[RESOLVED] preg_match help please

skip

Hello,

I have a datafeed and I want to validate each row against a varying set of keywords some exact some broad and some negative exact and negative broad if that makes any sense ultimatley these will be stored in a database and be feed specific.

here an example of what i mean lets say I am look for PC's I don't want software furnature Apple Macs or accessories I have already applied a price range filter

$exact = array(
0 => "Dell inspiron 9200",
1 => "IBM Thinkpad",
2 => "Acer aspire 500"
);

$broad = array(
0 => "Computer",
1 => "Desktop",
2 => "PC",
3 => "Laptop",
4 => "Notebook"
);

$neqexact = array(
0 => "Apple",
1 => "iMac",
2 => "MacPro"
);

$negbroad = array(
0 => "Apple",
1 => "Mac"
);


// example func (** Doesn't work) \\

function exact_match($find,$data){
$find = explode("|",$find); 
	for($i=0;$i<sizeof($find);$i++){
 if(preg_match("/\b".$find[$i]."\b/i", $data)){
  return true;
     }else{
   return false;
  }
 }
}
// I have left out the other func as it is pretty much the same without \b \b

// **START  DATA FEED LOOP{ 

if(exact_match($exact,$data[0]) && broad_match($broad,$data[0])  && !exact_match($negexact,$data[0]) && !broad_match($negbroad,$data[0])){

   // ** DO SOMTHING WITH GOOD DATA ** \\
 }
// ** END FEED LOOP }

sneakyimp

what isn't working about it?

skip

Hello,

my if condition allows all the records through so I asume it doesn't work

sneakyimp

here's some advice then:
1) find a record that should not have gotten through
2) see what gets returned by your exact_match and broad_match() functions when they run on that one record
3) if they all perform as expected, then the problem lies in your main IF statement.

From what i can tell the if statement probably should be this:

if (
    (exact_match($exact,$data[0]) || broad_match($broad,$data[0]))
     && !exact_match($negexact,$data[0])
     && !broad_match($negbroad,$data[0])
   ) {

   // ** DO SOMTHING WITH GOOD DATA ** \\
}

which says "if there is an exact match OR a broad match AND there's NOT a negative exact match AND NOT a negative broad match then include it.

For instance, with your current logic all three of your exact matches would fail your broad match and your logic wouldn't include them if your functions are working properly.

which makes me think your functions aren't working properly. you should test them on little pieces of data to see if they work before trying to tie it all together.

skip

Thanks for your help m8 🙂 I had nothing in the broadmatch array!

thanks for all your help