Shoutbox

Ok, this simply sucks.

I want to parse a string like:

code:

---

$psm = "\\0Music\\01\\0Nu op Q: {0} - {1}\\0When It All Falls Apart\\0Veronicas\\0\\0\\0";

---

to an array containing its elements, like:

code:

---

$match = array(4) {
  [0]=> string(5)
  "Music"
  [1]=> string(18)
  "Nu op Q: {0} - {1}"
  [2]=> string(23)
  "When It All Falls Apart"
  [3]=> string(9)
  "Veronicas"
}

---

using preg_match(). But now I have problems with the backslash... uh?!
This code fails:

code:

---

preg_match("/^\\0([a-zA-Z]+)\\01\\0(.*?)\\0(.*?)\\0(.*?)\\0(.*?)\\0(.*?)\\0(.*?)$/", $psm, $ico_match);

---

And while I tried to look for the fault, I found that this:

code:

---

preg_match("/0([a-zA-Z]+)/", $psm, $ico_match);

---

finds "Music", while this one:

code:

---

preg_match("/\\0([a-zA-Z]+)/", $psm, $ico_match);

---

fails.

Any ideas?

preg_match("/^\\\\0([a-zA-Z]+)\\\\01\\\\0(.*?)\\\\0(.*?)\\\\0(.*?)\\\\0(.*?)\\\\0(.*?)\\\\0(.*?)$/", $psm, $ico_match);

Note the quadruple backslashes.

Explanation: In JScript, the backslash is used to escpace certain special characters that are otherwise unprintable. To print a backslash therefore, you need to escape that too i.e. \\. So, for a double backslash, both need escaping, so \\\\.

OMFG That's weird, but it worked!
* Matti notes: catching a backslash in PHP -> 4 backslashes

Thanks RP!