[RESOLVED] get anything between two specified comment tags

scrupul0us

I've used file_get_contents to load some html into a string... now i need to strip away everything that ISNT between two specific comment tags...

tried googling to no avail :queasy:

help 😕

scrupul0us

heres what ive tried so far:

preg_match("/(<!-- workarea start-->)(.*)(<!-- workarea end-->)/", $contents, $whole_match);

preg_match("/<!--\s*(.*?)-->(.*?)<!--\s*(.*?)-->/", $contents, $whole_match);

preg_match("/<!--\s(workarea start)-->(.*)<!--\s(workarea end)-->/s", $contents, $whole_match);

but i just get an empty array when I print_r

Houdini

Try this

preg_match("/(<!-- workarea start-->)(.*)(<!-- workarea end-->)/", $contents);
echo $contents;

scrupul0us

now this:

preg_match('#<!--.*?-->(.*?)<!--\s*.*?-->#s', $contents, $whole_match);

gives me this:

Array
(
    [0] => 








)

wtf is going on?

<!-- workarea start --><h1>Get AVG Free</h1><p>AVG Free for Windows is a free anti-virus protection tool developed by Grisoft for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of AVG Free for Windows.</p><h1>Some of the highlights of AVG Free for Windows include:</h1><p><ul><li>Rapid virus database updates for the lifetime of the product</li><li>Easy of use</li><li>No system slow down</li><li>Automatic update functionality </li><li>The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run</li><li>The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail </li><li>The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows you to perform scheduled and manual tests </li><li>The AVG Virus Vault for safe isolation and handling of infected files </li><li>And most of all ... great customer satisfaction! </li></ul></p><h1>AVG Free for Windows is NOT authorized or intended for:</h1><ul><li>Business or commercial use (including testing and evaluation)</li><li>Non-profit Organizations</li></ul><h1>Grisoft supports discounts for:</h1><ul><li>Schools</li><li>Charities</li><li>Churches</li><li>Municipal and government organizations</li></ul><p>To see if your organization is eligible for a discount, <a href="http://free.grisoft.com/linkout.php?doc=2&to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grisoft.com%2Fus%2Fus_contact.php" target="_blank">contact us</a> to receive a discount application form.</p><h2>Would you like to use AVG Anti-Virus for your business or organization?</h2><p>Download a  <a href="http://free.grisoft.com/linkout.php?doc=2&to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grisoft.com%2Fus%2Fus_dwnl_trial.php" target="_blank">trial version</a> of one of Grisoft's AVG Full Editions and use it free-of-charge for 30 days. All of the features of the AVG Full Editions are available for you to use during the trial period!</p><table>

<tr><th class="header" colspan="2">AVG Free for Windows installation files</th></tr>
<tr><th class="header">File</th><th class="header">Version</th></tr>
<tr><td class="normal"><a href="http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/setup/avg71free_392a744.exe">avg71free_392a744.exe</a></td><td class="normal">7.1.392
</td></tr>
</table>
<br />
<table>
<tr><th class="header">Documentation for AVG Free for Windows</th></tr>
<tr><td class="normal"><a href="http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/doc/license_us.txt">License Agreement for AVG Free</a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="normal"><a href="http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/doc/avg_fre_ref_en_71_4.pdf">AVG Free Edition (Reference Guide)</a></td></tr>

<tr><td class="normal"><a href="http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free/doc/avg_fwf_sgd_en_71_4.pdf">Firewall Settings for AVG Free (Installation Guide)</a></td></tr>
</table>
<br /><h1>Download Notice</h1><p>AVG Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only. Use of AVG Free Edition within any organization or for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited. The AVG Free Edition is absolutely not for use with any type of OEM bundling with SW, HW component or any service. Your use of AVG Free Edition shall be in accordance with and is subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the AVG Free Edition License Agreement that accompanies AVG Free Edition.</p><p><a href="http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5"><img src="http://free.grisoft.com/templates/v5/images/icon_linux.gif" /> Get AVG Free for Linux</a></p><!-- workarea end -->

