preg_match() to split a string by another string which is not in apostrophes

Question

I have many strings like this:

parameter_1 >= '23' AND parameter_2 like 'cucurigu AND \picaso' AND parameter_3 IS NULL

And I want to make a preg_split() after every AND which is not inside apostrophes. The output of $matches should be an array with

0 => parameter_1 >= '23'
1 => parameter_2 like 'cucurigu AND \picaso'
2 => parameter_3 IS NULL

I don't know how to use it. I'm sure there is a simple solution to accomplish this with preg_split(). Unfortunately explode() can't do what I need. At the moment I have an enormous code which goes char by char and splits the string into an array like the one above. I need to update this big code to a small one because my task often changes.

P.S. If someone is willing to help me, add an explanation of the $pattern.

Assuming you don't have escaped quotes: `'[^']*'(*SKIP)(*FAIL)|\s*AND\s*`. This doens't handle double quotes. You might want to clarify your question about above two cases... — HamZa, Apr 20 '15 at 08:33

Wiktor Stribiżew · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-20T09:48:37.193

4

Here you are, you can use the skip/fail PCRE trick, and only capture AND outside the single quotation marks:

'[^']*?'(*SKIP)(*F)|AND

See demo

The result:

Array                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
(                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
    [0] => parameter_1 >= '23'                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
    [1] =>  parameter_2 like 'cucurigu AND \picaso'                                                                                                                                                                                                    
    [2] =>  parameter_3 IS NULL                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
)

Explanation: We skip everything what is inside single quotes with '[^']*?'(*SKIP)(*F), and match AND in all contexts.

edited Apr 20 '15 at 09:48

answered Apr 20 '15 at 08:33

Wiktor Stribiżew

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Thank you! Can you also tell me a short explanation? – besciualex Apr 20 '15 at 08:35
@besciualex: I added a short explanation. – Wiktor Stribiżew Apr 20 '15 at 08:37
Also thanks for demo link. Very useful for testing and learning. – besciualex Apr 20 '15 at 08:39
2

Here you can find more on this trick: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24534782/how-do-skip-or-f-work-on-regex – Wiktor Stribiżew Apr 20 '15 at 08:41
Sorry to disturb. I have a small issue and I can't fix it. Uhm... if the AND does not have any space between it and other values, it doesn't break. I added \A \Z modifiers and it don't work. https://regex101.com/r/kB3xJ4/1 – besciualex Apr 20 '15 at 09:10
1

Ok, then remove the word boundaries: `'[^']*?'(*SKIP)(*F)|AND`. – Wiktor Stribiżew Apr 20 '15 at 09:37
wow! :D I tried a lot of things (), \A \Z, etc.. but never thought about removing them completely. – besciualex Apr 20 '15 at 09:45

preg_match() to split a string by another string which is not in apostrophes

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