Save array in mysql database

Question

I want to save extra information before sending the total order to Paypal. For each item I have created a single column in my MySQL database where I want to store it. Now I

Answer 1

To convert any array (or any object) into a string using PHP, call the serialize():

$array = array( 1, 2, 3 );
$string = serialize( $array );
echo $string;

$string will now hold a string version of the array. The output of the above code is as follows:

a:3:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:2;i:2;i:3;}

To convert back from the string to the array, use unserialize():

// $array will contain ( 1, 2, 3 )
$array = unserialize( $string );