PHP Explode with Multiple Spaces

Question

I have strings from a database like this:

$string1 = "1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan";
$string2 = "1219.56.C45-.C452                      Codex Cempoallan";

How do I split them up into:

["1219.56.C38-.C382", "Codex Azcatitlan"]
["1219.56.C45-.C452", "Codex Cempoallan"]

Note if I used $stringar1 = explode(" ", $string1) etc. I will get this:

array(3)
(
    [0] => string "1219.56.C38-.C382"
    [1] => string "Codex"
    [2] => string "Azcatitlan"
)

etc.

I need "Codex Azcatitlan"

I do not know in advance how many multiple spaces there are in between the left and right element. However, we can assume that it will always be more than 1 space.

Why not concat all elements after index 0 which would give you the name? — ka_lin, Nov 08 '18 at 13:48
Use a regex like `^[^ ]+\s+(.+)$`: https://regex101.com/r/qoyZZN/1 — h2ooooooo, Nov 08 '18 at 13:48

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 08 '18 at 14:02

4

Limit number of parts with third argument of explode() with a combination of array_map() to remove unwanted spaces:

// this means you will have 2 items and all other spaces 
// after first one  will not be used for `explod`ing
$r = array_map('trim', explode(" ", $string1, 2));

edited Nov 08 '18 at 14:02

Cid

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answered Nov 08 '18 at 13:52

u_mulder

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2

The other spaces are included in the second match though...Also if there are multiple space delimited values on one line this will stop after first. – user3783243 Nov 08 '18 at 13:57
@user3783243 sure, spaces are included. But according to OP's array and source string there're a lot of spaces that are dissappeared. So, I presume some filtering is used, here some `trim`ing can also be applied. – u_mulder Nov 08 '18 at 14:01

user3783243 · Answer 2 · 2018-11-08T13:54:36.640

3

Use preg_split and check for at least 2 whitespace characters.

$string1 = "1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan";
$string2 = "1219.56.C45-.C452                      Codex Cempoallan";
print_r(preg_split('/\h{2,}/', $string1));
print_r(preg_split('/\h{2,}/', $string2));

https://3v4l.org/oWbIf

If $strings also should split on newlines change the \h to \s. \h is a horizontal white space (tab or space), \s is any whitespace.

The {} creates a range in regex. A single value inside is the number of allowed characters, a , inside makes a min and max range. 2 is the minimum and no second value means any number of additional matches. This is the same as the + but instead of one match there must be two.

edited Nov 08 '18 at 13:54

answered Nov 08 '18 at 13:51

user3783243

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A tiny bit complicated for a simple problem – Alexandre Elshobokshy Nov 08 '18 at 13:52
This answer would be complete with an explanation of the pattern (simple, but some people doesn't understand regex) – Cid Nov 08 '18 at 13:52
1

Nice solution; it avoids having to remove the spaces afterwards. – jeroen Nov 08 '18 at 13:57

MonkeyZeus · Answer 3 · 2018-11-09T14:20:18.717

You can use a combination of explode() and substr()

$string1 = "1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan";

// explode() on spaces
$explode = explode( ' ', trim( $string1 ) ); // apply trim() just in case there are ever leading spaces

$result = array(
    $explode[ 0 ], // give me everything before the first space char
    trim( substr( $string1, strlen( $explode[ 0 ] ) ) ) // give me everything starting from the first space char and apply trim()
);

var_dump( $result );

Output:

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  string(17) "1219.56.C38-.C382"
  [1]=>
  string(16) "Codex Azcatitlan"
}

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 09 '18 at 14:19

1

You can use a combination of explode(), array_shift(), and implode()

$string1 = "1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan";

// explode() on spaces
$explode = explode( ' ', trim( $string1 ) ); // apply trim() just in case there are ever leading spaces

$result = array(
    array_shift( $explode ), // remove the first element from the array and give me it's value
    trim( implode( ' ', $explode ) ) // $explode has it's first element removed so we can just implode it
);

var_dump( $result );

Output:

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  string(17) "1219.56.C38-.C382"
  [1]=>
  string(16) "Codex Azcatitlan"
}

answered Nov 09 '18 at 14:19

MonkeyZeus

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Yep, this one is smarter than the previous one. Why not posting only 1 answer with both solutions? – Cid Nov 09 '18 at 14:26
@Cid Thanks. I figured it was different enough to warrant its own answer. – MonkeyZeus Nov 09 '18 at 14:51

score -2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 09 '18 at 10:12

-2

preg_match_all('~^[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s+([a-zA-Z0-9\s]+)~i', '1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan', $matches);

print_r($matches);


Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1219.56.C38-.C382                 Codex Azcatitlan
        )

[1] => Array
    (
        [0] => Codex Azcatitlan
    )

)

answered Nov 09 '18 at 10:12

Fathi

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Downvoted because 1) Posted code without any explanation, 2) The output isn't what is expected in OP's question – Cid Nov 09 '18 at 13:29
what's wrong with you? 1) the code is simple no need to explain. 2) the output is exactly what is needed, read the question please – Fathi Nov 10 '18 at 23:09
It's simple, **but** for someone who don't understand regex. This is definitely **not** the expected result. Read again the question and compare against the index 0 of your output. – Cid Nov 11 '18 at 15:11

PHP Explode with Multiple Spaces

5 Answers5