Question

Here are some examples:

1. Some text A
2. Some text A 8:00-19:00
3. 8:00-19:00
4. Some text A 8:00-19:00 Some text B

For each case described above, I need to capture (if possible):

• The time (8:00-19:00)
• The beginning (Some text A)
• The end (Some text B)

With this pattern #^(.*?) ?(\d{1,2}:\d{2}-\d{1,2}:\d{2})?$#, I can capture (from example 2):

• Some text A
• 8:00-19:00

But I can’t capture the rest of the line by adding (.*) or (.*?) at the end of the pattern.

Can you help me? Thank you!

Answer 1

I think your main problem is that you’ve made the group of digits optional by adding ? after it (which I don’t think you want).

This works for me /^(.*) ?(\d{1,2}:\d{2}-\d{1,2}:\d{2}) ?(.*)$/:

<?

$str = "Some text A 8:00-19:00 Some text B";
$pat = "/^(.*) ?(\d{1,2}:\d{2}-\d{1,2}:\d{2}) ?(.*)$/";

if(preg_match($pat, $str, $matches)){
   /*

    Cases 2, 3 and 4

    Array
    (
        [0] => Some text A 8:00-19:00 Some text B
        [1] => Some text A 
        [2] => 8:00-19:00
        [3] => Some text B
    )

   */
}else{
   /* Case 1 */
}

?>