explode string on multiple words - php

Question

There is a string like this:
$string = 'connector:rtp-monthly direction:outbound message:error writing data: xxxx yyyy zzzz date:2015-11-02 10:20:30';
This string is from user Input. So it will never have the same order. It's an input field which I need to split to build a DB query.
Now I would like to split the string based on words given in a array() which is like a mapper containing the words I need to find in the string. Looking like so:
$mapper = array(
'connector' => array('type' => 'string'),
'direction' => array('type' => 'string'),
'message' => array('type' => 'string'),
'date' => array('type' => 'date'),
);
Only the keys of the $mapper will be relevant. I've tried with foreach and explode like:
$parts = explode(':', $string);
But the problem is: There can be colons somewhere in the string so I don't need to explode there. I only need to explode if a colon is followed right after the mapper key. The mapper keys in this case are:
connector // in this case split if "connector:" is found
direction // untill "direction:" is found
message // untill "message:" is found
date // untill "date:" is found
But remember also, the user input can varey. So the string will always change ant the order of the string and the mapper array() will never be in the same order. So I'm not sure if explode is the right way to go, or if I should use a regex. And if so how to do it.
The desired result should be an array looking something like this:
$desired_result = array(
'connector' => 'rtp-monthly',
'direction' => 'outbound',
'message' => 'error writing data: xxxx yyyy zzzz',
'date' => '2015-11-02 10:20:30',
);
Help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

The trickier part of this is matching the original string. You can do it with Regex with the help of lookahead positive assertions:
$pattern = "/(connector|direction|message|date):(.+?)(?= connector:| direction:| message:| date:|$)/";
$subject = 'connector:rtp-monthly direction:outbound message:error writing data: xxxx yyyy zzzz date:2015-11-02 10:20:30';
preg_match_all($pattern, $subject, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER );
$returnArray = array();
foreach($matches as $item)
{
$returnArray[$item[1]] = $item[2];
}
In this Regex /(connector|direction|message|date):(.+?)(?= connector:| direction:| message:| date:|$)/, you're matching:
(connector|direction|message|date) - find a keyword and capture it;
: - followed by a colon;
(.+?) - followed by any character many times non greedy, and capture it;
(?= connector:| direction:| message:| date:|$) - up until the next keyword or the end of the string, using a non-capturing look-ahead positive assertion.
The result is:
Array
(
[connector] => rtp-monthly
[direction] => outbound
[message] => error writing data: xxxx yyyy zzzz
[date] => 2015-11-02 10:20:30
)
I didn't use the mapper array just to make the example clear, but you could use implode to put the keywords together.

Answer 2

Our aim isto make one array that contains the values of two arrays that we would extract from the string. It is neccesary to have two arrays since there are two string delimeters we wish to consider.
Try this:
$parts = array();
$large_parts = explode(" ", $string);
for($i=0; $i<count($large_parts); $i++){
$small_parts = explode(":", $large_parts[$i]);
$parts[$small_parts[0]] = $small_parts[1];
}
$parts should now contain the desired array
Hope you get sorted out.

Answer 3

Here you are. The regex is there to "catch" the key (any sequence of characters, excluding blank space and ":"). Starting from there, I use "explode" to "recursively" split the string. Tested ad works good
$string = 'connector:rtp-monthly direction:outbound message:error writing data date:2015-11-02';
$element = "(.*?):";
preg_match_all( "/([^\s:]*?):/", $string, $matches);
$result = array();
$keys = array();
$values = array();
$counter = 0;
foreach( $matches[0] as $id => $match ) {
$exploded = explode( $matches[ 0 ][ $id ], $string );
$keys[ $counter ] = $matches[ 1 ][ $id ];
if( $counter > 0 ) {
$values[ $counter - 1 ] = $exploded[ 0 ];
}
$string = $exploded[ 1 ];
$counter++;
}
$values[] = $string;
$result = array();
foreach( $keys as $id => $key ) {
$result[ $key ] = $values[ $id ];
}
print_r( $result );

Answer 4

You could use a combination of a regular expression and explode(). Consider the following code:
$str = "connector:rtp-monthly direction:outbound message:error writing data date:2015-11-02";
$regex = "/([^:\s]+):(\S+)/i";
// first group: match any character except ':' and whitespaces
// delimiter: ':'
// second group: match any character which is not a whitespace
// will not match writing and data
preg_match_all($regex, $str, $matches);
$mapper = array();
foreach ($matches[0] as $match) {
list($key, $value) = explode(':', $match);
$mapper[$key][] = $value;
}
Additionally, you might want to think of a better way to store the strings in the first place (JSON? XML?).

Answer 5

Using preg_split() to explode() by multiple delimiters in PHP
Just a quick note here. To explode() a string using multiple delimiters in PHP you will have to make use of the regular expressions. Use pipe character to separate your delimiters.
$string = 'connector:rtp-monthly direction:outbound message:error writing data: xxxx yyyy zzzz date:2015-11-02 10:20:30';
$chunks = preg_split('/(connector|direction|message)/',$string,-1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
// Print_r to check response output.
echo '<pre>';
print_r($chunks);
echo '</pre>';
PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY – To return only non-empty pieces.