PHP Requires Chilkat v11.1.0+

Regular Expression with Multiple Matches and Capture Groups

See more Regular Expressions Examples

Demonstrates a regular expression with multiple matches and capture groups for each match.

Note: Chilkat uses PCRE2. See PCRE2 Regular Expressions
Also see: PCRE2 Performance

Chilkat2 PHP

<?php

use Chilkat2\JsonObject;
use Chilkat2\StringBuilder;

$pattern = 'Name:\s+(\w+)\s+(\w+),\s+Email:\s+(\S+)';

$sb = new StringBuilder();
$crlf = true;
$sb->AppendLine('Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com', $crlf);
$sb->AppendLine('Name: Jack Johnson, Email: jack.johnson@example.com', $crlf);
$sb->AppendLine('Name: Mary Adams, Email: mary.adams@example.com', $crlf);

echo $sb->GetAsString(), "\n";

// We have the following string:
// Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com
// Name: Jack Johnson, Email: jack.johnson@example.com
// Name: Mary Adams, Email: mary.adams@example.com

$json = new JsonObject();
$json->EmitCompact = false;

$timeoutMs = 2000;
$numMatches = $sb->RegexMatch($pattern, $json, $timeoutMs);
if ($numMatches < 0) {
    // Probably an error in the regular expression.
    // Suggestion: Use AI to help create and/or diagnose regular expressions.
    echo $sb->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

// Examine the matches:
echo $json->Emit(), "\n";

// This is the JSON with the match information.
// See the JSON parsing code below to get the matched capture group values.

// {
//   "match": [
//     {
//       "group": [
//         {
//           "cap": "Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com",
//           "idx": 0,
//           "len": 47
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "John",
//           "idx": 6,
//           "len": 4
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "Smith",
//           "idx": 11,
//           "len": 5
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "john.smith@example.com",
//           "idx": 25,
//           "len": 22
//         }
//       ]
//     },
//     {
//       "group": [
//         {
//           "cap": "Name: Jack Johnson, Email: jack.johnson@example.com",
//           "idx": 49,
//           "len": 51
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "Jack",
//           "idx": 55,
//           "len": 4
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "Johnson",
//           "idx": 60,
//           "len": 7
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "jack.johnson@example.com",
//           "idx": 76,
//           "len": 24
//         }
//       ]
//     },
//     {
//       "group": [
//         {
//           "cap": "Name: Mary Adams, Email: mary.adams@example.com",
//           "idx": 102,
//           "len": 47
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "Mary",
//           "idx": 108,
//           "len": 4
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "Adams",
//           "idx": 113,
//           "len": 5
//         },
//         {
//           "cap": "mary.adams@example.com",
//           "idx": 127,
//           "len": 22
//         }
//       ]
//     }
//   ]
// }

// Important:  Capture group 0 always contains the entire match — that is, the portion of the input string that matches the full regular expression.

$cap = '';
$i = 0;
$matchCount = $json->SizeOfArray('match');
while ($i < $matchCount) {
    echo 'Match ', $i + 1, ":\n";
    $json->I = $i;
    $j = 0;
    $numCaptureGroups = $json->SizeOfArray('match[i].group');
    while ($j < $numCaptureGroups) {
        $json->J = $j;
        $cap = $json->StringOf('match[i].group[j].cap');
        echo $j, ': ', $cap, "\n";
        $j = $j + 1;
    }

    $i = $i + 1;
}

// Capture group 0 always contains the entire match — that is, the portion of the input string that matches the full regular expression.

// Output

// Match 1:
// 0: Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com
// 1: John
// 2: Smith
// 3: john.smith@example.com
// Match 2:
// 0: Name: Jack Johnson, Email: jack.johnson@example.com
// 1: Jack
// 2: Johnson
// 3: jack.johnson@example.com
// Match 3:
// 0: Name: Mary Adams, Email: mary.adams@example.com
// 1: Mary
// 2: Adams
// 3: mary.adams@example.com