Convert the first element of an array to a string in PHP

Question

I have a PHP array and want to convert it to a string.

I know I can use join or implode, but in my case array has only one item. Why do I

Answer 1

Convert an array to a string in PHP:

1. Use the PHP join function like this:

   $my_array = array(4, 1, 8);
   
   print_r($my_array);
   Array
   (
       [0] => 4
       [1] => 1
       [2] => 8
   )
   
   $result_string = join(',', $my_array);
   echo $result_string;
   

   Which delimits the items in the array by comma into a string:

   4,1,8
   

2. Or use the PHP implode function like this:

   $my_array = array(4, 1, 8);
   echo implode($my_array);
   

   Which prints:

   418
   

3. Here is what happens if you join or implode key value pairs in a PHP array

   php> $keyvalues = array();
   
   php> $keyvalues['foo'] = "bar";
   
   php> $keyvalues['pyramid'] = "power";
   
   php> print_r($keyvalues);
   Array
   (
       [foo] => bar
       [pyramid] => power
   )
   
   php> echo join(',', $keyvalues);
   bar,power
   php> echo implode($keyvalues);
   barpower
   php>
   

Answer 2

A For() loop is very useful. You can add your array's value to another variable like this:

<?php
    $dizi=array('mother','father','child'); //This is array

    $sayi=count($dizi);
    for ($i=0; $i<$sayi; $i++) {
        $dizin.=("'$dizi[$i]',"); //Now it is string...
    }
         echo substr($dizin,0,-1); //Write it like string :D
?>

In this code we added $dizi's values and comma to $dizin:

$dizin.=("'$dizi[$i]',");

Now

$dizin = 'mother', 'father', 'child',

It's a string, but it has an extra comma :)

And then we deleted the last comma, substr($dizin, 0, -1);

Output:

'mother','father','child'

Answer 3

Use the inbuilt function in PHP, implode(array, separator):

<?php
    $ar = array("parth","raja","nikhar");
    echo implode($ar,"/");
?>

Result: parth/raja/nikhar

Answer 4

You can use the reset() function, it will return the first array member.

Answer 5

You could use print_r and html interpret it to convert it into a string with newlines like this:

$arraystring = print_r($your_array, true); 

$arraystring = '<pre>'.print_r($your_array, true).'</pre>';

Or you could mix many arrays and vars if you do this

ob_start();
print_r($var1);
print_r($arr1);
echo "blah blah";
print_r($var2);
print_r($var1);
$your_string_var = ob_get_clean();

Answer 6

Is there any other way to convert that array into string ?

Yes there is. serialize(). It can convert various data types (including object and arrays) into a string representation which you can unserialize() at a later time. Serializing an associative array such as Array(18 => 'Somthing') will preserve both keys and values:

<?php
$a = array(18 => 'Something');
echo serialize($a);                                   // a:1:{i:18;s:9:"Something";}
var_dump(unserialize('a:1:{i:18;s:9:"Something";}')); // array(1) {
                                                      //   [18]=>
                                                      //   string(9) "Something"
                                                      // }