[SOLVED] Preg_Match_All Problem

[N-Bomb(Nerd)]

What exactly would I be doing wrong with this expression?

 

preg_match_all('/<a href="lyrics\.php\?id=(.*?)">(.*?)<img src="(.*?)"><\/a>/is', $String, $Title);

 

What I'm mainly going after is the second search, however the other two are always random.

 

Example:

<a href="lyrics.php?id=5352">Limp Bizkit - Boiler<img src="hot.gif"></a>

[Maq]

Try:

 

$s = "Limp Bizkit - Boiler";
$pattern = '~^(.*)$~i';
preg_match_all($pattern, $s, $matches);
print_r($matches);

?>

 

- You were pretty close (not that mine's perfect) but I made some changes.

- If 'id' is always going to be an integer you should use ([0-9]*).

- You should use \s for whitespaces.

 

In the $matches array you have to go through and figure out what each key goes to each match.  The array dump would look like this:

 

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Limp Bizkit - Boiler
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => 5352
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => Limp Bizkit - Boiler
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [0] => hot.gif
        )

)

 

Hope this helps, good luck.

[thebadbad]

What exactly would I be doing wrong with this expression?

 

preg_match_all('/<a href="lyrics\.php\?id=(.*?)">(.*?)<img src="(.*?)"><\/a>/is', $String, $Title);

 

What I'm mainly going after is the second search, however the other two are always random.

 

Example:

<a href="lyrics.php?id=5352">Limp Bizkit - Boiler<img src="hot.gif"></a>

 

Your code works fine when I'm testing it. What went wrong for you? If you're only looking for one match, you should use preg_match() instead of preg_match_all() for better efficiency.

 

@Maq

- If you're sure that you're matching a space, it's perfectly fine to simply use a literal space in the pattern. But yeah, \s is more versatile (matching most/all kinds of whitespace) and I often prefer it over literal spaces in these type of cases.

- You added start and end of string (^ and $) to your pattern. That would keep the pattern from matching the data if it is part of a larger source code, which I would guess it is.

- You also removed the s modifier (or didn't add it). It's always a good idea to use the s modifier when using the dot, if a newline should appear within the desired match

 

@OP

You're a Bizkit fan? Watched the live stream of their concert @ Download Festival last weekend - freakin' awesome gig!

[Maq]

- If you're sure that you're matching a space, it's perfectly fine to simply use a literal space in the pattern. But yeah, \s is more versatile (matching most/all kinds of whitespace) and I often prefer it over literal spaces in these type of cases.

 

I agree.

 

- You added start and end of string (^ and $) to your pattern. That would keep the pattern from matching the data if it is part of a larger source code, which I would guess it is.

 

Yes I know.  Not sure why I did that.

 

- You also removed the s modifier (or didn't add it). It's always a good idea to use the s modifier when using the dot, if a newline should appear within the desired match

 

Yeah, I forgot to add it back in.  Thanks for the info.