find the closest number to the first appearance of a symbol

Question

<?php
$url = 'here i give a url';

$raw = file_get_contents($url);

preg_match('/\w(\d*).*?\$/',$raw,$matches);


echo $matches;
?>

in a given external website I need the closest number to the first appearance of a symbol here the symbol is $

this is what I tried for now I just get "array" printed

Answer 1

Am I interpreting your question correctly if you, given the following input:

<div>
   <span>12.92$</span>
   <span>24.82$</span>
</div>

want to get back 12.92$? Ie you want the first occurrence of an amount of money from a web site?

If so, try the following:

// Will find any number on the form xyz.abc.
// Will NOT cope with formatting such as 12 523.25 or 12,523.25
$regex = '/(\d+(:?.\d+)?) *([$])/'
preg_match($regex, $website, $matches);

//matches[0] => 123.45$
//matches[1] => 123.45
//matches[2] => $

Another, more ambitious try (Which could fail more often) would be:

// Will find any number on the form xyz.abc.
// Attempts to cope with formatting such as 12 523.25 or 12,523.25
$regex = '/(\d{1,3}(:?[, ]?\d{3})*(:?.\d+)?) *([$])/'
preg_match($regex, $website, $matches);

//matches[0] => 12 233.45$
//matches[1] => 12 233.45
//matches[2] => $

Answer 2

$regex = '/([$])* (\d+(:?.\d+)?)    /' ;
preg_match($regex, $str, $matches);

it works I just switched the sides for $199 !

now I need also an option to get only the second apearance:

code .....
$199 ......

....
$299
....

matches[2] should print 299

Answer 3

if you get array printed > try echo $matches[0]; or echo $matches[1];

// update

// test2.php lkadf $ lksajdf;

// test.php

$url = 'test2.php';
$raw = file_get_contents($url);

preg_match('/\w(\d*).*?\$/',$raw,$matches);

echo $matches[0]; ?>

Will output:

lkadf $ (the first part).

Answer 4

Use preg match with $matches[1], but you need to change your regex to

preg_match('/\w(\d+).*?\$/',$raw,$matches);

The * matches zero or more times, when really you want at least one digit. Change it to + so you match one or more.