PHP: Searching for an exact string pattern in array elements

Question

I want to validate all the files that are being uploaded on my site through PHP. I am using regular expressions to compare the file contents but it doesn't seem to be working as I expect it to work. I want to accept files with 1 term per line only.

EXPECTED INPUT:
HP34930
HP09099
HP98899

UNACCEPTABLE INPUT:
HP89980 HP98798 HP09232
some other text
HP58089

Here is my code:

$texthandle = file($_FILES["textfile"]["tmp_name"]);
foreach ($texthandle as $textline)
{
    if (!preg_match("/(HP\d+){1}/", $textline))
    {
    echo "Incorrect file format. Please provide a text file with 1 term per line.";
            exit(0);
    }       
}

Could someone suggest why this isn't detecting the way I want it to?

I have also tried

if (!preg_match("/^(HP\d+){1}$/", $textline))

but it isn't working as I expect it to work.

Thanks for your help!

"isn't working" isn't a proper issue explanation. As well as "isn't working correctly". Only you know what "correctly" means. — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Oct 30, 2013 at 3:55
I have made some edits to be less ambiguous. I hope that helps. — zock
– zock, Commented Oct 30, 2013 at 4:00
@Mike W: the whole file is not. OP checks line by line and the result if the whole file is good or not — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Oct 30, 2013 at 4:06

AbraCadaver · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-30 04:13:36Z

1

Not sure what not working is, but try:

$texthandle = file($_FILES["textfile"]["tmp_name"], FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);

and then:

if (!preg_match("/^HP\d+$/", $textline))

or if there are only 5 digits allowed:

if (!preg_match("/^HP[\d]{5}$/", $textline))

If there is any whitespace at the end like spaces, tabs, etc. it will fail, so you can try trim() on $textline.

edited Oct 30, 2013 at 4:13

answered Oct 30, 2013 at 4:04

AbraCadaver

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9 Comments

zerkms Over a year ago

Your regex is identical (by behaviour) to the OP's one

elixenide Over a year ago

The difference is the ^ and $ characters; these check for the start and end of the line, respectively.

zerkms Over a year ago

@Ed Cottrell: there are anchors in the second OP's attempt

AbraCadaver Over a year ago

@zerkms: Could work sort of the same, or not, but definitely not identical :) And, maybe it's not the regex?

zerkms Over a year ago

@AbraCadaver: it's identical to /^(HP\d+){1}$/ from the question. If you see the differences between your and this one - please share.

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