PHP: preg_match not working

Question

I have the following code:

$data = "Normal text
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
Normal text";
$data = nl2br($data);
$data= explode('<br />', $data );
foreach($data as $value){
if(preg_match('/^&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp/',$value)){
echo 'code';
echo '<br />';
}else{
echo 'Not code';
echo '<br />';
}
}

I want to check if each of the lines starts with 4 spaces and if it does i want to echo as 'Code' and if it doesn't i want to echo as 'Not code'. But i am getting the output as 'Not code' though the 2nd , 3rd and 4th lines start with four spaces. I cannot figure out what I have done wrong. Please help me.

Why dont you use $data = explode("\n", $data); instead of nl2br and then exploding by
? — MightyPork, Jul 30 '13 at 15:37
@MightyPork I agree with you general suggestion, but would recommend use of `PHP_EOL` instead of `\n` as the string to explode on. — Mike Brant, Jul 30 '13 at 15:40

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 30 '13 at 15:37

2

nl2br doesn't generate <br /> unless you tell it to. Your explode logic is wrong.

Instead, try this:

$data = "Normal text.......";
foreach(explode("\n",$data) as $line) {
    // your existing foreach content code here
}

answered Jul 30 '13 at 15:37

Niet the Dark Absol

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It would be preferable to use `PHP_EOL` instead of `\n` as the string to explode on for compatibility reasons. – Mike Brant Jul 30 '13 at 15:41
Assuming that this text is coming from the filesystem – Sam Dufel Jul 30 '13 at 15:42

Puggan Se · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-30T15:49:20.887

got it working added a trim() to get rid of the newline in front of the string

nl2br replace \n with <br />\n (or <br />\r\n), so when spliting on <br /> the \n is left as the first char

<?php
        $data = "Normal text
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspcode
Normal text";

        $data = nl2br($data);

        $data= explode('<br />', $data );

        foreach($data as $value)
        {
                if(preg_match('/^&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp/', trim($value)))
                {
                        echo 'code';
                }
                else
                {
                        echo 'Not code';
                }
                echo '<br />';
        }
?>

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:56

0

You could also use "startsWith" as defined here...

https://stackoverflow.com/a/834355/2180189

...instead of the regexp match. That is, if the spaces are always at the beginning

edited May 23 '17 at 11:56

Community

1
1

answered Jul 30 '13 at 15:39

MightyPork

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PHP: preg_match not working

3 Answers3