Regular Expressions help!

[Massimo at HOME]

Probably, it is simple but honestly I am not able to solve this
problem.

I am trying to use eregi_replace() function to substitute some strings
in my input.

I would like to substitute the "ac" substring when it is a single word
(i.e. "ac" or "ac " but not "ace" or "mace").

I tried something like:

ereg_replace("ac[^[:alpha:]]*","subst...",$inputstring));

But it fails...

I read the regex help and online documentation but I was not able to
figure how to obtain it...

Please help!

Thanks,
Massimo
--
http://incuso.altervista.org

[Andy Hassall]

On 13 Nov 2004 06:50:06 -0800, nu*********@gmail.com (Massimo at HOME) wrote:

Probably, it is simple but honestly I am not able to solve this
problem.

I am trying to use eregi_replace() function to substitute some strings
in my input.

I would like to substitute the "ac" substring when it is a single word
(i.e. "ac" or "ac " but not "ace" or "mace").

I tried something like:

ereg_replace("ac[^[:alpha:]]*","subst...",$inputstring));

But it fails...

I read the regex help and online documentation but I was not able to
figure how to obtain it...

Don't use the ereg* functions, use the preg* functions. They're typically
faster, and have a more powerful expression language (Perl-compatible).

http://uk.php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php
http://uk.php.net/manual/en/referenc...ern.syntax.php
http://uk.php.net/preg_replace

Have a look at \b - zero-width word boundary assertion.

--
Andy Hassall / <an**@andyh.co.uk> / <http://www.andyh.co.uk>
<http://www.andyhsoftware.co.uk/space> Space: disk usage analysis tool

[Daniel Tryba]

Massimo at HOME <nu*********@gmail.com> wrote:

I would like to substitute the "ac" substring when it is a single word
(i.e. "ac" or "ac " but not "ace" or "mace").

I tried something like:

ereg_replace("ac[^[:alpha:]]*","subst...",$inputstring));

But it fails...

Why use ereg_replace?

$ cat /tmp/foo.php
<?php

$str='foo ac mace bar';

echo "before: $str\n";
$str=preg_replace('/\bac\b/','xx',$str);
echo "after : $str\n";
?>
$ php4 /tmp/foo.php
before: foo ac mace bar
after : foo xx mace bar
$

[Gary L. Burnore]

On 13 Nov 2004 15:15:02 GMT, Daniel Tryba <sp**@tryba.invalid> wrote:

Massimo at HOME <nu*********@gmail.com> wrote:

I would like to substitute the "ac" substring when it is a single word
(i.e. "ac" or "ac " but not "ace" or "mace").

I tried something like:

ereg_replace("ac[^[:alpha:]]*","subst...",$inputstring));

But it fails...
Why use ereg_replace?

Why ask why? He was asking for help. Why demean his question?


$ cat /tmp/foo.php
<?php

$str='foo ac mace bar';

echo "before: $str\n";
$str=preg_replace('/\bac\b/','xx',$str);
echo "after : $str\n";
?>
$ php4 /tmp/foo.php
before: foo ac mace bar
after : foo xx mace bar
$

Neat answer, but I liked the first and yet similar response. The
poster wasn't a jerk and gave several URLs and a tip about \b so the
person asking the question could learn for himself.
--
gburnore@databasix dot com
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[Daniel Tryba]

Gary L. Burnore <gb******@databasix.com> wrote:

Neat answer, but I liked the first and yet similar response. The
poster wasn't a jerk and gave several URLs and a tip about \b so the
person asking the question could learn for himself.

Thank you for calling me a jerk.

If you have nothing nice to say blabla...

[Gary L. Burnore]

On 13 Nov 2004 15:24:32 GMT, Daniel Tryba <sp**@tryba.invalid> wrote:

Gary L. Burnore <gb******@databasix.com> wrote:

Neat answer, but I liked the first and yet similar response. The
poster wasn't a jerk and gave several URLs and a tip about \b so the
person asking the question could learn for himself.

Thank you for calling me a jerk.

I said he wasn't a jerk. I didn't say you were. But then, if the shoe
fits. I do note that you can't argue my point.
--
gburnore@databasix dot com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
How you look depends on where you go.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary L. Burnore | ÝÛ³ºÝ³Þ³ºÝ³³Ýۺݳ޳ºÝ³Ý³Þ³ºÝ³ÝÝÛ³
| ÝÛ³ºÝ³Þ³ºÝ³³Ýۺݳ޳ºÝ³Ý³Þ³ºÝ³ÝÝÛ³
DataBasix | ÝÛ³ºÝ³Þ³ºÝ³³Ýۺݳ޳ºÝ³Ý³Þ³ºÝ³ÝÝÛ³
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Black Helicopter Repair Svcs Division | Official Proof of Purchase
================================================== =========================
Want one? GET one! http://signup.databasix.com
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[Daniel Tryba]

Gary L. Burnore <gb******@databasix.com> wrote:

Neat answer, but I liked the first and yet similar response. The
poster wasn't a jerk and gave several URLs and a tip about \b so the
person asking the question could learn for himself.

Thank you for calling me a jerk.

I said he wasn't a jerk. I didn't say you were. But then, if the shoe
fits. I do note that you can't argue my point.

If I only could find out that your point was...

Oh wait, I don't actually care.

[John Dunlop]

Gary L. Burnore wrote:

On 13 Nov 2004 15:15:02 GMT, Daniel Tryba <sp**@tryba.invalid> wrote:

Why use ereg_replace?

Why ask why?

Why not?

--
Jock

[Massimo at HOME]

Gary L. Burnore <gb******@databasix.com> wrote in message news:<cn**********@blackhelicopter.databasix.com>. ..

Neat answer, but I liked the first and yet similar response. The
poster wasn't a jerk and gave several URLs and a tip about \b so the
person asking the question could learn for himself.

I already learnead about \b and read the docs, but I was missing the /

Thanks,
Massimo
--
http://incuso.altervista.org