Parsing complex string in PHP

Question

I need help parsing a string.

The string is:

DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:**20120201** DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120202 RRULE:FREQ=**DAILY**;INTERVAL=**2**;UNTIL=**20120331**

(the variables I need have ** on either side of them)

I need to assign the values in bold to the following variables (in the same order):

$startdate 
$frequency
$interval
$enddate

All help is appreciated. Thanks!

EDIT: the actual string is:

DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20120201 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120202 RRULE:FREQ=DAILY;INTERVAL=2;UNTIL=20120331

I only added ** on either side of the variables to show which ones I wanted (as bold highlighting does not work in the code snippet)

Given the term "the right tool for the right job", have you looked into an iCalendar parser, since the data is clearly a line from a block of iCal data? — CodeCaster, Feb 28 '12 at 13:08
possible duplicate of [Is there any good iCal & vCal parser in php(library)?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7508800/is-there-any-good-ical-vcal-parser-in-phplibrary) although that is admittedly a somewhat uninformative one — Gordon, Feb 28 '12 at 13:12

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:14

1

You can do it like this :

<?php
$s = "DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:**20120201** DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120202 RRULE:FREQ=**DAILY**;INTERVAL=**2**;UNTIL=**20120331**";

preg_match(
    '/^DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:\*\*(\d+)\*\*\s+DTEND;VALUE=DATE:(\d+)\s+RRULE:FREQ=\*\*(\w+)\*\*;INTERVAL=\*\*(\d+)\*\*;UNTIL=\*\*(\d+)\*\*/',
    $s,
    $matches
);

print_r($matches);
?>

-----8<--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

php file.php

Array
(
    [0] => DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:**20120201** DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120202 RRULE:FREQ=**DAILY**;INTERVAL=**2**;UNTIL=**20120331**
    [1] => 20120201
    [2] => 20120202
    [3] => DAILY
    [4] => 2
    [5] => 20120331
)

answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:14

Gilles Quénot

173,512
41
224
223

HI, thank you for your reply. I should I have said that the ** on either side of the variables was added by me to highlight which variables I wanted. The string isn't actually like that. – user1233852 Feb 28 '12 at 13:16
1

No you [can't](http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4791) do it like this. For example the ";VALUE=DATE" and "INTERVAL" parts are optional. – CodeCaster Feb 28 '12 at 13:18

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:18

Have a look at this PHP class: http://code.google.com/p/ics-parser/

It converts the iCal string into an array so its super easy to handle.

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [DTSTART] => 20110105T090000Z
            [DTEND] => 20110107T173000Z
            [DTSTAMP] => 20110121T195741Z
            [UID] => 15lc1nvupht8dtfiptenljoiv4@google.com
            [CREATED] => 20110121T195616Z
            [DESCRIPTION] => This is a short description\nwith a new line. Some "special" 'signs' may be <interesting>\, too.
            [LAST-MODIFIED] => 20110121T195729Z
            [LOCATION] => Kansas
            [SEQUENCE] => 2
            [STATUS] => CONFIRMED
            [SUMMARY] => My Holidays
            [TRANSP] => TRANSPARENT
        )
)

would this work even if some information is missing? My calendar events do not have location or summary information. — user1233852, Feb 28 '12 at 13:20
Yes, it would still work, but location or summary would not be in the array. Using a pre-made class is nearly always the best route to go down for things like this. I have used this one before and couldn't fault it. I should mention you can download it here: http://code.google.com/p/ics-parser/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk — 472084, Feb 28 '12 at 13:22

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:06

0

if your required value is within ** you can use explode(string,'**') and can use alternate array value

answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:06

Mukesh

63
1
8

oh sorry, the actual string doesn't contain **variable**, I just did that to highlight what I wanted from the string. – user1233852 Feb 28 '12 at 13:11

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 13:18

At the following example i explode you string and do some regex and string replaces.. There is may a better approach, since iam not a regex pro, but this should work!

$teststr="DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:**20120201** DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120202 RRULE:FREQ=**DAILY**;INTERVAL=**2**;UNTIL=**20120331**";
$array=explode(";",$teststr);

preg_match("/\*(.*)\*/", $array[1], $matches);
$startdate = str_replace("*", "", $matches[1]);
echo "Startdate:". $startdate ."<br>\n";

preg_match("/\*(.*)\*/", $array[2], $matches);
$frequency = str_replace("*", "", $matches[1]);
echo "Frequency:". $frequency ."<br>\n";

preg_match("/\*(.*)\*/", $array[3], $matches);
$interval = str_replace("*", "", $matches[1]);
echo "Interval:". $interval  ."<br>\n";

preg_match("/\*(.*)\*/", $array[4], $matches);
$enddate = str_replace("*", "", $matches[1]);
echo "Enddate:" . $enddate ."<br>\n";

Thank you for your reply. I have updated my question as I didn't explain it properly. I'd appreciate it if you could read it and provide another answer. — user1233852, Feb 28 '12 at 13:22

Parsing complex string in PHP

4 Answers4