Postcode Check

[supanoob]

So i have a database with a list of Towns and their relevant postcode letters (DN = Doncaster, S = Sheffield etc)

 

i want to be able to find out what town they're from, using the postcode they have submitted, but i'm unsure on how to break away the characters before the first number in the postcode..... so for example someone submits 

 

DN2 6PJ

 

how to do break away the DN so i can return Doncaster or the same if it was S1 4QJ how would i break away the S to return sheffield?

[Jacques1]

Use a regular expression to simultanously validate the input and extract the postcode area:

<?php

// test input
$postcode = 'S1 4QJ';

$postcode_regex = '/\\A(?P<postcode_area>[A-Z][A-Z]?)\\d[A-Z\\d]? \\d[A-Z]{2}\\z/';
if (preg_match($postcode_regex, $postcode, $postcode_matches))
{
    var_dump($postcode_matches['postcode_area']);
}
else
{
    echo 'Incorrect postcode.';
}