splitting a string with some kind of whitespace

Question

I've got the following code:

$output2 = 'text

more text

ja';
$explode = explode('

', $output);

This works fine and the $explode array prints the following:

Array
(
    [0] => text
    [1] => meer text
    [2] => ja
)

However, the following code doesn't work and I don't know how to fix it:

$output = 'text



more text



ja';

$explode = explode('

', $output);

The $explode array prints the following:

Array
(
    [0] => text
    

    
  //more text
    

    
ja
)

This might seem like a weird question. But the first example is a test I made manually. But the second example is what is actually returned from the database.

Answer 1

You can use preg_split to split your string:

<?php
$output = 'text
&NewLine;
&NewLine;more text
&NewLine;
&NewLine;ja';

$explode = preg_split('/(&NewLine;|(\r\n|\r|\n))+/', $output, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);

demo: https://ideone.com/KU0v9t (ideone) or https://eval.in/887393 (eval.in)

---

The following solution to split on double 
:

$output = 'text



more text



ja

nein';

$explode = preg_split('/(\r\n|\r|\n)*(
(\r\n|\r|\n)*){2}/', $output, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);

demo: https://ideone.com/0txh5O

Answer 2

As User2486 says, the problem is that there are some hidden characters you are not watching like \n and \r

In your first example you have

'text

more text

ja'

and in the second

'text\r\n
\r\n
more text\r\n
\r\n
ja'

Answer 3

normalize your string by removing all new line like chars:

$output = trim(preg_replace('/\s+/', '',$output));

then explode it.

Answer 4

$explode = preg_split('/
\s*
/', $output);

Answer 5

Adding one line in your code $output =str_replace("\r\n","",$output ); to combine all string in one line so that it would like your first example.

$output =str_replace("\r\n","",$output );
$explode = explode('

', $output);
print_r($explode);

Live demo : https://eval.in/887371