Help with a Preg_Replace.

[minimatrix]

Hi, I am quite new to php but picking it up quite quickly, however I dont understand how a preg replace works. I am trying to count the number of columns selected but when I do the count I sometimes get +1 than what it should be.

e.g. I have in my array A,B,C the count would return 3 which is correct

but I have my data like this A,B,C, this adds 1 to the count because there is a comma on the end. I jus need to know how to do a preg_repace

here is a snippet from my code:

	// Store selected list of columns in session
	$_SESSION[$settingname]=$settings;

	// Write the session to SETTINGS / SETTINGSVALUES
	// ( default NAME='.userid' ie. '.coling'
	$settingname=".".$_SESSION['USERID'];
	writeSettings( array( 'name'=>$settingname, tabs=>'all' ) );

	$sets=split(",",$settings);
	
preg_replace("/,/", "{COMMA}", $settings);       
	$num=count($sets);



	exit_error( "<center> $num Columns Saved successfully,<br><br> 
		
		
		<input type='Button' class='submit' value='Close' onClick=\"javascript:window.close();\" >
		</center>	
		" );

As you can see I have no idea how to do a preg_replace, so would any body be able to help me sort this and possibly explain in laymans terms how a preg_replace works?


Thanks in advance.

[Dormilich]

for a simple comma replacement you'd better use PHP: str_replace(). if you don't want the comma at the end of your data string, shorten (remove the last comma) the string first (PHP: substr()).

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