Regex find specific tags for replace in a string

Question

I have a string with some codes (ex:«USER_ID#USERNAME#STATUS») for replacement like in this example:

Hello «USER_ID#USERNAME#STATUS», do you like «PROD_ID#PRODNAME#STATUS»?

I need to find a way to get all the codes for future replacement.

I can easily find one code with this regex:

/«(.*)#(.*)#(.*)»/

but can't find a way to get all the codes with preg_match_all.

Can someone help me? I'm using PHP.

Thanks

Artefacto · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-19 14:57:48Z

3

You have to make your pattern non-greedy:

/«(.*?)#(.*?)#(.*?)»/

See this.

answered Aug 19, 2010 at 14:57

Artefacto

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Mark Baker · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-19 14:59:23Z

2

$string = "Hello «USER_ID#USERNAME#STATUS», do you like «PROD_ID#PRODNAME#STATUS»?";

preg_match_all('/«(.*)#(.*)#(.*)»/U',$string,$matches);

echo '<pre>';
var_dump($matches);
echo '</pre>';

gives

array(4) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(25) "«USER_ID#USERNAME#STATUS»"
    [1]=>
    string(25) "«PROD_ID#PRODNAME#STATUS»"
  }
  [1]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(7) "USER_ID"
    [1]=>
    string(7) "PROD_ID"
  }
  [2]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(8) "USERNAME"
    [1]=>
    string(8) "PRODNAME"
  }
  [3]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
    [1]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
  }
}

Note the use of the Ungreedy switch.

I'm sure somebody will be along soon to modify the regexp so that it's inherently ungreedy

answered Aug 19, 2010 at 14:59

Mark Baker

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3 Comments

RobertPitt Over a year ago

sorry, by bad, io copied your sample to save code writing and hit the downvote, gave you an upvote for the inconvenience and that your code is ok

Mark Baker Over a year ago

@Robert - you're better using Artefacto's example that makes the pattern ungreedy, rather than the ungreedy switch; but thanks anyway

RobertPitt Over a year ago

my example is below, im not using greedy matching, (?<x>.*?)

RobertPitt · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-19 15:06:47Z

try

preg_match_all('/«(?<id>.*?)#(?<username>.*?)#(?<status>.*?)»/',$string,$matches);
echo $matches[0]['username'];

//And dont forget you have to loop.
foreach($matches as $match)
{
    echo $match['username'];
}

:)

array(7) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(27) "«USER_ID#USERNAME#STATUS»"
    [1]=>
    string(27) "«PROD_ID#PRODNAME#STATUS»"
  }
  ["id"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(7) "USER_ID"
    [1]=>
    string(7) "PROD_ID"
  }
  [1]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(7) "USER_ID"
    [1]=>
    string(7) "PROD_ID"
  }
  ["username"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(8) "USERNAME"
    [1]=>
    string(8) "PRODNAME"
  }
  [2]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(8) "USERNAME"
    [1]=>
    string(8) "PRODNAME"
  }
  ["status"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
    [1]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
  }
  [3]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
    [1]=>
    string(6) "STATUS"
  }
}

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