formatting text, using patterns

[n_wattam]

Hi,

i have the following quote

[ 2007.01.03 00:46:40 ] R0ME0 > yeah there ready for ya
[ 2007.01.03 00:46:49 ] Roy2006 > cool
[ 2007.01.03 00:46:50 ] R0ME0 > ah you could do me a quick favor could you

What i want to be able to do is use a php script to pull out the name in each line using the fact that there is a common pattern "] name >" etc.

This is so i can change the colour of the text using an if statement etc.

Then what i want to be able to do is remove the full time stamp and name from each chat line..

Any anyone help with this at all please

thanks in advance.

[laserlight]

You might use something like:

foreach ($lines as $line) {
    if (preg_match('/^\[ .*? \] (.*?) \> (.*)$/', $line, $matches)) {
        // $matches[1] contains the name
        // $matches[2] contains the message
    }
}

[n_wattam]

hi,

the code i am using at the moment to read the text file in is

foreach ($lines as $line_num => $line) {
   echo htmlspecialchars($line) . "<br />\n";
}

however when i try using your example i get an error pointing to the first line? any ideas.

[n_wattam]

think i have found the problem

��[ 2007.01.03 00:46:49 ] Roy2006 > cool

my file actually has these funny two chars at the start, and has messed your filer up... any ideas?

[NogDog]

<?php
// test data:
$lines = array
(
   '[ 2007.01.03 00:46:40 ] R0ME0 > yeah there ready for ya',
   '[ 2007.01.03 00:46:49 ] Roy2006 > cool',
   '[ 2007.01.03 00:46:50 ] R0ME0 > ah you could do me a quick favor could you'
);
// loop thru each line:
foreach ($lines as $line_num => $line) {
   $name = (preg_match('/(?<=\])[^>]+(?=>)/', $line, $matches)) ? trim($matches[0]) : NULL;
   $color = ($name == 'R0ME0') ? '#ff0000' : '#0000ff';
   echo"<span style='color: $color;'>$line</span><br />\n";
}
?>