PHP match string, is fnmatch right for the job

Question

I'm trying to figure out how I can compare values from an array against a particular string.

Basically my values look like chrisx001, chrisx002, chrisx003, chrisx004, bob001

I was looking at fnmatch() but I'm not sure this is the right choice, as what I want to do is keep chrisx--- but ignore bob--- so I need to wildcard the last bit, is there a means of doing this where I can be like

if($value == "chrisx%"){/*do something*/}

and if thats possible is it possible to double check the % value as int or similar in other cases?

It's not clear where you want to do this comparison, but if you're after a quick way of getting an array of `chrisx`'s then you could also look at [`preg_grep()`](http://php.net/preg_grep). — salathe, Jun 05 '12 at 17:59

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 05 '12 at 17:47

4

Regex can tell you if a string starts with chrisx:

if (preg_match('/^chrisx/', $subject)) {
  // Starts with chrisx
}

You can also capture the bit after chrisx:

preg_match('/^chrisx(.*)/', $subject, $matches);

echo $matches[1];

answered Jun 05 '12 at 17:47

Mike B

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ha, didn't even think about preg_match, guess sometimes the answers are inside the box, and not outside.. thanks – chris Jun 05 '12 at 17:50
@chris It's easy to get into the habit of trying to come up with the most clever, and sometimes obscure, way of accomplishing a goal. They're usually the most satisfying :) – Mike B Jun 05 '12 at 17:50
preg_match is the recommended regex system for PHP. The other one (ereg) is deprecated. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1361591/php-ereg-vs-preg – starlocke Jun 05 '12 at 17:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 05 '12 at 18:04

1

You could filter your array to return a second array of only those entries beginning whith 'chris' and then process that filtered array:

$testData = array ( 'chrisx001', 'chrisx002', 'chrisx003', 'chrisx004', 'bob001');
$testNeedle = 'chris';

$filtered = array_filter( $testData, 
                          function($arrayEntry) use ($testNeedle) { 
                              return (strpos($arrayEntry,$testNeedle) === 0); 
                          }
);

var_dump($filtered);

edited Jun 05 '12 at 18:04

Ja͢ck

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answered Jun 05 '12 at 17:54

Mark Baker

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Alternatively, `preg_grep('/^chrisx/', $testData)`. – salathe Jun 05 '12 at 18:00

PHP match string, is fnmatch right for the job

2 Answers2