PHP preg_split() Function

Example

Use preg_split() to split a date into its components:

<?php
$date = "1970-01-01 00:00:00";
$pattern = "/[-\s:]/";
$components = preg_split($pattern, $date);
print_r($components);
?>

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Definition and Usage

The preg_split() function breaks a string into an array using matches of a regular expression as separators.

Syntax

preg_split( pattern, string, limit, flags)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
pattern	Required. A regular expression determining what to use as a separator
string	Required. The string that is being split
limit	Optional. Defaults to -1, meaning unlimited. Limits the number of elements that the returned array can have. If the limit is reached before all of the separators have been found, the rest of the string will be put into the last element of the array
flags	Optional. These flags provide options to change the returned array: PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY - Empty strings will be removed from the returned array. PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE - If the regular expression contains a group wrapped in parentheses, matches of this group will be included in the returned array. PREG_SPLIT_OFFSET_CAPTURE - Each element in the returned array will be an array with two element, where the first element is the substring and the second element is the position of the first character of the substring in the input string.

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns an array of substrings where each item corresponds to a part of the input string separated by a match of the regular expression
PHP Version:	4+

More Examples

Example

Using the PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE flag:

<?php
$date = "1970-01-01 00:00:00";
$pattern = "/([-\s:])/";
$components = preg_split($pattern, $date, -1,
PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE);
print_r($components);
?>

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Example

Using the PREG_SPLIT_OFFSET_CAPTURE flag:

<?php
$date = "1970-01-01";
$pattern = "/-/";
$components = preg_split($pattern, $date, -1,
PREG_SPLIT_OFFSET_CAPTURE);
print_r($components);
?>

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❮ PHP RegExp Reference