Test if a word is composed of alpha characters, white spaces and periods?

Question

I need a regex that would test if a word is composed of letters (alpha characters), white spaces, and periods (.). I need this to use for validating names that is entered in my database.

This is what I currently use:

preg_match('/^[\pL\s]+$/u',$foo)

It works fine for checking alpha characters and whitespaces, but rejects names with periods as well. I hope you guys can help as I have no idea how to use regex.

Note that these expressions also "validate" names that consist entirely of dots or spaces like `. . ... ..` — georg, Sep 26 '14 at 09:31

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 26 '14 at 08:35

2

The following regex should satisfy your condition:

preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z\s.]+$/',$foo)

answered Sep 26 '14 at 08:35

arco444

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Avinash Raj · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-26T08:42:43.720

2

Add a dot to the character class so that it would match a literal dot also.

preg_match('/^[\p{L}.\s]+$/u',$foo)

OR

preg_match('/^[\pL.\s]+$/u',$foo)

Explanation:

^ Asserts that we are at the start.
[\pL.\s]+ Matches any character in the list one or more times. \pL matches any Kind of letter from any language.
$ Asserts that we are at the end.

edited Sep 26 '14 at 08:42

answered Sep 26 '14 at 08:35

Avinash Raj

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Thanks for the Edit; I was reading the regex and thinking "why on earth is he looking for an escaped `p` letter?" – MoshMage Sep 26 '14 at 08:43

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 26 '14 at 08:37

2

In this link, you will find all the information you need to figure regex out with PHP. PHP Regex Cheat Sheet

Basically, if you want to add the period you add . :

preg_match('/^[\pL\s\.]+$/u',$foo)

Enjoy! :)

answered Sep 26 '14 at 08:37

Softy

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Test if a word is composed of alpha characters, white spaces and periods?

3 Answers3