[RESOLVED] easy Regex Question

Maryanne

This is my string:
$string = 'BEST 25.65, MEDIUM 4.75, WORST 20.5, BEST 4, MEDIUM 8.9, WORST 160.31, BEST 15.65, MEDIUM 5.33, WORST 160.31, FINISHED';

We have the words "BEST" "MEDIUM" AND "WORST" followed by a dollar amount and a comma. I'm trying to get those dollar amounts (when they exist) into an array.

This does not work:
preg_match_all("/BEST.?(\d{0,3}.\d{1,2}).?,.?MEDIUM.?(\d{0,3}.\d{1,2}).?,.?WORST.?(\d{0,3}.\d{1,2}).?,/",$string,$matches);

I have been wrestling with this logic puzzle for days now... any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you!!

benanamen

How is the data getting in this string in the first place?

NogDog

You could do some splitting into arrays type of thing, rather than trying to come up with one regex to rule them all:

11:14 $ php -a
Interactive shell

php > $string = 'BEST 25.65, MEDIUM 4.75, WORST 20.5, BEST 4, MEDIUM 8.9, WORST 160.31, BEST 15.65, MEDIUM 5.33, WORST 160.31, FINISHED';
php > $parts = preg_split('/\s*,\s*/', $string);
php > print_r($parts);
Array
(
    [0] => BEST 25.65
    [1] => MEDIUM 4.75
    [2] => WORST 20.5
    [3] => BEST 4
    [4] => MEDIUM 8.9
    [5] => WORST 160.31
    [6] => BEST 15.65
    [7] => MEDIUM 5.33
    [8] => WORST 160.31
    [9] => FINISHED
)
php > $dollars = array();
php > foreach($parts as $part) {
php {   $pieces = explode(' ', $part);
php {   if(!empty($pieces[1])) {
php {     $dollars[] = $pieces[1];
php {   }
php { }
php > print_r($dollars);
Array
(
    [0] => 25.65
    [1] => 4.75
    [2] => 20.5
    [3] => 4
    [4] => 8.9
    [5] => 160.31
    [6] => 15.65
    [7] => 5.33
    [8] => 160.31
)

benanamen

Experience says this is an XY Problem which is why I asked where the string comes from. Good answer for X, but I believe the real problem is Y and has yet to be answered.

NogDog

benanamen;11064881 wrote:
Experience says this is an XY Problem which is why I asked where the string comes from. Good answer for X, but I believe the real problem is Y and has yet to be answered.

Yep, but I was bored.

benanamen

NogDog;11064883 wrote:
Yep, but I was bored.

LOL! I know how that is. I have built entire pet project apps for the same reason.

Maryanne

NogDog, I love your answers! Your answers are actually fun to try out! Whenever I've asked a question and you answer it, I'm like "OMG, PHP can do THAT?!?" Your outside-the-box way of thinking is really cool, and I guess that's what makes PHP so much fun. I'm looking through lots of my other PHP code, and found lots of stuff where I could have used preg_split. Then I usually go off on a tangent and 'benchmark' both styles - "Style 'A' takes .004 seconds" "Style 'B' takes .001 seconds" and then the thrill of switching to Style 'B' because it's 3 miliseconds faster. haha Anyway, thank you! Always appreciate your input!

benanamen

I love seeing someone getting excited about code. It's that same joy we all get from coding.

The thing is though, what NogDog gave you is an answer to your "attempted solution". The "real" problem to be solved is somewhere right before the string you posted is created. If you want to improve your skills, which I believe you do, it is important that you understand the XY Problem. Here is a link about it. http://xyproblem.info/

In a nutshell, it is asking for an answer to your idea of how you are trying to solve the "real" problem. As I see it from your post, you have data from some source that you think needs to be in an array for some purpose. There is no info on the source, why you want it in an array and what you want to do with the data once it is in an array. When asking for help, that info is much more important to provide you the correct information. If you just wanted to learn Regex, that is different.

If you can post details on how and where the string comes from and what you are wanting to do overall we can provide the proper answer to the actual problem. You just might be even more amazed than you are now. Worst that will happen is you will learn something new.

Maryanne

Benanamen, you're right -- on a scale of one to 10, I'm barely even a one when it comes to PHP. It's scary how much I don't know. I'm going to mark my question as solved, because I have a new question that's even....ahem... better :-)