Preg_replace with array replacements

Question

$string = ":abc and :def have apples.";
$replacements = array('Mary', 'Jane');

should become:

Mary and Jane have apples.

Right now I'm doing it like this:

preg_match_all('/:(\w+)/', $string, $matches);

foreach($matches[0] as $index => $match)
   $string = str_replace($match, $replacements[$index], $string);

Can I do this in a single run, using something like preg_replace?

[This](http://codepad.org/KfP3g02m) is how you can do it with an associative array. — Teneff, Feb 23 '12 at 15:53

hakre · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-25T09:05:38.583

19

You could use preg_replace_callback with a callback that consumes your replacements one after the other:

$string = ":abc and :def have apples.";
$replacements = array('Mary', 'Jane');
echo preg_replace_callback('/:\w+/', function($matches) use (&$replacements) {
    return array_shift($replacements);
}, $string);

Output:

Mary and Jane have apples.

edited Oct 25 '14 at 09:05

answered Feb 23 '12 at 15:41

hakre

193,403
52
435
836

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 23 '12 at 15:46

9

$string = ":abc and :def have apples.";
$replacements = array('Mary', 'Jane');

echo preg_replace("/:\\w+/e", 'array_shift($replacements)', $string);

Output:

Mary and Jane have apples.

answered Feb 23 '12 at 15:46

Qtax

33,241
9
83
121

1

It's not supported from PHP 7.0. – Jsowa May 30 '20 at 04:20

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 21 '15 at 13:27

8

Try this

$to_replace = array(':abc', ':def', ':ghi');
$replace_with = array('Marry', 'Jane', 'Bob');

$string = ":abc and :def have apples, but :ghi doesn't";

$string = strtr($string, array_combine($to_replace, $replace_with));
echo $string;

here is result: http://sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/7a4c5b00f68ec40fdb35ce189d26446e3a2501c2

answered Jun 21 '15 at 13:27

Iatrarchy

349
3
12

2

This is the fastest solution because it doesn't use regex – Drakes Aug 08 '16 at 07:40

Miguel · Answer 4 · 2015-01-09T15:59:19.313

3

For a Multiple and Full array replacement by Associative Key you can use this to match your regex pattern:

   $words=array("_saudation_"=>"Hello", "_animal_"=>"cat", "_animal_sound_"=>"MEooow");
   $source=" _saudation_! My Animal is a _animal_ and it says _animal_sound_ ... _animal_sound_ ,  _no_match_";


  function translate_arrays($source,$words){
    return (preg_replace_callback("/\b_(\w*)_\b/u", function($match) use ($words) {    if(isset($words[$match[0]])){ return ($words[$match[0]]); }else{ return($match[0]); } },  $source));
  }


    echo translate_arrays($source,$words);
    //returns:  Hello! My Animal is a cat and it says MEooow ... MEooow ,  _no_match_

*Notice, thats although "_no_match_" lacks translation, it will match during regex, but preserve its key. And keys can repeat many times.

edited Jan 09 '15 at 15:59

answered May 03 '14 at 00:12

Miguel

3,349
2
32
28

I recommend to add "u" modifier to the regex for supporting UTF-8 strings: `/\b_(\w*)_\b/u`. BTW, code above has a syntax error, and extra parenthesis at the end. – nikoskip Jan 06 '15 at 18:08
Looks like no extra parenthesis issue, i verified the code and is running ok. BUt i added The UTf-8. Thank you – Miguel Jan 09 '15 at 16:00

Preg_replace with array replacements

4 Answers4

Linked