php implode with quotes

Question

Imploding a simple array

would look like this

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = implode(",", $array);

and that would return this

 lastname,email,phone

great, so i might do this instead

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = implode("','", $array);
$comma_separated = "'".$comma_separated."'";

and now i have what I want a nice pretty csv string

 'lastname','email','phone'

is there a better way to do this, it feels to me like there should be an optional parameter for implode am I missing something ?

Hunley

I see a lot of comments about the provided answers being "slower". It does not matter. Choose the way which is clearer and more maintainable, worry about performance later, if at all. – Barmaid

The only drawback is it will produce one empty string if the array is empty. ie. equivalent to $comma_separated = "''"; – Vitalism

Topically related: Enclosing every field with double quotes in CSV file using PHP? and Forcing fputcsv to Use Enclosure For all Fields and Alternative to fputcsv – Intermixture

If this question is being asked as a means to prepare strings for a SQL query, then this is an XY Problem. Passing an array of values into, say, an IN expression should be done via a prepared statement -- and here is that canonical: How can I bind an array of strings with a mysqli prepared statement?. This question's minimal reproducible example does not include the challenge of dealing with strings which already contain single quotes -- certainly something to be concerned with to avoid bugs. – Intermixture

Answer 1

No, the way that you're doing it is just fine. implode() only takes 1-2 parameters (if you just supply an array, it joins the pieces by an empty string).

Pelecypod

its seems there is no speed difference in any of these solutions I'll just keep doing it they way I always have, thanks for everyones help – Hunley

Answer 2

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');


echo "'" . implode("','", $array) . "'";

Sherbrooke

Watch out for empty array while using this solution. – Penza

Thanks. I used this for <ul> <li> {!! implode('</li><li>', session('messages')) !!} </li> </ul> – Celie

Answer 3

$ids = sprintf("'%s'", implode("','", $ids ) );

Hyperesthesia

Answer 4

You could use array_map():

function add_quotes($str) {
    return sprintf("'%s'", $str);
}

$csv =  implode(',', array_map('add_quotes', $array));

DEMO

Also note that there is fputcsv if you want to write to a file.

Keely

@Felix Kling I suspect this would be slower as well ? – Hunley

@mcgrailm, i ask again: slower than what? – Hocker

@mcgrailm: Maybe, I suggest you make a benchmark and find out ;) – Keely

@Felix Kling how do I do that ? – Hunley

@Hunley put various echoes of time() and subtract them (at the start and end of your code) – Hocker

This has the added benefit of allowing you to escape any single quotes which may appear in the array elements – Barmaid

str_pad is faster as i know. $result = implode(', ', array_map(function ($e) {return str_pad($e, strlen($e) + 2, '\'', STR_PAD_BOTH);}, $str)) see php.net/manual/es/function.str-pad.php – Barthold

one liner: implode(',', array_map(fn($str) => "\"{$str}\"", $array)); – Cuddy

one liner version $csv = implode(',', array_map(function($str){ return sprintf("'%s'", $str); }, $array)); – Turbinate

This seems to work well but, as with my own attempt "'" . str_replace(",", "','", rtrim(implode(',', $values), ',')) . "'" , it also quotes integers which might not always be desirable unless you need string-integers for some reason. How can those be filtered out to not be quoted? – Marplot

2011 post, still valid. Now it's possible to use arrow functions: $csv=implode(',', array_map(fn($s)=>sprintf("'%s'", $s), $array)); – Backplate

Answer 5

Don't know if it's quicker, but, you could save a line of code with your method:

From

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = implode("','", $array);
$comma_separated = "'".$comma_separated."'";

To:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = "'".implode("','", $array)."'";

Teocalli

and i could further that but putting the definition of array in where the variable $array is in the last line but I the speed diff would be so finite – Hunley

Answer 6

If you want to use loops you can also do:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
foreach($array as &$value){
   $value = "'$value'";
}
$comma_separated = implode(",", $array);

