PHP str_replace "and"

Question

So I have str_replace which searches a string for "and" and replaces it with & However if there is a word which contains the letters "and" for example, "Howland" it will replace it with Howl&.

How can I make it so that it only searches for the word and.

This is my function I have setup:

function add_ampersand( $string ) {
    $string = str_replace( 'and', '&amp;', $string );

    return $string;
}

I must note that this function is being used in a URL so the "and" will contain "-" next to either side of it, which then gets converted into spaces.

Actually I have the feeling you want to replace the single word `and` with `&`. That you then need a HTML entity for the `&` is written on a different sheet of paper. — hakre, Aug 29 '13 at 14:26

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '13 at 14:05

5

You could use

function add_ampersand( $string ) {
    $string = preg_replace( '/\band\b/', '&amp;', $string );

    return $string;
}

or

function add_ampersand( $string ) {
    $string = str_replace( ' and ', ' &amp; ', $string );

    return $string;
}

The first one is better in the case "and" is next to the end of the string or next to a special character such as ', , or ..

answered Aug 29 '13 at 14:05

PurkkaKoodari

6,703
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This did the trick, I had already tried adding the space before but I guess I forgot to add the space either side of the & as well. Thanks! – Sygon Aug 29 '13 at 14:10

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 29 '13 at 14:07

0

Try this

function add_ampersand( $string ) {
    $string = str_replace( ' and ', ' &amp; ', $string );
    return $string;
}

answered Aug 29 '13 at 14:07

Padmanathan J

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75

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 29 '13 at 14:07

If I understand you, you have strings like this: "-and" or "and-" or "-and-". The easiest way of replacing it to &amp is this:

function add_ampersand( $string ) {
    $string = str_replace( '-and', '-&amp;', $string );
    $string = str_replace( 'and-', '&amp;-', $string );
    $string = str_replace( '-and-', '-&amp;-', $string );

    return $string;
}

PHP str_replace "and"

3 Answers3