PHP regex preg_match_all for string

Question

I have the following string:

keyword|title|http://example.com/

I would like to use the PHP function

preg_match_all ( $anchor, $key, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER) )

currently

$anchor='/([\w\W]*?)\|([\w\W]*)/';

and I get $matches array:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => keyword|title|http://example.com/
            [1] => keyword
            [2] => title|http://example.com/
        )

)

I would like to get

matches[1]=keyword
matches[2]=title
matches[3]=http://example.com

How would I have to modify $anchor to achieve this?

Thank you, this worked. Final expression: $anchor='/([\w\W]*?)\|([\w\W]*?)\|([\w\W]*)/'; — IberoMedia
– IberoMedia, Commented Apr 12, 2011 at 21:52

Felix Kling · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-12 20:59:38Z

6

The easiest way would be to use explode() instead of regular expressions:

$parts = explode('|', $str);

Assuming none of the parts can contain |. But if they could, regex wouldn't help you much either.

answered Apr 12, 2011 at 20:59

Felix Kling

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2 Comments

Gary Green Over a year ago

Absolutely. Just for the sake of it... heres a regex that would work: /([^|]+)/

IberoMedia Over a year ago

Gary, this is matches if I use this regex: <pre>Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => keyword [1] => keyword ) [1] => Array ( [0] => title [1] => title ) [2] => Array ( [0] => example.com [1] => example.com ) ) </pre>

mario · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-12 21:57:16Z

1

If you want to keep using the regex to avoid a manual loop, then I'd recommend this over the used [\w\W]* syntax and for readability:

$anchor = '/([^|]*) \| ([^|]*) \| ([^\s|]+)/x';

It's a bit more robust with explicit negated character classes. (I assume neither title nor url can contain | here.)

answered Apr 12, 2011 at 21:57

mario

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2 Comments

IberoMedia Over a year ago

Hey mario, thank you, this worked. I know nothing about the regex expressions; they look like gibberish to me. Where could i find the rules and mechanics of these expressions? Thank you

mario Over a year ago

Yes. They are sort of a programming language of their own. It takes time to get accustomed to them. regular-expressions.info provides a mostly understandable introduction. And here are some tools that can sometimes help in constructing regular expressions: stackoverflow.com/questions/89718/…

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