Regular expression help

[jeremyc]

Hi guys

I have a case where data is getting stored in the database as: <!--:en-->Energy<!--:--><!--:fr-->Energies<!--:-->

Now in a given page, I have en or fr, and based on that I need to get the corresponding value.

For example, if I have

$title	= '<!--:en-->Energy<!--:--><!--:fr-->Energies<!--:-->';
$lng 	= 'fr';
$title 	= preg_replace('/<!--:'.$lng.'-->(.*?)<!--:-->/i', '$1', $title);

I want to get "Energies" by echoing $title.

Any idea ?

PS. The preg_replace is just there for an example, I know the code is not working.

[Dormilich]

I have a case where data is getting stored in the database as: <!--:en-->Energy<!--:--><!--:fr-->Energies<!--:-->

from the overall point-of-view this is the main problem. a DB column should not contain aggregated data. it would be more sensible to have a field for the word and another field for the language, so you can switch between languages by making the appropriate query.


for the quick'n'dirty fix, you need the non-greedy modifier in your RegExp.

[jeremyc]

Thanks Dormilich. Yes, this is not a good DB design, but it's the qTranslate plugin of Wordpress, that allows to have a multilingual website.

So basically I need a quick'n'dirty fix. However, how to rewrite that code with a non-greedy modifier Dormilich?

Thanks for your reply again, non-greedy modifier

[Dormilich]

Yes, this is not a good DB design, but it's the qTranslate plugin of Wordpress, that allows to have a multilingual website.

if possible, use another plugin.


you should look up regular expressions (ref.), even I have to look up such things.