[SOLVED] preg_match, preg_match_all, and $matches

[kratsg]

Is it just me, or does the topic of $matches always seem to bug me a little bit? IE: how the array for $matches is compiled, exactly what goes in what for different situations, etc...

 

For me, I'm always a little irked with this guy, like I can never remember EXACTLY what $matches[0][0] would be, etc...

 

Does anyone have a simple way of comprehending this (and don't refer to the php manual, cause that thing just seems to make it more complex than it actually is).

[btherl]

Element 0 is always the full pattern matches, and elements 1 and up are the individual matches.  That's all there is to preg_match()

 

For preg_match_all(), it depends on whether you set PREG_PATTERN_ORDER or PREG_SET_ORDER.  Thay may lead to some confusion..

 

Basically PREG_PATTERN_ORDER means element 0 is an array of all the full pattern matches, and elements 1 and up are arrays of individual matches.  Try var_dump() on an example and it'll make sense.

 

PREG_SET_ORDER is the other option.. you basically get an array of the arrays you WOULD have gotten if you'd run preg_match() lots of times.  Just imagine you kept running preg_match() and put all the results into a big array.  That's PREG_SET_ORDER.

 

preg_match_all('|(a)(b)|', 'ababab', &$matches); # Default to PREG_PATTERN_ORDER
var_dump($matches);
preg_match_all('|(a)(b)|', 'ababab', &$matches, PREG_SET_ORDER);
var_dump($matches);

[kratsg]

So, what the heck is considered a 'full pattern' match, the whole string, or the part of the string that matches the whole pattern?

[effigy]

So, what the heck is considered a 'full pattern' match, the whole string, or the part of the string that matches the whole pattern?

[kratsg]

Nice, I think I got it (although I'll probably forget it after a month *jots this down on the post-it by the computer*)

 

:-o Thanks.