PHP Replace all characters other than [a-zA-Z0-9\-]

Question

I would like to replace all characters in a string other than [a-zA-Z0-9\-] with a space.

I've found this post and no matter how many times I tweak the REGEX, I can't get it to "don't match [a-zA-Z0-9-], only match and replace other characters".

At the moment, I have the following:

$original_name = trim(' How to get file creation & modification date/times in Python?  ');

$replace_strange_characters = preg_replace("/^((?!([a-zA-Z0-9\-]+)*))$/", " ", $original_name);

// Returns: How to get file creation & modification date/times in Python?
echo $replace_strange_characters;

I wish for it to replace all of the strange characters with a space ' ', thus returning:

How to get file creation   modification date times in Python?

I'm really struggling with these "don't match" scenarios.

Here's my code so far: http://tehplayground.com/#2NFzGbG7B

I wish to retain dashes, using `\w` as suggested in the answers for that question would not have the desired effect. :( — Luke, Oct 25 '13 at 16:17

The Alpha · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-12T10:03:14.210

2

You may try this (You mentioned you want to keep dash)

$original_name = trim(' How to get file creation & modification date/times in Python?  ');
$replace_strange_characters = preg_replace('/[^\da-z-]/i', ' ', $original_name);
echo $replace_strange_characters;

~~DEMO.~~

edited May 12 '17 at 10:03

answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:19

The Alpha

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I think that link rot has set in... – Luke May 12 '17 at 08:37

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:20

0

Wouldn't this regex do it?

[^a-zA-Z0-9\-]

Oh, and why are you doing this btw?

answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:20

Horse SMith

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Thanks for trying, but your example doesn't say "no not match" anything? – Luke Oct 25 '13 at 16:25
@Coulton Eh? It says matching anything but a-zA-Z0-9\- (with other words, not a-zA-Z0-9\-, but everything else). – Horse SMith Oct 25 '13 at 16:44

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:21

0

Try this

$replace_strange_characters = preg_replace("([^a-zA-Z0-9\-\?])", " ", $original_name);

The previous answer strip out the ?

answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:21

Jorge Campos

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PHP Replace all characters other than [a-zA-Z0-9\-]

3 Answers3