Regex pattern for complex html div

Question

Any ideas what might be wrong with this regex - it doesn't seem to find anything:

function ad_content($content) {
    if (is_single()) {
    $find = '#<div id=\"attachment_(\d+)\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: (\d+)px\">(.*?)</div>#s';
    $replace1 = '11111';
    $content = preg_replace($find,$replace,$content,1);
    }
    return $content;
}
add_filter ('the_content','ad_content');

I've tried with something basic like

$find = '#attachment#';

and that does work.

When I use the above regex it doesn't replace anything, and gives no errors either. Thus, I suppose it just doesn't find anything. Here's what it should find:

<div id="attachment_167" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 600px"><a href="http://www.url.com"><img class="size-full wp-image-167" alt="text" src="http://www.url.com" width="600" height="776" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">text &#8211; text</p></div>

I've tried it at this regex validator and it does match.

ANSWER:

I think I've finally figured it - the_content hook, doesn't seem to apply to my div. Simple as that.

What not use a DOM parser to do this? That would be preferred method. — Mike Brant
– Mike Brant, Commented Sep 20, 2013 at 16:33
Because I have no idea what that is. I am THAT new to this. Would you be so kind as to shed some light? — kat
– kat, Commented Sep 20, 2013 at 16:34
@kat See this question for a starting place. Basically you should use some pre-written code (a library) that can do all the heavy lifting for you in searching through your HTML string. — ajp15243
– ajp15243, Commented Sep 20, 2013 at 16:37
OK. I understand, but I don't need to do some complex HTML parsing, in fact something as simple as $find = '#<div id=\"attachment(.*?)</div>#s'; would still do the job, but for some reason it seems too complicated for the regex to match. — kat
– kat, Commented Sep 20, 2013 at 16:47

femtoRgon · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-20 16:49:36Z

1

Your regex looks correct to me, really.

When I change $replace1 to $replace, to agree with usage later in the function, and remove the if statement, it seems to work. That is:

function ad_content($content) {
    $find = '#<div id=\"attachment_(\d+)\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: (\d+)px\">(.*?)</div>#s';
    $replace = '11111';
    $content = preg_replace($find,$replace,$content,1);
    return $content;
}

Seems to work as intended. I'm guessing that the $replace1 vs. $replace problem probably isn't in the code your executing (since you are detecting no errors), so are you sure that is_single() is returning true in the context in which you are testing this?

answered Sep 20, 2013 at 16:49

femtoRgon

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1 Comment

kat Over a year ago

Yup. $find = '#attachment#'; does work. PS. You are correct on the $replace1 - just a typo. I even simplified it all the way to: $find = '#<div id=\"attachment(.*?)</div>#s';

dognose · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-20 16:53:48Z

0

You should use a domparser to get the content of the "correct" div.

imagine there would be a "div" inside or the div iteself may be nested:

  <div> 
    Something else
      <div id="thisIwantToMatch"> Foo <div>Bar</div> Baz </div>
    Again something else
  </div>

Since the End-Tag does not contain attributes, it is hard - bareley impossible - to find the right one using regex. Using a "lazy" regex will match <div id="thisIwantToMatch"> Foo <div>Bar</div> while a greedy regex will match <div id="thisIwantToMatch"> Foo <div>Bar</div> Baz </div>Again something else</div>

Obviously both cases are not what you want.

answered Sep 20, 2013 at 16:53

dognose

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1 Comment

kat Over a year ago

I'd love it to match that... or anything! My HTML is very simple so it won't have any nested divs etc. The real issue is why it doesn't match anything at all? I even simplified it all the way to: $find = '#<div id=\"attachment(.*?)</div>#s'; Still no matches.

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