Is it possible to format source code after preg_replace/str_replace?

Question

I am removing several code lines from an xml file with preg_replace and str_replace

preg_replace('/(<!DOCTYPE(.*?)<fields )/s', '<fields ', $readSettings);

after the replace is done I am left with an empty spaces where the lines were. http://prntscr.com/3hegmb line 4 and 5 Is there any way to reformat the file once I am done or to remove the line and its space completely?

@AlexHowansky, thnx but it requires additional lib install and specific setup , the code I am using is intended for a lot of people and there is no way that their environment would match. — Benn, May 08 '14 at 19:34
Found a solution here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3616540/format-xml-string — Benn, May 10 '14 at 15:13

Kohjah Breese · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-10T19:22:28.550

1

Not 100% sure what you are asking. Can you post an example of the HTML you get after the RegEx?

This will remove excess white space.

preg_replace( '~\s{2,}~', '', $str );

You could also look at PHP DOM (PHP Manual). Load the HTML into that and then set preserveWhiteSpace and formatOutput to false.

Addition:

preg_replace( '~\s+\n+\s+\n+~', "\n", $str );

Will do it I think. But as mentioned you can do this with PHP DOM, and it will be more flexible.

$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->loadHTML( $html );
$doc->preserveWhiteSpace = true; // Or false?
$doc->formatOutput = true;
echo $doc->saveHTML();

edited May 10 '14 at 19:22

answered May 10 '14 at 13:49

Kohjah Breese

4,008
6
32
48

I posted the link already, here again http://prntscr.com/3hegmb, your suggestion is removing all spaces from xml file. I want to clean the formating up – Benn May 10 '14 at 14:45

Is it possible to format source code after preg_replace/str_replace?

1 Answers1