[RESOLVED] Match specific phone number set with regex

Horizon88

Hey guys. I'm trying to get this regex working, and I need a hand - I'm almost there.

I'm trying to match all phone numbers for my university. Area code is always 402, then it's always 55, either a 4 or a 9, then four digits. I'm trying to get it to match any of these possibilities:
402-554-3005
402-559-3005
554-3005
559-3005
4-3005
9-3005

Those hyphens can all be a hyphen, a space, or empty.

Here's the regex I have (I'm just getting into regexes - cheatsheets only take me so far):

$pattern = '/((402|)(-|\s|))(55|)(4|9)(-|\s|)\d{4}$/';

That matches everything I want it to, but it also matches:
402-4-3005
402-9-3005.

Anyone know how could I make it require the 55 if 402 has been supplied, but otherwise, let the 55 remain optional?

Edit: using preg_match() currently

bpat1434

Well, I know you can do look-aheads and look-behinds, and you can use the (?ifthen|else) syntax; however, I think here it's going to be best to use two different regular expressions:

1.) verify just the syntax of it:

~([\d]{3}[\s-]?[\d]{3}[\s-]?[\d]{4})|([\d]{3}[\s-]?[\d]{4})|([\d]{1}[\s-]?[\d]{4})~

Then do your own thing of verifying the numbers are right.....

Here's what I came up with using a positive look-behind and an ifthen|else statement:

~^(402[\s-]?)?[color=red](?[color=green](?=[color=blue](?<=402)[/color])[/color][color=orange](55[4|9])[/color]|[color=purple](55)?[4|9][/color])[/color][\s-]?[\d]{4}$~s

Red Text :: This is the entire ifthen|else statement...
Green Text :: This is the "if" statement...
Blue Text :: This is the positive look-behind statement
Orange Text :: This is for when the if() is true
Purple Text :: This is for when the if() is false

I'm not 100% sure of it's usage, as I'm not entirely versed in Regular Expressions as I should be. But here are a few resources I use:
RegularEx Tutorial
Regular Expressions PHP Tutorial
O'Reilly Regular Expressions E-Book

Hope that helps some...

This perplexes me.... if you switch the then and else statements, then the last 4 become matched or not matched.... bah!!

Horizon88

Awesome. 🙂 Thanks a lot. I'll test that out and post back how it works out.

Weedpacket

Well, since the "55" is required if the "402" is present, then the branch that matches "402" also needs to match "55".

There has to be a "4" or a "9", followed by a hyphen, followed by four digits.

[49]-\d{4}

There MIGHT be a "55" before that:

(55)?[49]-\d{4}

And if there is, there MIGHT be a "402-" before it.

((402-)?55)?[49]-\d{4}

Conversely, the number starts with "402-":

402-

but it's optional:

(402-)?

Whether it's present or not, the next two characters are "55"

(402-)?55

But that whole thing is still optional:

((402-)?55)?

Whether it's there or not, it then MUST be followed by a "4" or a "9", etc....:

((402-)?55)?[49]-\d{4}

And to allow hyphens, spaces, or nothing as separator, replace "-" with "[- ]?" This then happens to allow "402-5543005". Tolerable?

Warning: too tired to test

bpat1434

That works....

Horizon88

That looks great, too, Weedpacket. I'll kick them around tomorrow with a couple of the guys I'm working on the project with.

NogDog

I independently came up with the same thing Weed did, tested it successfully, and therefore second his opinion. 🙂

Horizon88

Hahah, awesome, thanks guys

Edit: tested, works fantastic. Thanks guys. 🙂