PHP : Find array pattern in string using regex

Question

I have a string like this it is array pattern :

["foo","bar","bra bra","xxx123"]

How can i get the foo , bar , bra bra , xxx123 Pattern is ["","",""]

Answer 1

Since php 5.4 that is a shorthanded way of doing an array.

See: http://docs.php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php

Specific quote:

As of PHP 5.4 you can also use the short array syntax, which replaces array() with [].

Therefore the basic way is like any other array:

$arr = ["foo","bar"];

foreach($arr AS $arg){
    echo $arg; //you can add your logic here for comma seperating or beautifying
}

Answer 2

You can do it without regex:

$result = explode('","', trim($str, '[]"'));

or with regex:

if (preg_match_all('~"([^"]*)"~', $str, $m))
    $result = $m[1];

or a regex to handle escaped quotes:

if (preg_match_all('~"([^"\\\]*(?s:\\\.[^"\\\]*)*)"~', $str, $m))
    $result = $m[1];

Answer 3

I suspect, that a regex might be the wrong tool - try explode !

$string='["foo","bar","bra bra","xxx123"]';

//Remove start/end
if (substr($string,0,2)!='["') die('Malformed start!');
if (substr($string,-2)!='"]') die('Malformed end!');
$string=substr($string, 2, -2);
//Now explode
$array=explode('","', $string);

print_r($array);