Convert arrays to CSV with PHP

Heads up! This post was written in 2007, so it may contain information that is no longer accurate. I keep posts like this around for historical purposes and to prevent link rot, so please keep this in mind as you're reading.

— Cory

The following snippet will convert a simple PHP array into CSV (comma-separated values) format.

function csv($array) {
  $csv = "";
  for ($i = 0; $i < count($array); $i++) {
    $csv .= '"' . str_replace('"', '""', $array[$i]) . '"';
    if ($i < count($array) - 1) $csv .= ",";
  }
  return $csv;
}

Output #

$a = array("item 1", "item 2", "item 3");

echo csv($a); // "item 1","item 2","item 3"