Replace text between all the strings

Question

I have multiple strings and I want to change the string which is between first and the last string.

The middle string is dynamic and it changes but the first and the last string remains the same.

For example this is the string,

Please note that this is the entire string.

%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ%22%7D%2C%22

So is there any function which can find all the middle string which has the same first and the last string ?

I tried this function,

private function replace_between($str, $needle_start, $needle_end, $replacement)
    {
    
        $pos = strpos($str, $needle_start);

        $start = $pos === false ? 0 : $pos + strlen($needle_start);
    
        $pos = strpos($str, $needle_end, $start);
        $end = $pos === false ? strlen($str) : $pos;
    
        return substr_replace($str, $replacement, $start, $end - $start);
    }

This function only replaces the first occurrence. I want to change all the occurrences.

Output of this function

%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22REPLACED___TEXT%22%7D%2C%22
%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY%22%7D%2C%22
%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ%22%7D%2C%22

It is doesn't change the other middle strings.

Thanks!

please provide example of how you call the replace_between() — ariefbayu
– ariefbayu, Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:15
if the strings are separated by a space (looks like so in the example provided), you could explode it using the space as a separator. The second element of the exploded array should give the second string.. — user3532758
– user3532758, Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:17
@ariefbayu eplace_between(ORIGINAL_STRING,"%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%","%22%7D%2C%22","REPLACETEXT") This replaces the first occurrence but all other occurrences doest change — Abhishek Deshkar
– Abhishek Deshkar, Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:18
@user3532758 What are you talking about ? I didn't get it. I want to replace the string between 2 strings. Why would I explode it ? — Abhishek Deshkar
– Abhishek Deshkar, Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:21
so, suppose you have 3 lines of those, you want to replace EVERYTHING in between those 3 lines, with only one ""REPLACE TEXT"? I mean, all three lines will have the same content. @AbhishekDeshkar — ariefbayu
– ariefbayu, Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 5:23

ariefbayu · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-17 05:58:38Z

1

You can use preg_replace() for that:

<?php
// Your code here!
$string = "%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ%22%7D%2C%22";

$replaceInto = "---REPLACED---";
$pattern = '/\%22\%3A\%7B\%22id\%22\%3A\%22(.*)\%22\%7D\%2C\%22/U';

$result = preg_replace($pattern, "%22%3A%7B%22id%22\%3A%$replaceInto%22%7D%2C%22", $string);

var_dump($result);

Notice that I used suffix U in the $pattern. This is called 'Nongreedy' modifier.

It would result in the following:

string(176) "%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%---REPLACED---%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%---REPLACED---%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%---REPLACED---%22%7D%2C%22"

Here is the online test on Paiza.IO.

edited Dec 17, 2020 at 5:58

answered Dec 17, 2020 at 5:38

ariefbayu

22k13 gold badges73 silver badges93 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Abhishek Deshkar Over a year ago

Thanks a lot! It worked. However there is a change here, it should be like this. preg_replace($pattern,"%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22$replaceInto%22%7D%2C%22", $string);

user3532758 · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-17 05:24:47Z

1

@user3532758 What are you talking about ? I didn't get it. I want to replace the string between 2 strings. Why would I explode it ?

$string = "%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY%22%7D%2C%22 %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ%22%7D%2C%22";

$exploded = explode(" ", $string);

$exploded[1] = "replaced string";

echo implode($exploded, " ");

// result: %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX%22%7D%2C%22 replaced string %22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ%22%7D%2C%22

answered Dec 17, 2020 at 5:24

user3532758

2,2811 gold badge14 silver badges18 bronze badges

1 Comment

Abhishek Deshkar Over a year ago

Why did you add the space ? I have edited the question. Please look into it again.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Replace text between all the strings

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related