Optional parameters to PHP list function

Question

I have a line like this in my code:

list($user_id, $name, $limit, $remaining, $reset) = explode(\'|\', $user);

The last 3 parameters may or

Answer 1

list($user_id, $name, $limit, $remaining, $reset)
    = array_pad(explode('|', $user), 5, null);

Answer 2

Just add some spare pipes to the end of the string:

list($user_id, $name, $limit, $remaining, $reset) = explode('|', $user.'||||');

problem solved.

Note: If you're loading arbitrary pipe-delimited data, you might want to use str_getcsv() function rather than explode().

Answer 3

If you're concerned that SDC's solution feels "hacky"; then you can set some default values and use:

$user = '3|username';

$defaults = array(NULL, NULL, 10, 5, FALSE);
list($user_id, $name, $limit, $remaining, $reset) = explode('|', $user) + $defaults;

var_dump($user_id, $name, $limit, $remaining, $reset);