Shorthand String->Array

PHP
1

Is there a shorthand way to transform a string (Database retrieved string) into an array with defined keys, and specified delimiters?

EG: String = “key1:val1;key2:val2;…”
array = [key1] => val1,
[key2] => val2,
…

I know I can make a function for it, but it seemed like something that people might want to do often enough as to warrant a native function…

2

parse_str should do it if you can change the delimiters (i.e. key1=val1&key2=val2)

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.parse-str.php

3

What exactly are you doing? Where does the string come from and how was it created.