Regex to find function call php

Question

I need the regex to find function calls in strings in php, I have tried to search here on stackoverflow but none of the ones i've tried worked.

this pattern: ^.*([\w][$].*[$])

This will match: functionone(fgfg) but also functionone(fgfg) dhgfghfgh functiontwo() as one match. Not 2 separate matches (as in functionone(fgfg) and functiontwo().

I don't know how to write it but I think this is what I need.
1. Any string, followed by (
2. Any string followed by )

And then it should stop, not continue. Any regex-gurus that can help me out?

Instead of .* which is greedy operator, try using .*?, which is lazy. — ddinchev
– ddinchev, Commented Mar 29, 2012 at 8:19
see here : php.net/manual/en/function.get-defined-functions.php — xkeshav
– xkeshav, Commented Mar 29, 2012 at 8:19
Have fun with $x = functionOne(functionTwo("fgfg")); and all the myriad of similar permutations — Mark Baker
– Mark Baker, Commented Mar 29, 2012 at 9:45

stema · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-29 08:28:20Z

6

I see 5 issues with your regex

If you want to match 2 functions in the same row, don't use the anchor ^, this will anchor the regex to the start of the string.
You then don't need .* at the start maybe more something like \w+ (I am not sure what the spec of a function name in PHP is)
if there is only one entry in a character class (and its not a negated one), you don't need the character class
The quantifier between the brackets needs to be a lazy one (followed by a ?). So after this 4 points your regex would look something like
```
\w+$.*?$
```
Is a regex really the right tool for this job?

answered Mar 29, 2012 at 8:28

stema

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1 Comment

jocken Over a year ago

This actually worked, big thank you! But you are all right. Tokenizer would be a better alternative but it didn't find my functions as functions, but as html.

Mark Baker · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-29 08:18:18Z

6

Don't use regexp for this... use PHP's built-in tokenizer

answered Mar 29, 2012 at 8:18

Mark Baker

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Comments

Rohan Prabhu · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-29 08:19:45Z

1

A function signature is not a regular language. As such, you cannot use a regular expression to match a function signature. Your current regex will match signatures that are NOT valid function signatures.

What I would suggest you use is the PHP tokenizer.

answered Mar 29, 2012 at 8:19

Rohan Prabhu

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1 Comment

Qtax Over a year ago

Valid point, invalid argument, PCRE is not regular.

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