SmartSplit - requires underscore.js

smart_split.php

function smart_split($str){
    $vals = array();
    if( preg_match("/,/", $str) )   // comma delimited
        $vals = explode(',', $str);
    else if( preg_match("/\t/", $str) )
        $vals = explode("\t", $str);
    else
        $vals = explode("\n", $str);

    foreach($vals as &$val){ $val = trim($val); }
    
    return $vals;
}

smartsplit.js

smartSplit = function(str){
	var vals = [];
	if( str.match(/,/) ) // comma separated
		vals = str.split(',')
	else if( str.match(/\t/) ) // tab separated
		vals = str.split("\t")
	else
		vals = str.split("\n") // new line separated

	return _.invoke(vals, 'trim') // trim whitespace
}