Serialized Data

Question

I'm trying to add data to a serialized string -

I get the serialized string from my database - e.g. a:1:{i:0;s:2:"32";} Unserialize it add a value to it e.g. 128 serialize it and save it back

But I get s:33:"a:2:{i:0;s:2:"64";i:1;s:3:"128";}";

Where did the s:33 come into it and surrounded the rest in quotes and ends with a semi colon?

    function addItem($serializedArray, $item)
    {
       $a = unserialize($serializedArray);
       $a[] = $item;
       return serialize($a);
     }

    $lp = $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare("Select MemNo from YP_Members Limit 0,    10") );

      foreach ($lp as $userid){
       $user_id = $userid->MemNo;
        $meta_value = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare("Select meta_value from  iropiusermeta Where meta_key = 'user_iro_area' AND user_id = $user_id") );


        echo "User=".$user_id."<br />Value=".$meta_value."<br />";


                       if ($meta_value){


                            $user_iro_area = addItem($meta_value, "128");
                            update_user_meta($user_id, 'user_iro_area_new', $user_iro_area);    

                        } else {
                        // Add meta_key user_iro_area
                        echo "<b>Add New Me</b><br />";
                        $iro_group_num[] = "128";
                        $user_iro_area = serialize($iro_group_num);
                                         update_user_meta($user_id, 'user_iro_area_new', $user_iro_area);   
                        }                           


} // End of Main While Loop 

Answer 1

your meta value is getting serialized twice, you should pass update_user_meta an array, not a serialized string. and while you're at it, get the user meta via get_user_meta and you won't have to think about serialization at all, WordPress handles all that behind the scenes if you stick to the API.