find "..." in the text

[mysterbx]

Hello,

 

How can i find "..." (3 dots) in a text?

 

I tried using preg_match("#\.\.\.#ise",$x); it didnt work, tried preg_match("/\.\.\./i",$x); - also nothing.

 

What is wrong with that preg match?

[lonewolf217]

do you just want to know the existence of the 3 dots, or find the position, or what else ?

[unska]

Regexp is better and faster way for doing it but if you want an easier way you can use the following code.

 

<?php
$string = "Hello my name is ... and i like potatoes.";
$toFind = "...";
$position = strpos($string, $toFind);

if ($position !== false) {
	echo "The three dots start at this position: ".$position;
}
?>

[Maq]

$s = "timsgsdaa...asdfasdf";

if(preg_match("/\.{3}/", $s)) {
   echo "YAY";
} else {
   echo "NOO";
}
?>

[br0ken]

Unska's code works the best. Regex isn't faster in working with strings. It is more powerful than string functions but slower.

[unska]

I've always thought regexp is faster.. Well, you learn something new everyday.

[bluejay002]

Yep... unska's way is better. If something could be accomplished using simple string function, then use it. It's faster with that and pattern matching are supposed to be used on complex ones to make you code more efficient.

[mysterbx]

cool, thanks a lot, everything runs much smoother now

 

[redarrow]

The best code is always preg_match() that what it for .

[Maq]

The best code is always preg_match() that what it for .

 

Not true, check out some benchmark tests, it will show, for this specific example, that strpo() is faster then the preg_match() function.  But preg_match is much much more powerful, like br0ken already mentioned.