php regex extract pattern but only the number inside it

Question

I get data via a web service that I need to parse to find some value (sunshine duration) and this in php. My idea would be to do it with regex.

I can already find the desired pattern sunshine: 7.5 h, but I only need the 7.2 (as a number actually) out of the found match. What would be the most straight forward way to do this in PHP?

Can I do it in one pre_match, or will I need to to 2 x pre_match (second one on the match of the first one)?

My code:

//test data
$testInputs = array (
    0 => "blabla sunshine: 7 h blabla",
    1 => "blabla sunshine: 7.5 h blabla",
    2 => "blabla sunshine: 0.5 h blabla"
    );
//pattern
$pattern = '/sunshine: [\d]*.?[\d]*/';
//test
foreach($testInputs as $testInput)
 {
 preg_match($pattern, $testInput, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE);
 print($testInput);
 print_r($matches);
 print("<br>");
 }

output

sunshine: 7 h Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => sunshine: 7 [1] => 1 ) ) 
sunshine: 7.5 h Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => sunshine: 7.5 [1] => 1 ) ) 
sunshine: 0.5 h Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => sunshine: 0.5 [1] => 1 ) )

what if someone entered 7,5 instead of 7.5 ?

RomanPerekhrest
– RomanPerekhrest

2016-03-19 19:07:58 +00:00
Commented Mar 19, 2016 at 19:07 — RomanPerekhrest
– RomanPerekhrest, Commented Mar 19, 2016 at 19:07

fusion3k · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-19 19:00:59Z

1

Simply add brackets to captured desired digits:

'/sunshine: ([\d]*.?[\d]*)/'

The performs your preg_match without PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE:

preg_match($pattern, $testInput, $matches);

And in your matches[1] array you will found the desired result.

answered Mar 19, 2016 at 19:00

fusion3k

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1 Comment

HixField Over a year ago

Woaw that simple, how could I miss that. Thanks @fusion3k, works perfectly!

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