pattern syntax with preg match

[ahs10]

i have a text string in which i would like to assign all the numbers after a particular string to a variable, stopping when it gets to a space.  i'm having trouble with the pattern syntax.

 

if the string i was searching for was "&RECORD_ID=123456789 ", what would i use?  i want all the numbers contained between the equal sign and space.

 

also, i can't find a good quick reference guide for this pattern syntax.  php.net does a great job of explaining the preg_match function, but i'm having trouble grasping the pattern syntax explanations.

 

any help is much appreciated.

[PHP Monkeh]

This wouldn't happen to be in a URL would it?  Just seeing the ampersand there makes it seem likely

[ahs10]

yes it is, a get variable of a url

[sasa]

try

<?php
$a = '&RECORD_ID=123456789&bla';
preg_match('/RECORD_ID=([0-9]+)/i',$a, $b);
echo $b[1];
?>

[PHP Monkeh]

If that's in the URL you could just use $_GET['RECORD_ID'] though?  Doesn't seem any need for the regexp.

[ahs10]

i could, if i had control over the server the url was hosted on.  i'm parsing a remote page which contains that url.  the string i'm searching is the source code of the page.

 

if you have the time, can you explain the syntax of the pattern?  what does '/RECORD_ID=([0-9]+)/i' do?

[sasa]

/ - start and end

RECORD_ID= - pattern looking for

() - subpart

[0-9] - any digit

+ - one or more times

try to print_r($b);