[RESOLVED] String Problem

alfoxy

Hi All,

Its been a while since ive coded so im a bit rusty.

I have a string like this
$string = '80 (0/-0.01) mm';

I want the 1st number before the (.
I tried using preg_replace but the brackets and / are affecting the output.

The number can change from 1 to 80000+.
I know i can find the position of the 1st bracket and work back but i thought there would be a better way to do it as this is repeated in a very large loop.

Thanks for any help.

cgraz

Are you trying to get the numerator or the number before the decimal in the denominator?

Either way take a look at strpos() . You can use it to get your starting and end points using the (, /, and . as guidelines, then +1 the start, -1 the end, and use substr() to return the result.

esukf

<?php
$string = '80 (0/-0.01) mm';

$findstring = '(';

$pos = strpos($string, $findstring);

echo trim(substr($string, 0, $pos));
?>

bradgrafelman

$string = '80 (0/-0.01) mm';
$pattern = '/([0-9]+) \((.+)\) (.+)/';

preg_match($pattern, $string, $matches);

echo $matches[0]; // 80 (0/-0.01) mm
echo $matches[1]; // 80
echo $matches[2]; // 0/-0.01
echo $matches[3]; // mm

esukf

Just curious, would using both strpos and substr be slower or faster than using preg_match??

bradgrafelman

If I weren't so lazy, I'd do a speed test, but if all you want is the "80" here, your best bet is probably using strpos/substr. Just a guess, though.

alfoxy

Thanks All,

As we say in Ireland
You'r bleedin deadly!
(Its a good thing)