split string and make array, regular expression

Question

$content = "[2][6][11]";

This i would like to split into an array with values [2], [6] and [11].

preg_split("/\[*\]/i", $content);

Wrong output: Array ( [0] => [2 [1] => [5 [2] => )

Any help what's wrong on the regular expression.

thanks.

preg_split("/\h*[][]/", $content, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY) — devpro
– devpro, Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:40
If it's guaranteed to be a number between the braces, this regex pattern will work: /(\[\d+\])/. — jhmckimm
– jhmckimm, Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:42
assuming there are only numbers in the braces: preg_split("/(\[[0-9]+\])/", $content); — Thomas D.
– Thomas D., Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:46
@ThomasD. That won't work because you're not escaping the square brackets. — jhmckimm
– jhmckimm, Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:47
@jhmckimm thanks for the tip. forgot to format as code, thats why they didn't show ;) — Thomas D.
– Thomas D., Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:50

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-20 15:43:53Z

1

You can use lookarounds for this split:

$content = "[2][6][11]";
print_r(preg_split('/(?<=\])(?=\[)/', $content));

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => [2]
    [1] => [6]
    [2] => [11]
)

answered Jan 20, 2017 at 15:43

anubhava

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Comments

Casimir et Hippolyte · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-20 15:43:50Z

1

You can use lookarounds to test what are the characters around the position you want to find without matching them.

print_r(preg_split('~(?<=])(?=\[)~', $content));

Note that if you already know how your string is formatted, you can also use preg_match_all with a more simple pattern: ~\[\d+]~

answered Jan 20, 2017 at 15:43

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Dilbert · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-20 16:02:16Z

0

You can also do it with preg_match_all :

$content = "[2][6][11]";
preg_match_all("/\[.*\]/Ui", $content, $matches);
$result = $matches[0];
print_r($result);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => [2]
    [1] => [6]
    [2] => [11]
)

answered Jan 20, 2017 at 16:02

Dilbert

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