Replace #var# with ${$var}

[ppowell]

Consider this line:

$successMsgArray['image']['edit'] = 'Successful edit to "#myImage#" at location "#locationPath#"';

Because $myImage and $locationPath are not yet available to $successMsgArray (the array exists in a global procedural script library that MUST be called BEFORE the "JAR" class file classes.inc.php is called that uses it!), I am using placeholders instead.

I thought of substituting every occurrence of #var# with ${$var} but I cannot get the preg_replace() command right:

$msg = preg_replace('/#([^#]+)#/i', eval('\$' . '$1'), $successMsgArray[$section][$action]);

However, the results are completely wrong:

Information for : "" has been changed

What it's supposed to say here is:

Information for image: "myimg.jpg" has been changed

where $section = 'image' and $fileName = 'myimg.jpg'

How do I convert #var# to ${$var}?

Thanx
Phil

[devinemke]

i wouldn't think you would need regex for this, can't you simply use str_replace?

$successMsgArray['image']['edit'] = 'Successful edit to "#myImage#" at location "#locationPath#"';
$successMsgArray['image']['edit'] = str_replace('#myImage#', $myImage, $successMsgArray['image']['edit']);
$successMsgArray['image']['edit'] = str_replace('#locationPath#', $locationPath, $successMsgArray['image']['edit']);

(substitute variable names where needed)

[ppowell]

No, because you have no idea what is in $successMsgArray['image']['edit'] or any other 2-dim array value. All you know is that you might have #varName# and you have to replace that with $varName.

Phil

[devinemke]

let's back up a minute. you have string stored in a 2D array:

$successMsgArray['image']['edit'] = 'Successful edit to "#myImage#" at location "#locationPath#"';

and you want to replace each occurance of #myImage# and #locationPath#. what exactly are your replacement rules? what should go in the place holders?

[ppowell]

Ok I'm sorry I'm being extremely unclear here, but I have to be as "vague" as possible as I cannot give away too much code as this is a Federal Government funded project I'm working on, thus the code is locked down, so I have to be unclear, but I'll try to open a few windows here.

In "project_globals.inc.php" you have an array that is this:

 $successMsgArray = array('image' => array('add_album' => "Album: \"$album\" has been created",
                                           'edit_album' => "Information for album \"$album\" has been changed",
                                           'delete_album' => "Album: \"$album\", along with any metadata, has been deleted",
                                           'upload' => 'Successful uploading of "#locationPath#/#fileName#"',
                                           'download_image_email' => 'We have successfully emailed "#locationPath#/#image_name#" to "#download_sender_email#"',
                                           'download_image_url' => 'The URL for "#image_name#" has been sent to "#download_sender_email#"',
                                           'download_all' => 'All ' . ucfirst($section) . 's in "#locationPath#" have been sent as ZIP to "#download_sender_email#"',
                                           'download_select' => 'Select ' . ucfirst($section) . 's in "#locationPath#" sent as ZIP to "#download_sender_email#"',
                                           'resize' => 'Successful resizing of "#locationPath/#fileName#"',
                                           'edit' => 'Information for #section#: "#fileName#" has been changed',
                                           'remove' => 'All information for #section#: "#fileName#" has been deleted - #section# remains',
                                           'delete_image' => 'All information for #section: "#fileName#" has been deleted - #section# also deleted',
                                           'delete_all_images' => 'All #{section}#s in "#locationPath#" have been deleted along with any metadata',
                                           'delete_select' => 'Select #{section}#s in "#locationPath#" have been deleted along with any metadata',
                                           'move_images' => "All ${section}s have been moved to \"$album\"",
                                           'move_nonimages' => 'This was a video at "#locationPath#" that has been moved to a video location'),
                         'video' => array(),
                         'person' => array(),
                          'keyword' => array(),
                         'event' => array(),
                         'placement' => array()
                        );

Now, in the "classes.inc.php", which has to be called AFTER "project_globals.inc.php", you have this method inside the class MethodGeneratorForActionPerformer:

	/**
	 * Generate Success message, will set to global scope constructing dynamically-named variable ${$section . 'LocationPath'}
	 *
	 * @access public
	 * @return mixed HTML success message depending upon action
	 */
	function &getSuccessMsg() {			// STATIC STRING METHOD
		global $section, $action, ${$section . 'LocationPath'}, $successMsgArray;
		if (is_array($_POST) && @sizeof($_POST) > 0) foreach ($_POST as $key => $val) if (!isset(${$key})) ${$key} = $val;
		$locationPath = ($album) ? "${$section . 'LocationPath'}/$album" : ${$section . 'LocationPath'};
		$this->fileName = ($image_name) ? $image_name : $this->fileName;
		$fileName = $this->fileName;	// FOR REASSIGNMENT INTO GLOBALIZED 2-DIM ARRAY FROM PROCEDURAL GLOBAL LIBRARY project_globals.inc.php
		$msg = preg_replace('/#([^#]+)#/i', eval('\$' . '$1'), $successMsgArray[$section][$action]);
		return $msg;

}

Now do you see what I mean? I have to replace #var# with $var because, in the array in project_globals.inc.php, $var does not yet exist.

I hope that helps, sorry if I'm still not clear enough.

Thanx
Phil

[ppowell]

Actually, this will explain it even more clearly:

I want the PHP equivalent of the TCL command "subst":

http://www.hume.com/html84/mann/subst.html

That is DEAD EXACTLY what I want!!!

Thanx
Phil

[Weedpacket]

$snark = 'boojum';
$string = 'This contains a #snark#!';
$msg  = preg_replace('/#([^#]+)#/e', "$$1", $string);

Note the '/e' modifier; basically "once you've replaced $1 with the matched string, evaluate the replacement text as though it were a PHP expression, and return its value."

Something to note about this whole thing though: weirdness and/or much bad stuff threatens if bogus #variables# appear in the text.

[ppowell]

Nice comeback for PHP! They combined into one line what TCL takes 2 lines to do the same thing! e is for "evaluate", I've always wondered what that meant!

Thanx
Phil