PHP ActiveX 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

PHP ActiveX

<?php

$success = 0;

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

$sb = new COM("Chilkat.StringBuilder");
$crlf = 1;
$sb->AppendLine('Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com',$crlf);
$sb->AppendLine('Name: Jack Johnson, Email: jack.johnson@example.com',$crlf);
$sb->AppendLine('Name: Mary Adams, Email: mary.adams@example.com',$crlf);

print $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 COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");
$json->EmitCompact = 0;

$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.
    print $sb->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Examine the matches:
print $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.

$i = 0;
$matchCount = $json->SizeOfArray('match');
while ($i < $matchCount) {
    print 'Match ' . ($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');
        print $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

?>