preg_replace error

Question

I have an array of entities that need to be replaced in a large sting but only the first occurrence of each (this is why I am using preg_replace rather than str_replace), e.g.:

$entities = array();
$entities[0] = 'string1';
$entities[1] = 'string2';
$entities[2] = 'string2';
$entities[3] = 'Error String ('; ## this is the one that errors because of the bracket
$entities[4] = 'string4';
$entities[5] = 'string5';

foreach ($entities as $entity) {
    $new_article = preg_replace('/' . $entity . '/', '##' . $key, $new_article, 1);
}

I am getting the following error:

Warning (2): preg_replace() [function.preg-replace]: Compilation failed: missing ) at offset XX

What is the best way to get the bracket escaped, and also escape any other character that might be used in regex.

Thanks

SilentGhost · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-17 11:07:38Z

6

You need preg_quote

answered Jan 17, 2011 at 11:07

SilentGhost

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Floern · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-17 11:08:45Z

5

You have to escape braces. You can do that with preg_quote().

$entity = preg_quote($entity, '/');

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-quote.php

answered Jan 17, 2011 at 11:08

Floern

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Jake N · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-17 11:10:23Z

4

You can use preg_quote

$entities = array();
$entities[0] = 'string1';
$entities[1] = 'string2';
$entities[2] = 'string2';
$entities[3] = 'Error String ('; ## this is the one that errors because of the bracket
$entities[4] = 'string4';
$entities[5] = 'string5';

foreach ($entities as $entity) {
    $new_article = preg_replace('/' . preg_quote($entity) . '/', '##' . $key, $new_article, 1);
}

answered Jan 17, 2011 at 11:10

Jake N

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