csv_to_array.php

<?php

// CSV to Array Function
// Copyright (c) 2014-2015, Ink Plant
// https://inkplant.com/code/csv-to-array
// this version was last updated July 20, 2015

ini_set('auto_detect_line_endings',true);
function csv_to_array($file,$args=array()) {

	//key => default
	$fields = array(
		'header_row'=>true, //is there a row of headers before the actual data?
		'remove_header_row'=>true, //if there's a header row, this will remove it (after using it)
		'numeric_headers'=>false, //if true, ignore the names in the header row and use integers as array keys instead
		'trim_headers'=>true, //trim whitespace around header row values
		'trim_values'=>true, //trim whitespace around all non-header row values
		'debug'=>false, //set to true while testing if you run into troubles
		'lb'=>"\n", //line break character
	);
	foreach ($fields as $key => $default) {
		if (array_key_exists($key,$args)) { $$key = $args[$key]; }
		else { $$key = $default; }
	}

	if ($debug) { echo '<p>Opening '.htmlspecialchars($file).'…</p>'; }
	$data = array();

	$row = 0;
	if (($handle = fopen($file,'r')) !== false) {
		while (!feof($handle)) {
			$line = fgetcsv($handle, 10240);
			$num = count($line);
			$row++;
			if (($header_row) && ($row == 1)) { $data['headers'] = array(); }
			else { $data[$row] = array(); }
			for ($c=0; $c<$num; $c++) {
				$value = $line[$c];
				if (($header_row) && ($row == 1)) { //if this is part of the header row
					if ($trim_headers) { $value = trim($value); }
					if (in_array($value,$data['headers'])) { custom_die('There are duplicate values in the header row: '.htmlspecialchars($value).'.'); }
					else { $data['headers'][$c] = (string)$value; }
				} elseif (($header_row) && (!$numeric_headers)) { //if this isn't part of the header row, but there is a header row
					$key = $data['headers'][$c];
					if ($trim_values) { $value = trim($value); }
					$data[$row][$key] = $value;
				} else { //if there's not a header row at all
					if ($trim_values) { $value = trim($value); }
					$data[$row][$c] = $value;
				}
			}
		}
		fclose($handle);
		if ($remove_header_row) { unset($data['headers']); }
		if ($debug) { echo '<pre>'.print_r($data,true).'</pre>'; }
		return $data;
	} else {
		custom_die('There was an error opening the file.');
	}
}
?>

example.php

<?php

//set the location of your CSV file
$file = HOME_DIR.'inkplant.com/population.csv'; 

//turn that CSV file into an array
$data = csv_to_array($file,array('header_row'=>true));

//now print that array out onto the screen
echo '<pre>'.print_r($data,true).'</pre>';

?>