str_getcsv()

str_getcsv() — Parse a CSV string into an array.

Built-in function of PHP 8.5. The manual lists it as available in PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PHP 8. This page is the reference card: signature, parameters and return value, plus the changelog and the example the manual provides.

What it does

Parses a string input for fields in CSV format and returns an array containing the fields read.

Signature

str_getcsv(string $string, string $separator = ",", string $enclosure = "\"", string $escape = "\\"): array

Parameters

Parameter	Type	What it takes
$string	string	The string to parse.
$separator	string	The separator parameter sets the field separator. It must be a single byte character.
$enclosure	string	The enclosure parameter sets the field enclosure character. It must be a single byte character.
$escape	string	The escape parameter sets the escape character. It must be a single byte character or the empty string. The empty string ("") disables the proprietary escape mechanism.

Return value

Returns an indexed array containing the fields read.

Example

A runnable snippet:

$string = 'PHP,Java,Python,Kotlin,Swift'; $data = str_getcsv($string, escape: '\\'); var_dump($data);

Output:

array(5) { [0]=> string(3) "PHP" [1]=> string(4) "Java" [2]=> string(6) "Python" [3]=> string(6) "Kotlin" [4]=> string(5) "Swift" }

Changelog

Version	Change
8.4.0	Relying on the default value of escape is now deprecated.
8.4.0	Now throws a ValueError if separator, enclosure, or escape is invalid. This mimics the behavior of fgetcsv() and fputcsv().
8.3.0	An empty string is returned instead of a string with a single null byte for the last field if it contains only an unterminated enclosure.
7.4.0	The escape parameter now interprets an empty string as signal to disable the proprietary escape mechanism. Formerly, an empty string was treated like the default parameter value.