Regex split into array of pieces

Question

I was wondering how could I split this string

{{MENU}}<li><a href="{{LINK}}" title="{{TITLE}}"><span>{{TITLE}}</span></a></li>{{/MENU}}

Into array of:

array(
    "<li><a href=\"",
    "{{LINK}}",
    "\" title=\"",
    "{{TITLE}}",
    "\"><span>",
    "{{TITLE}}",
    "</span></a></li>"
)

It also should work with more different formats like:

{{MENU}}<a href="{{LINK}}" title="{{TITLE}}">{{TITLE}}</a>{{/MENU}}
{{MENU}}<b><a href="{{LINK}}" title="{{TITLE}}">{{TITLE}}</a></b>{{/MENU}}

My problem is that I don't know how to write this complex regex yet.

And I am wondering why you are not using a DOM Parser to get these values — Gordon
– Gordon, Commented Sep 9, 2010 at 13:56
Like Gordon said, although DOM Parser may sound a bit overwhelming... it's really what you need to use, as any kind of reg-ex will be a great deal of work and performance will suffer. — Petrogad
– Petrogad, Commented Sep 9, 2010 at 13:59
@Frederico actually, a Regex will perform faster, and I'm sure someone will come up with one for this specific case. It's just that a DOM Parser is more reliable, more generic and doesnt have to be taught to vaguely understand HTML first. — Gordon
– Gordon, Commented Sep 9, 2010 at 14:14

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:32:46Z

4

You can try with preg_split()

$yourArray = preg_split("/({{\w+}})/", $yourText, -1, PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE);

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answered Sep 9, 2010 at 13:58

Colin Hebert

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1 Comment

You need to put the pattern in parentheses.