preg_split results in connection reset

Question

preg_split("/({{\s*(?:(?!}}).)+\s*}})/s", file_get_contents('data.txt'));

That line makes Apache reset the connection. data.txt is approximately 12 kB.

What am I doing wrong, can I optimize the regex somehow?

Answer 1

Try this regular expression instead:

/({{(?>(?:[^}]|}[^}])+)}})/s

The main improvements:

• (?>…) – atomic grouping to avoid backtracking
• (?:[^}]|}[^}])+ – no look-around, no non-greedy matching

Answer 2

Try reading the file into a variable than passing it to preg_split. I think it's file_get_contentsproblem rather thanpreg_split`.