Convert a complicated string into an array in php

Posted by Patrick Beardmore on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Patrick Beardmore
Published on 2009-12-18T19:34:02Z Indexed on 2010/04/07 11:33 UTC
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php

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regex

I have a php variable that comes from a form that needs tidying up. I hope you can help.

The variable contains a list of items (possibly two or three word items with a space in between words). I want to convert it to a comma separated list with no superfluous white space. I want the divisions to fall only at commas, semi-colons or new-lines. Blank cannot be an item.

Here's a comprehensive example (with a deliberately messy input):

Variable In: "dog, cat         ,car,tea pot,,  ,,, ;;(++NEW LINE++)fly,     cake"
Variable Out "dog,cat,car,tea pot,fly,cake"

Can anyone help?

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