PHP use preg_match_all to extract attribute names from string

Question

I'm using the following code to split a string into an array of matches:

$text = 'text required name="first_name" label="First Name"';
preg_match_all('/"(?:\\\\.|[^\\\\"])*"|[^\s"]+/', $text, $matches);
print_r($matches);

The result is:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => text
            [1] => required
            [2] => name=
            [3] => "first_name"
            [4] => label=
            [5] => "First Name"
        )

)

But I need the result to be:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => text
            [1] => required
            [2] => name="first_name"
            [3] => label="First Name"
        )

)

I tried this but it didn't work:

preg_match_all('/="(?:\\\\.|[^\\\\"])*"|[^\s"]+/', $text, $matches);

Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong? Thanks

The main issue I see is that | which implies to search for either any text that is between quotation marks or any text that is not a space or double quote. You would be better served either by an explode to simply split text values or if you really need regex for whatever reason something that is similar to: ([^\s"]+(="\w*")*). I'm a bit exhausted so it may not be exactly that but more or less should give you a jumping point. — MiltoxBeyond
– MiltoxBeyond, Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 8:19
@splash58: That was my first thought as well, but no it won't work because it will split label="First Name" into separate values since it has a space in — The Bobster
– The Bobster, Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 8:19

Mohammad · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-25 08:31:02Z

2

You can use pattern /\s(?![\w\s]+\")/ in preg_split() to split string by space that isn't in value.

$res = preg_split("/\s(?![\w\s]+\")/", $text);

Check result in demo

edited Jan 25, 2019 at 8:31

answered Jan 25, 2019 at 8:25

Mohammad

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5 Comments

Nick Over a year ago

This doesn't work if there is more than one space in the value 3v4l.org/T9CWh

The Bobster Over a year ago

@Mohammad Thanks for your help, but actually Nick is correct and this problem is not solved, it needs to work with any number of spaces

Mohammad Over a year ago

@TheBobster I can't understand problem, it work also for multiple space 3v4l.org/ag1He

The Bobster Over a year ago

@Mohammad Ok it looks like you edited the answer and now it works with multiple spaces, so thank you!

splash58 Over a year ago

What's about name="first diff-name" ?

Sami Akkawi · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-25 08:53:00Z

0

If you want to use preg_match_all here's a working code:

$text = 'text required name="first_name" label="First Name"';
preg_match_all('([a-zA-Z_]*[=]["][a-zA-Z_]*["]|[a-zA-Z_]*[=]["][ a-zA-Z]*["]|[a-zA-Z]+)', $text, $matches);
print_r($matches);

answered Jan 25, 2019 at 8:53

Sami Akkawi

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