I have noticed that many Drupal modules and projects require a function to convert comma separated or EOL separated lists to arrays especially when getting values from Textareas, a very common pattern to get config in "csv" maner. While there are various custom implementations available, having a standardized function in the Drupal core Utility class would greatly benefit developers and improve code consistency across projects.
Therefore, I propose the inclusion of a function in the Utility class of Drupal core that can convert comma separated or EOL separated lists to arrays.
N/A
The function could be named convertSeparatedListToArray and could accept the following parameters:
$list: The input string containing the comma or EOL separated list.
$delimiter: The delimiter character used to separate items in the input list (defaulting to, for comma separated lists).
$trim: Whether to trim whitespace from each item in the resulting array (defaulting to true).
Here's a sample implementation of the proposed function:
/**
* Converts a comma or EOL separated list to an array.
*
* @param string $list
* The input string containing the comma or EOL separated list.
* @param string $delimiter
* The delimiter character used to separate items in the input list.
* @param bool $trim
* Whether or not to trim whitespace from each item in the resulting array.
*
* @return array
* An array containing the items from the input list.
*/
function convertSeparatedListToArray($list, $delimiter = ',', $trim = true) {
$items = preg_split("/[\r\n{$delimiter}]/", $list);
if ($trim) {
$items = array_map('trim', $items);
}
return array_filter($items);
}
Making a patch
https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21core.api.php/group/utility/10.1.x Will have this function.
None
New Utility Function: convertSeparatedListToArray()
Drupal core now includes a new function in the Utility class that can convert comma separated or EOL separated lists to arrays. This function can be used to simplify development and improve code consistency across projects. The function, convertSeparatedListToArray(), accepts the input string containing the list and the delimiter character used to separate items in the list (defaulting to, for comma separated lists). It also has an optional $trim parameter to specify whether to trim whitespace from each item in the resulting array.
When there's no patch, the better status is 'active'.
It would help to have a couple of examples of contrib modules that are doing this, and also any examples from core that might be possible to convert - I think block path visibility might be one?