correct use of end with explode?

[Jim from Oakland]

Am getting back to coding after a while away. I remember a lot but cannot remember even more. In a variable within a class I have a file name. I want to extract the file name EXTENSION.

 

I am using end (to get last array entry) with explode (which makes 2 element array containing 1. the file name w/o extension and 2. the extension itself) as follows:

 

$sFileExt = end(explode('.', $FileName));

 

I get this notice: Only variables should be passed by reference. I did try making the delimiter (a period char) a variable too. Same message.

 

I does work by the way.

[ginerjm]

Hmmm... Are you sure the error message applies ot that line number?

[kicken]

From the manual:

Parameters

array

The array. This array is passed by reference because it is modified by the function. This means you must pass it a real variable and not a function returning an array because only actual variables may be passed by reference.

[Jacques1]

There's no need to invent your own file extension function. This is a standard PHP feature:

$file_extension = pathinfo($file_name, PATHINFO_EXTENSION);

This is both correct and readable, so it's always preferrable over the end() hack.