php script to recognize text from link

Question

I was trying to create a script in php, for displaying messages. If the messages includes a web address, then this address I wanted to be displayed as a link. This is my code that works successfuly:

<?php 

if( (substr( $message, 0, 8 ) === "https://") || (substr( $message, 0, 7 ) === "http://") ){
    echo "<a href='$message' target='_blank'> $message </a>"; 
}else{
    echo " $message "; 
}

?>

It is working perfect if the user inserts in message a web address only like: "http://google.com" The problem starts if the users inserts a text before or after the web address. For example if writes: "visit http://google.com site" then it is making all the phrase as a link and it does not recognises the words with the web address. Any idea how to fix this problem?

Instead of dumping the whole $message into the "href" attribute, you need to find the longest legal URL starting with "http" (index 0) and only use that portion in the href. Assuming $message always starts at position 0 (you have been copying it to the output 1 character at a time?), you examine it character-by-character to build the longest legal URL, and use that portion of $message in the href. Bonus points for converting a URL Query String back to human-readable characters for the text portion. — Phil Perry
– Phil Perry, Commented Jan 28, 2014 at 15:33

Sharanya Dutta · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 16:00:15Z

1

You may use filter_var with FILTER_VALIDATE_URL:

$words = explode(" ", $message);
$_words = array();
foreach($words as $word){
    if(filter_var($word, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL) === false){
    $_words[] = $word;
    }
    else{
    $_words[] = "<a href=\"$word\">$word</a>";
    }
}
echo implode(" ", $_words);

Demo: http://phpfiddle.org/main/code/mu8-vg5

edited Jan 28, 2014 at 16:00

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:32

Sharanya Dutta

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5 Comments

user2491321 Over a year ago

Any idea how to modify the above code, so that if the user inserts directly a web address like "google.com" without in front of address will also work?

user2491321 Over a year ago

yes it is perfect, I saw this ...but it is not working if someone writes google.com instead of http : //google.com .Is there any posibility to change this so that it will recognizes addresses starting directcly with " www. "

Joran Den Houting Over a year ago

Look at the difference.. 3v4l.org/HWbgG is not working below 5.1.6. Then look at this: 3v4l.org/vJTgr it's easier, cleaner and works for every version of PHP :) @user2491321

Sharanya Dutta Over a year ago

@JoranDenHouting If the OP is using the latest version of PHP, it doesn’t matter how many versions support his/her code. Remember that PHP is a server-side script and using new features doesn’t affect the experience of people who visit a website. Now it’ll be kind of you to withdraw the downvote if you’re the one who gave it to my answer.

Joran Den Houting Over a year ago

@SharanyaDutta so how do you know which version he was using?

Joran Den Houting · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:37:20Z

I use this within a class:

public static function CreateLinks($text) {
        return preg_replace('@(https?://([-\w.]+[-\w])+(:\d+)?(/([\w-.~:/?#\[\]\@!$&\'()*+,;=%]*)?)?)@', '<a href="$1" target="_blank">$1</a>', $text);
}

To use it without a class, do this:

$message = preg_replace('@(https?://([-\w.]+[-\w])+(:\d+)?(/([\w-.~:/?#\[\]\@!$&\'()*+,;=%]*)?)?)@', '<a href="$1" target="_blank">$1</a>', $message);

So in a test case this:

$message = "Hello, take a look at http://www.google.com or wait! Maybe you where looking for http://www.bing.com";

$message = preg_replace('@(https?://([-\w.]+[-\w])+(:\d+)?(/([\w-.~:/?#\[\]\@!$&\'()*+,;=%]*)?)?)@', '<a href="$1" target="_blank">$1</a>', $message);

echo $message;

Will output:

Hello, take a look at <a href="http://www.google.com" target="_blank">http://www.google.com</a> or wait! Maybe you where looking for <a href="http://www.bing.com" target="_blank">http://www.bing.com</a>

So, at the end your code can be replaced by just one single line! Replace this:

if( (substr( $message, 0, 8 ) === "https://") || (substr( $message, 0, 7 ) === "http://") ){
    echo "<a href='$message' target='_blank'> $message </a>"; 
}else{
    echo " $message "; 
}

by this:

$message = preg_replace('@(https?://([-\w.]+[-\w])+(:\d+)?(/([\w-.~:/?#\[\]\@!$&\'()*+,;=%]*)?)?)@', '<a href="$1" target="_blank">$1</a>', $message);

Hassan · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:38:21Z

0

Jan Goyvaerts, Regex Guru, describe pretty well in his blog

http://www.regexguru.com/2008/11/detecting-urls-in-a-block-of-text/

To find all matches in a multi-line string, use

preg_match_all('/\b(?:(?:https?|ftp|file):\/\/|www\.|ftp\.)[-A-Z0-9+&@#\/%=~_|$?!:,.]*[A-Z0-9+&@#\/%=~_|$]/i', $subject, $result, PREG_PATTERN_ORDER);
$result = $result[0];

you can use preg_match function to get single match

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:38

Hassan

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