php parse string and get text and parameters from brackets

Question

Ok, so i have a string like this

$sText = '[post:1]Some test here......[/post]';

now i want to extract the text within this that is "Some test here......" and i also want the number "1" next inside the bracket [post:1]. I have tried searching for a solution but couldn't find a good one yet.

I tried to get the text inside the brackets with this

preg_match_all('/\[(.*?)\]/', $sText, $out);

and it gives me this

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => [post:1]
            [1] => [/post]
        )
    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => post:1
            [1] => /post
        )
)

I can get the number from that using explode or by any other means then i could probably get the text by using regex to remove the brackets but that sounds like too much regex. Is there any better solution/idea for this? Well i am not good with regex.

Can't use that as i only need it for a very specific case and that requires installation and this product is for other users. — Prashank
– Prashank, Commented Nov 20, 2013 at 16:25

Casimir et Hippolyte · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-20 16:16:12Z

Try this:

preg_match_all('~\[(?<tag>\w+):(?<nbr>\d+)](?<content>(?>[^[]++|\[(?!/\1]))+)\[/\1]~',
               $sText, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER);

foreach($matches as $match) {
    echo '<br/>' . $match['tag'] . "\t" . $match['nbr'] . "\t" . $match['content'];
}

pattern detail:

~                     # pattern delimiter
\[                    # literal [ (must be escaped)
(?<tag>\w+)           # named capture with the tag name (alphanumeric + _)
:                     # literal :
(?<nbr>\d+)           # named capture for the number
]                     # literal ]
(?<content>           # named capture for the content inside tags
    (?>               # open an atomic group
        [^[]++        # all characters that are not a [ one or more times
      |               # OR
        \[(?!/\1])    # literal [ not follow by "/tagname]" 
    )+                # close the atomic group, repeat it 1 one more times
)                     # close the named capture: content
\[/                   # literal [/
\1                    # reference to the capturing group 1 (tagname)
]                     # literal ]
~                     # pattern delimiter

ilpaijin · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-20 16:21:35Z

1

I'm thinking about something like this

$sText = '[post:1]Some test here......[/post]';

$pattern =  '/\:(\d+)\](.*?)\[/';

preg_match_all($pattern, $sText, $a);

var_dump($a);

which returns

array (size=3)
  0 => 
      array (size=1)
          0 => string ':1]Some test here......[' (length=24)
  1 => 
      array (size=1)
          0 => string '1' (length=1)
  2 => 
      array (size=1)
          0 => string 'Some test here......' (length=20)

edited Nov 20, 2013 at 16:21

answered Nov 20, 2013 at 16:11

ilpaijin

3,7152 gold badges25 silver badges26 bronze badges

1 Comment

Prashank Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer but i am using the other one for now. :)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

php parse string and get text and parameters from brackets

2 Answers 2

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related