This is a simple (but slightly hackish) way of avoiding the character limitations (in values):
<?php
define('QUOTE', '"');
$test = parse_ini_file('test.ini');
echo "<pre>";
print_r($test);
?>
contents of test.ini:
park yesterday = "I (walked) | {to} " QUOTE"the"QUOTE " park yesterday & saw ~three~ dogs!"
output:
<?php
Array
(
[park yesterday] => I (walked) | {to} "the" park yesterday & saw ~three~ dogs!
)
?>