How can the explode() function in PHP be used to parse data separated by a specific character, such as "|" in a text file?

To parse data separated by a specific character, such as "|" in a text file, the explode() function in PHP can be used. This function allows you to split a string into an array based on a specified delimiter. By using explode() with the "|" character as the delimiter, you can easily separate the data in the text file into individual elements for further processing.

<?php
// Read the contents of the text file
$data = file_get_contents('data.txt');

// Split the data into an array using the "|" delimiter
$items = explode('|', $data);

// Loop through the array to access each individual element
foreach ($items as $item) {
    echo $item . "<br>";
}
?>