Parse a CSV file in PHP, remove hidden characters, escape fields to prepare for MySQL, and return an associative array.

loadCSV.php

// Auto detect line endings
ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings', true);

function loadCSV($file)
{
    // Create an array to hold the data
    $arrData = array();
    
    // Create a variable to hold the header information
    $header = NULL;
    
    // Connect to the database
    //$db = mysqli_connect('localhost','username','password','test') or die("Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error());
    
    // If the file can be opened as readable, bind a named resource
    if (($handle = fopen($file, 'r')) !== FALSE)
    {
        // Loop through each row
        while (($row = fgetcsv($handle)) !== FALSE)
        {
            // Loop through each field
            foreach($row as &$field)
            {
                // Remove any invalid or hidden characters
                $field = preg_replace('/[\x00-\x1F\x80-\xFF]/', '', $field);
                
                // Escape characters for MySQL (single quotes, double quotes, linefeeds, etc.)
                //$field = mysqli_escape_string($db, $field);
            }
            
            // If the header has been stored
            if ($header)
            {
                // Create an associative array with the data
                $arrData[] = array_combine($header, $row);
            }
            // Else the header has not been stored
            else
            {
                // Store the current row as the header
                $header = $row;
            }
        }
        
        // Close the file pointer
        fclose($handle);
    }
    
    // Close the MySQL connection
    //mysqli_close($db);
    
    return $arrData;
}

// Load the CSV and return an associative array
$data = loadCSV('test.csv');

// Output the contents of the array
print_r($data);

This worked great for me! Thanks Joseph - I had a a csv that was a real trouble maker, and this solved the issue. However, I cant get the '$header' to work - its not being generated. What am I missing?

Thanks in advance.