Custom regular expression pattern

Question

What's the right pattern to obtain something like that using preg_split.

Input:

Src.[VALUE1] + abs(Src.[VALUE2])

Output:

Array ( 
    [0] => Src.[VALUE1] 
    [1] => Src.[VALUE2]
)

Why are you limiting yourself to `preg_split`? It doesn't seem appropriate in this case. — , Mar 05 '14 at 13:04
hi, because in my case I use preg_* but I can change, if it is needed. — user3383611, Mar 05 '14 at 13:06

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 05 '14 at 13:09

Instead of using preg_split, using preg_match_all makes more sense in this case:

preg_match_all('/\w+\.\[\w+\]/', $str, $matches);
$matches = $matches[0];

Result of $matches:

Array
(
    [0] => Src.[VALUE1]
    [1] => Src.[VALUE2]
)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 05 '14 at 13:09

This regex should be fine

Src\.\[[^\]]+\]

But instead of preg_split I'd suggest using preg_match_all

$string = 'Src.[VALUE1] + abs(Src.[VALUE2])';
$matches = array();
preg_match_all('/Src\.\[[^\]]+\]/', $string, $matches);

All matches you're looking for will be bound to $matches[0] array.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 05 '14 at 13:11

I guess preg_match_all is what you want. This works -

$string = "Src.[VALUE1] + abs(Src.[VALUE2])";
$regex = "/Src\.\[.*?\]/";
preg_match_all($regex, $string, $matches);
var_dump($matches[0]);
/*
    OUTPUT
*/
array
  0 => string 'Src.[VALUE1]' (length=12)
  1 => string 'Src.[VALUE2]' (length=12)

Custom regular expression pattern

3 Answers3