how to find "http" in string from array? - php

Question

In PHP I have an array like this:
array
0 => string 'open' (length=4)
1 => string 'http://www.google.com' (length=21)
2 => string 'blank' (length=5)
but it could also be like:
array
0 => string 'blank' (length=5)
1 => string 'open' (length=4)
2 => string 'http://www.google.com' (length=21)
now it is easy to find "blank" with in_array("blank", $array) but how can I see if one string is starting with "http"?
I've tried with
array_search('http', $array); // not working
array_search('http://www.google.com', $array); // is working
now everything after `http? could vary (how to write vary, varie? could be different is what I mean!)
Now do I need a regex or how can I check if http exists in array string?
Thanks for advices

Answer 1

"Welcome to PHP, there's a function for that."
Try preg_grep
preg_grep("/^http\b/i",$array);
Regex explained:
/^http\b/i
^\ / ^ `- Case insensitive match
| \/ `--- Boundary character
| `------ Literal match of http
`--------- Start of string

Answer 2

Try using the preg_grep function which returns an array of entries that match the pattern.
$array = array("open", "http://www.google.com", "blank");
$search = preg_grep('/http/', $array);
print_r($search);

Answer 3

Solution without regex:
$input = array('open', 'http://www.google.com', 'blank');
$output = array_filter($input, function($item){
return strpos($item, 'http') === 0;
});
Output:
array (size=1)
1 => string 'http://www.google.com' (length=21)

Answer 4

You can use preg_grep
$match = preg_grep("/http/",$array);
if(!empty($match)) echo "http exist in the array of string.";
or you can use foreach and preg_match
foreach($array as $check) {
if (preg_match("/http/", $check))
echo "http exist in the array of string.";
}