[SOLVED] Explode string

[themistral]

Hi guys,

 

I have a string in this format:

 

This is a String i Want to Explode

 

I want the string to be exploded at all the capital letters - but I want to retain the capital letters so I get 4 strings:

This is a

String i

Want to

Explode

 

I'm missing something really simple here...

 

Currently I have

split("[A-Z]",$string);

 

but this returns

 

his is a

tring i

ant to

xplode

 

Can anyone out there help me? 

[soycharliente]

That's just how split works. You don't get the values that you're splitting on. Just what's around/between them. I don't know if there is a function to do what you want. I don't know enough about regex to be able to write something. But you could possibly just go through looking for capital letters and then add from the beginning to that spot to an array.

[littledragon]

Is there a line break between each set as you're shown?  In which case : explode("\n", $string);

[themistral]

No - it's just a field in a database with a long string - not something I set up!!

 

[littledragon]

so what does the string look like?

ThisIsAStringIWantToExplode

or

This Is A String I Want To Explode

?

[littledragon]

oh, I see... sorry didn't look properly

check out preg_match_all on php.net... this is definitely a job for regex. you'll be glad you learnt it!

[soycharliente]

<?php
$str = "This is a String i Want to Explode";
$pattern = "/(.)([A-Z])/";
$replacement = "\\1\n\\2";
$new = explode("\n", preg_replace($pattern, $replacement, $str));

print_r($new);
?>

 

Gives you:

Array
(
    [0] => This is a 
    [1] => String i 
    [2] => Want to 
    [3] => Explode
)

 

I typed in "php split string on uppercase letter" and found this:

http://www.webmasterworld.com/php/3608725.htm

 

Then I changed it to work after testing it locally.

[effigy]

<pre>
<?php
$str = 'This is a String i Want to Explode';
$pieces = preg_split('/(?=[A-Z])/', $str, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
print_r($pieces);
?>
</pre>

[soycharliente]

<?php
$str = 'This is a String i Want to Explode';
$pieces = preg_split('/(?=[A-Z])/', $str, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
print_r($pieces);
?>

 

So what's the difference? Just wondering.

[effigy]

It uses a lookaround (a positive lookahead), which matches a position in the string rather than an actual character. It eliminates the need to capture or replace.

[soycharliente]

It uses a lookaround (a positive lookahead), which matches a position in the string rather than an actual character. It eliminates the need to capture or replace.

Interesting. Where did you learn about how to do that?

[effigy]

Regular-Expressions.info is a good resource: http://www.regular-expressions.info/lookaround.html