Function php string array to real array

strarr_to_arr.php

<?php
  // function
  function strarr_to_array($a, $t = ''){
    $arr = [];
    $a = ltrim($a, '[');
    $a = ltrim($a, 'array(');
    $a = rtrim($a, ']');
    $a = rtrim($a, ')');
    $tmpArr = explode(",", $a);
    foreach ($tmpArr as $v) {
        if($t == 'keys'){
            $tmp = explode("=>", $v);
            $k = $tmp[0]; $nv = $tmp[1];
            $k = trim(trim($k), "'");
            $k = trim(trim($k), '"');
            $nv = trim(trim($nv), "'");
            $nv = trim(trim($nv), '"');
            $arr[$k] = $nv;
        } else {
            $v = trim(trim($v), "'");
            $v = trim(trim($v), '"');
            $arr[] = $v;
        }
    }
    return $arr;
  }

  // usage
  $test = '["me","and","you","just","a","friend","Ohhhhhhhhh!","sad"]';
  echo "<pre>";
  print_r(strarr_to_array($test));

  // result
  Array
  (
      [0] => me
      [1] => and
      [2] => you
      [3] => just
      [4] => a
      [5] => friend
      [6] => Ohhhhhhhhh!
      [7] => sad
  )