Demo: http://codepad.org/O2kB4fRo

Hocker

@mcgrailm, slower than what? Its basically the same thing as an array_map but without using array_map – Hocker

slower than the way I currently create my csv string – Hunley

@Hunley see @FelixKling's comment – Hocker

+1 seem the only one correct answer - all other answers will produce empty string when trying to implode empty array. This one wont. – Telford

Thanks @DenisMatafonov :-) – Hocker

Answer 7

$id = array(2222,3333,4444,5555,6666);
$ids = "'".implode("','",$id)."'";

Or

$ids = sprintf("'%s'", implode("','", $id ) );

Superpower

Answer 8

Alternatively you can create such a function:

function implode_with_quotes(array $data)
{
    return sprintf("'%s'", implode("', '", $data));
}

Wimsatt

Answer 9

Another solution is achieved using implode + preg_replace as follows:

$a = ['A', 'B', 'C'];
implode(',', preg_replace('/^(.*)$/', '"$1"', $a)); // "A","B","C"
$b = [];
implode(',', preg_replace('/^(.*)$/', '"$1"', $b)); // empty string

As you can see this also saves you from checking if the array is empty.

Yclept

Answer 10

try this code :

$data = 'ABC,DEF,GHI';

$str = "'".str_replace(',',"','",$data)."'";


echo $str;

Azeotrope

Answer 11

If you want to avoid the fopen/fputcsv sub-systems here's a snippet that builds an escaped CSV string from an associative array....

$output = '';
foreach ($list as $row) {
  $output .= '"' . implode('", "', array_values($row)) . '"' . "\r\n";
}

Or from a list of objects...

foreach ($list as $obj) {
  $output .= '"' . implode('", "', array_values((array) $obj)) . '"' . "\r\n";
}

Then you can output the string as desired.

Godinez

Answer 12

Another possible option, depending on what you need the array for:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
echo json_encode($array);

This will put '[' and ']' around the string, which you may or may not want.

Melli

Good solution. And Can have ltrim and rtim to remove square brackets [ and ]. – Subaqueous

Answer 13

Don't forget to escape your data! If you want to put data in a CSV file without fputcsv function or put it in a SQL query use this code:

$comma_separated = "'" . implode("','", array_map('addslashes', $array)) . "'";

This code avoids SQL injection or data fragmentation when input array contains single quotation or backslash characters.

Cadenza

Answer 14

you can do it this way also

<?php
$csv= '\'' . join(array('lastname', 'email', 'phone'),'\',').'\'';
echo $csv;
?>

Americium

join is just an alias of implode – Hunley

Answer 15

I think this is what you are trying to do

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
echo "'" . implode("','", explode(',', $array)) . "'";

Downs

Answer 16

I know this is an oldi but I just created this snippet

public static function quoted_implode($array = null, $sep = ','){
        $keys = null;
        if(null !== $array && is_array($array)){
            $keys = implode('"'. $sep .'"',$array);
            $keys =  '"'.$keys .'"';
        }
        return $keys;
}

I wrote it as a method but easy to transform to a plain function.

How to use (this is just a line of another method I working on)?

$js_output .= "\t".'input_ids:['.self::quoted_implode($options['input_ids']).'],'.PHP_EOL;

Results in:(js) input_ids:["test_number","test_input1","test_input2"],

Might help someone?

Catania

Answer 17

Unconditionally wrapping the imploded string with quotes will result in an empty quoted string when the array is empty -- this doesn't feel ideal because it gives the same result as an array with a lone element containing empty string (an ambiguous result).

Instead, just use preg_replace() to target the start and end positions of each string and inject a quote on those positions.

Code: (Demo)

$array = ['lastname', 'email', 'phone'];

echo implode(",", preg_replace('/^|$/', "'", $array));

This doesn't deal with the possibility of escaping single quotes that already exist in the values. If you want to escape in-value single quotes with backslashes, you can make iterated calls of addcslashes() with single quotes nominated for escaping and manually concatenate the outer single quotes. Don't worry about speed as a top priority -- making your application bug-free is the first concern. (Demo)

echo implode(",", array_map(fn($v) => "'" . addcslashes($v, "'") . "'", $array));

Intermixture