[RESOLVED] Removing empty queries in the URL

[curb]

I have a form input reading the current URL using REQUEST_URI. How would I remove the empty variables?

Removing name
http://www.phpbuilder.com?id=2&name=&f=10

[NogDog]

$newString = preg_replace('#(?<=&|\?)[^=&]+=(&|$)#', '', $oldString);

PS: When you figure out how/why that works, you've passed your regular expression quiz for the day. 🙂

[curb]

The regex is definitely way too advanced for me but I'll try and take a blind crack at it.

• match ending that matches "&" or "?"
• match a single character that's not present "=&" unlimited times
• match the character "="
• match the regex and capture its match into reference #1
• brain hurts

This is going to take awhile for me to learn. Thanks NogDog

[NogDog]

Not bad . . .

Probably the trickiest part is using the (?<= look-behind assertion so that the leading "?" or "&" is not part of the string that gets replaced. Then the final parenthesized sub-pattern is looking for either a "&" character or an end-of-string assertion ("$") to terminate the string to be replace.

[curb]

I'm going to have to read this over a couple of times. Thanks NogDog

[jphilapy]

A good book on regular expressions is Mastering Regular Expressions By Jeffrey Friedl.

His book explains all of what you see above.

But your brain will still hurt.

Jeff