Question

I need to convert the following perl function to php:

pack("SSA12AC4L",
     $id,
     $loc,
     $name,
     'ar',
     split(/\./, $get->getIP),
     time+(60*60);

I use the following code (to test) in PHP:

echo pack("SSA12AC4L",
     '25',
     '00001',
     '2u7wx6fd94fd',
     'f',
     preg_split('/\./','10.2.1.1', -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY),
     time()+(60*60));

But I’m getting the following error:
Warning: pack() [function.pack]: Type C: too few arguments in D:\wamp\www\test.php on line 8

Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

The problem is that the code is giving to pack() (I am referring the the last arguments) a character, an array, and an integer. As the code C wants 4 characters, that is the cause of the error.

The code should be something like

$split = preg_split('/\./','10.2.1.1', -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
echo pack("SSA12AC4L",
  '25',
  '00001',
  '2u7wx6fd94fd',
  'f',
  $split[0],
  $split[1],
  $split[2],
  $split[3],
  time()+60*60
);

Then, there is no reason to use preg_split() in this case, when explode() can be used instead. Regular expressions should be used only when strictly necessary because the regular expression functions are slower, compared to other string functions.