preg_match regex with fix character in the middle

Question

I'm using preg_match to find two letters and 4-6 digits, but there should be a hyphen - character in the middle. I'm starting from there:

if (preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z]{2}\W[0-9]{4,6}$/"...

I came out with this solution, where I use \W as an any "non-word" character. But I know it will be a hyphen, so I would like to be more specific.

if (preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z]{2}.-.[0-9]{4,6}$/"...

Could you be more specific? Do you need to check if the whole string **is** two letters, an hyphen, and 4-6 digits, or do you need to **find** a substring of two letters, an hyphen, and 4-6 digits in a larger string? It isn't a bad idea to write an example string in your question. — Casimir et Hippolyte, Feb 13 '17 at 13:13
yes, that's the point. I think my description covered it. :) — syluccy, Feb 13 '17 at 13:17

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 13 '17 at 13:10

0

It would be enough to replace \W with a fixed character:

if (preg_match("/^[a-z]{2}-\d{4,6}$/i"...

answered Feb 13 '17 at 13:10

RomanPerekhrest

score -1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 13 '17 at 13:27

-1

wow, Wiktor Stribiżew's answer was it. I didn't know it was so easy...

so it's

if (preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z]{2}-[0-9]{4,6}$/"...

answered Feb 13 '17 at 13:27

syluccy

2 Answers2