Strange behavior of ereg_replace

Anon

Well here is the problem...

I am getting a string from a textarea box in a form.

I want to put that string inside a javascript file (js) to define a variable like this:

var text = "text from form";

BUT! if the user types a newline inside the textarea box(just by hitting "enter"), the javascript file ends like this:

var text = "text
from form";
(not a single line)

Solution? This code before sending to the file:

$res = ereg_replace("\n","",$textarea);

BUT!!! When I look at the file, the line is written like this:

var text = "text^M from form";

A VERY STRANGE ^M gets written to the file, and if I "echo" the $res variable before sending to the file, i dont see that ^M character.

I am trying with every PHP function useful for this (str_replace, nl2br, eregi_replace), but i ALWAYS get the same result in the file.... even replacing \n with \t or any other character....
EXCEPT when I replace \n with \n!! like this:

$res = ereg_replace("\n","\n",$textarea);

PLEASE!!! can someone tell me what is happening?

Thanks

Anon

try also to replace on "\r" as well as "\n"

I think you get them both on enter key

hope this helps
stef

Anon

Since you're not using regular expressions as such, you'd be better off using str_replace("\n","",$textarea);. It may fix the problem (I haven't checked), and it will also be more efficient.

Anon

Thank you for helping..

As a matter of fact, the "ENTER" key sends \r and \n characters...

the line that worked is the following:

$res = str_replace("\r\n","",$res);

the other way around ("\n\r") didnt.... so i guess you have to use the right order....

PLEASE!!! keep posting messages and answers to this forums... they really help!

(by the way, all you developers and programmers out there.... where do you look for information when you find problems like this? I only use phpbuilder.com, but there should be more sites out there... thanks)

Anon

Where do I look when I hit this sort of thing? First place is the PHP documentation. It loves you and wants to be your friend. It's available in a pile of formats from http://www.php.net/, including the online annotated edition.

Then there are fora like this 🙂

And - it almost goes without saying - there's experimentation and exploration. As Eric Raymond said (paraphrased slightly): "There are two things you need to do. (a) Read code and (b) write code."

Truer words are rarely spoken.