Houdini

With your code do this

  preg_match('#<!--.*?-->(.*?)<!--\s*.*?-->#s', $contents, $whole_match); 
echo $whole_match[1];

scrupul0us

ok.. figured it out... had some spacing issues:

preg_match('#<!--\s(workarea start)-->(.*?)<!--\s(workarea end)\s-->#s', $contents, $everything);

ok, but now I'm having an issue matching this:

<td class="normal">7.1.392</td>

I've tried this:

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}<\/td>#s', $everything[2], $version);

lil help? 🙂

bradgrafelman

Try changing "<\/td>" to "</td>" in your pattern?

scrupul0us

no, thats good u have to escape the slash

Houdini

You do not if it is not the delimiter and in this case the delimiter is the #

scrupul0us

good point... still didnt make a diff tho :/

bradgrafelman

Works fine for me. Using this:

$everything[2] = 'testing: <td class="normal">7.1.392</td> blah';
preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}</td>#s', $everything[2], $version);

I got this:

Array
(
    [0] => <td class="normal">7.1.392</td>
)

Did you just want to match the numbers? If so, use this:

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">([0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9})</td>#s', $everything[2], $version);

If it's not working at all for you, echo() out $everything[2] and make sure you see what you're expecting to see.

scrupul0us

your code to just match numbers didnt work... still a blank array

echoing out everything[2] just dumps ALOT of html... nothing that I can really use to pinpoint any issues

scrupul0us

heres my script:

<?php
$contents = file_get_contents("http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/");

preg_match('#<!--\s(workarea start)-->(.*?)<!--\s(workarea end)\s-->#s', $contents, $everything); 

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">([0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9})</td>#s', $everything[2], $version);

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\"><a href=\"(.*?)\">#s', $everything[2], $link);

$link = $link[1];

echo "Link:<pre>";
print_r($link);
echo "</pre>";

echo "Version:<pre>";
print_r($version);
echo "</pre>";
?>

bradgrafelman

Did you look at the HTML you're trying to match?

<td class="normal">7.1.392
</td>

Notice something between the last set of numbers and the ending </td> ?

scrupul0us

line break... sob... ill just have to ereg all the line breaks out then reprocess

bradgrafelman

scrupul0us wrote:
ill just have to ereg all the line breaks out then reprocess

ereg is sooooo much slower than preg
Why waste the time doing that? Just add \s in your pattern between the last number set and the ending </td>

scrupul0us

got it!

<?php
$contents = file_get_contents("http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/");

preg_match('#<!--\s(workarea start)-->(.*?)<!--\s(workarea end)\s-->#s', $contents, $everything); 

$everything = preg_replace("#\n#","",$everything[2]);
$everything = preg_replace("#\r#","",$everything);
$everything = preg_replace("#[\s]*<#","<",$everything);

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">([0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9})</td>#s', $everything, $version);

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\"><a href=\"(.*?)\">#s', $everything, $link);

$link = $link[1];
echo "Link:<pre>";
print_r($link);
echo "</pre>";

$version = $version[1];
echo "Version:<pre>";
print_r($version);
echo "</pre>";

echo "<a href=\"$link\">$version</a>";
?>

thanks for all the help guys!

bradgrafelman

Why not replace all of this:

$everything = preg_replace("#\n#","",$everything[2]); 
$everything = preg_replace("#\r#","",$everything); 
$everything = preg_replace("#[\s]*<#","<",$everything); 

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">([0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9})</td>#s', $everything, $version);

with this:

preg_match('#<td class=\"normal\">\s*([0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9}\.[0-9]{1,9})\s*</td>#s', $everything, $version);

Even if you did want to strip all line breaks, you don't have to strip \r and \n in two separate calls to preg_replace. Furthermore, you don't even need to strip them at all, as they are included in \s.

scrupul0us

i tried \s and it didnt work for me