Making my own plugin, starting from scratch, some PHP questions (my ongoing adventure

[Adrian Schneider]

PHP Code:

function getNames()
{
    $lines = file('your_file.txt');

    $users = array();
    foreach ($lines as $line)
    {
        $users[] = explode(', ', trim($line));
    }
    return $users;
} 


Similar to yours...

file() takes the first parameter, and returns an array containing all of the lines.

Then, I created an array which I will load with all the user data...

foreach is a loop. For each (array) $lines, set $line equal to that row. I then add a new row the the $users array, containing an array for that current user.

Using explode(), you can take a string, and turn it into an array, using the first parameter as a delimiter, and the second as the source array. I used the function trim() on $line because the file() function does not get ride of the whitespace (usually a newline) after each line.

After the loop is complete, return the final array. Here is how my array looked, based off this data:

SirAdrian, today, tomorrow
Bob, Jan 1st, Feb 1st
Jeff, Next Year, in two years

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => SirAdrian
            [1] => today
            [2] => tomorrow
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Bob
            [1] => Jan 1st
            [2] => Feb 1st
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => Jeff
            [1] => Next Year
            [2] => in two years
        )

)