SPLIT Long complicated string

Question

The problem I am having is the string may start with a quote. The pattern is ,<true|false>,,,,,,

Some the numbers with decimals can be negative or positive. The final array I need looks like this...

"Cloaca",false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0
"Transverse septum",true,71,89.87341772151899,0.08377172,0.02481389578163773,0.8709677419354839,0.8461538461538461
Vitelline duct,false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0
Allantois,false,1,1.2658227848101267,0.36915635,-0.038461538461538464,0.0,0.038461538461538464
Ventral mesentery,true,7,8.860759493670885,0.05629368,0.013647642679900734,0.12903225806451613,0.11538461538461539

Original String

"Cloaca",false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,"Transverse septum",true,71,89.87341772151899,0.08377172,0.02481389578163773,0.8709677419354839,0.8461538461538461,Vitelline duct,false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,Allantois,false,1,1.2658227848101267,0.36915635,-0.038461538461538464,0.0,0.038461538461538464,Ventral mesentery,true,7,8.860759493670885,0.05629368,0.013647642679900734,0.12903225806451613,0.11538461538461539

Patterns Tried

$pattern = '/("?[\sa-zA-Z]+"?,(true|false),(\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,?))/';

$pattern = '/("?[\sa-zA-Z]+"?,(false|true),\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d+\.\d+,-?\d\.\d+,-?\d\.\d+,-?\d\.\d+)/';

$pattern = '/(.+,(false|true),[0-9]{1,},[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{1,},-?[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{1,},-?[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{1,},-?[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{1,},-?[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{1,})/';

I've have to many patterns to show. Any help will help save a head of hair. Still learning RegEx.

Looks like a csv-string, have you tried [str_getcsv](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.str-getcsv.php) instead? — brombeer, Mar 15 '22 at 17:52
Don't use regex. If you're reading these strings from a file, you can also use [fgetcsv()](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.fgetcsv.php) to read and parse in one shot. — Alex Howansky, Mar 15 '22 at 17:58

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 15 '22 at 17:58

You can use str_getcsv to split that string into an array, then use array_chunk to get the chunks you need:

<?php
$string = '"Cloaca",false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,"Transverse septum",true,71,89.87341772151899,0.08377172,0.02481389578163773,0.8709677419354839,0.8461538461538461,Vitelline duct,false,0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,Allantois,false,1,1.2658227848101267,0.36915635,-0.038461538461538464,0.0,0.038461538461538464,Ventral mesentery,true,7,8.860759493670885,0.05629368,0.013647642679900734,0.12903225806451613,0.11538461538461539';

$array = str_getcsv($string);
print_r(array_chunk($array, 8));

will output

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Cloaca
            [1] => false
            [2] => 0
            [3] => 0.0
            [4] => 0.0
            [5] => 0.0
            [6] => 0.0
            [7] => 0.0
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Transverse septum
            [1] => true
            [2] => 71
            [3] => 89.87341772151899
            [4] => 0.08377172
            [5] => 0.02481389578163773
            [6] => 0.8709677419354839
            [7] => 0.8461538461538461
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => Vitelline duct
            [1] => false
            [2] => 0
            [3] => 0.0
            [4] => 0.0
            [5] => 0.0
            [6] => 0.0
            [7] => 0.0
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [0] => Allantois
            [1] => false
            [2] => 1
            [3] => 1.2658227848101267
            [4] => 0.36915635
            [5] => -0.038461538461538464
            [6] => 0.0
            [7] => 0.038461538461538464
        )

    [4] => Array
        (
            [0] => Ventral mesentery
            [1] => true
            [2] => 7
            [3] => 8.860759493670885
            [4] => 0.05629368
            [5] => 0.013647642679900734
            [6] => 0.12903225806451613
            [7] => 0.11538461538461539
        )
)

Edit: this will not keep the quotes though ("Cloaca"...)

I don't need the quotes. Tunnel vision on may part for not looking at str_getcsv. I'll put it in my list of very useful functions. While the other methods work as well, this one is perfect. — Frank Parks, Mar 15 '22 at 19:44

SPLIT Long complicated string

1 Answers1