The PHP Function Str_GetCSV
The php function str_getcsv is used to parse a string input for fields in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. It helps developers in efficient extraction and manipulation of structured data stored in this popular file format. With its support for various scenarios like quoted strings, custom delimiters and escaping special characters, str_getcsv empowers developers to import/export data and perform other data analysis tasks.
Unlike other php functions that reads from files, this function accepts a string as its input. It is also more flexible than fgetcsv() as it doesn't require a file handle.
The str_getcsv() function takes one mandatory parameter, the string to be parsed. It also accepts three optional parameters, the field delimiter, the field enclosure character and the escape character. It returns an indexed array containing the fields read.
Note: Since PHP 7.4.0 an empty string ("") for the escape parameter disables the proprietary escape mechanism. Previously it was treated as the default value.
Lastly, you can use a combination of str_getcsv() and array_map() to read the entire CSV file into an associative array. This can be much more efficient than reading the file with file() and using fgetcsv() for each line of the file.
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