preg_repalce matched partial data with correct regex

Question

$str = a b c;
$str = preg_replace("/a|b|c\","" $str);

above regex only matched a, b and c are excluded. At first I thought it was caused by the gobal thing, but after researched preg_match itself has default global enabled. So what has actually gone wrong?

`$str = "a b c";` - doing `$str = a b c;` should have thrown an parse error. — Funk Forty Niner, Sep 21 '14 at 14:15
Doing `\"` is like asking PHP to escape the `"` - Do as Avinash showed you, along with the missing comma. — Funk Forty Niner, Sep 21 '14 at 14:21
Why do you [repost](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25959823/g-in-regex-using-preg-replace-of-php) with the same syntax errors but without actually trying it out? — mario, Sep 21 '14 at 14:24

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 21 '14 at 14:20

You'll need quotes around your string:

$str = "a b c";

...a comma between your replacement text and the source, and flip your closing RegEx slash to match your opening one:

$str = preg_replace("/a|b|c/", "", $str);

That will leave $str set to [space][space]

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 21 '14 at 14:23

A regex must be enclosed in delimeters. A delimiter can be any non-alphanumeric, non-backslash, non-whitespace character. Usually you use / which has to be at the beginning and at the end of the regex string.

Also a string in php must be encased in either " or '.

Lastly you are missing a comma in the preg_replace function.

$str = "a b c";
$str = preg_replace("/a|b|c/", "", $str);

preg_repalce matched partial data with correct regex

2 Answers2