protected function prep_in_vals($a)
    {
        $vals = $this->pullRule();
        if (is_array($vals)) {
            return $vals;
        }
        $vals = explode(',', $vals);
        array_walk($vals, function ($val) {
            return trim($val);
        });
       // create_function('&$val', '$val = trim($val);'));
        return $vals;
    }