type="checkbox">'.$row['tournament_name'].' ``` The posted value getting imploded (no sql injection prevention implemented yet): ``` $got_tournament_id = implode(",",$_POST['tournament_id']); ``` This gets inserted into mysql like this: ``` id user_id tournament_id 1 16942627 1,10 ``` This is my mysql query to grab the imploded data: ``` $query = ("SELECT tournament_id FROM tournament WHERE user_id=16942627"); $result = mysql_query($query); while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { $got_it = $row['tournament_id']; } $bust_him = var_dump(explode(",", $got_it)); echo $bust_him; ``` The above using var_dump is returning the following: ``` array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "1" [1]=> string(2) "10" } ``…

Accepted Answer

Don't `var_dump()`, whose purpose is debugging, not code or display logic. Just store the output of `explode()` into `$bust_him` (what a weird variable name):

```
// Store the output of explode() directly
$bust_him = explode(",", $got_it);
// No need for individual variables, just access via array keys.
echo $bust_him[0];
echo $bust_him[1];
// etc...
```

If you have a fixed number of elements, you can use `list()` to place into variables:

```
// You know you only have two, so you can use list()
// to store directly into variables
list($first, $second) = explode(",", $got_it);
echo $first;
echo $second;
```

In the long run, a better solution than storing comma-separated values in your table is to create a separate, properly normalized table which links `tournament_id` to `user_id`. You then have multiple rows per `user_id`, each containing one `tournament_id`. This makes for much simpler and more efficient querying in a lot of instances, enabling the use of `COUNT()` aggregates for example, among many other benefits.

Splitting imploded array from mysql to variables in php

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