Question

I am trying to build a router function to properly match incoming URI’s and match them to an array of stored system URI’s. I also have wildcards ‘(:any)’ and ‘(:num)’ similar to CodeIgniter.

Basically, I am trying to get the ‘admin/stats/(:num)’ entry to match on both ‘admin/stats’ and admin/stats/1′.

While the script is starting I grab all paths from a separate array and use a foreach to save each path:

route('admin/stats/(:num)', array('#title' => 'Statistics',...));

The function is:

function route($path = NULL, $options = NULL) {

static $routes;

    //If no arguments are supplied, return all routes stored.
    if(!isset($path) && !isset($options)) {
        return $routes;
    }

    //return options for path if $path is set.
    if(isset($path) && !isset($options)) {

        //If we have an exact match, return it.
        if(array_key_exists($path, $routes)) {
            return $routes[$path];
        }
        //Else, we need to use RegEx to find the correct route options.
        else {
        $regex = str_replace('/', '\/', $path);
        $regex = '#^' . $regex . '\/?$#';
            //I am trying to get the array key for $route[$path], but it isn't working.

            // route_replace('admin/stats/(:num)') = 'admin/stats/([0-9]+)'.
        $uri_path = route_replace(key($routes[$path])); //route_replace replaces wildcards for regex.
            if(preg_match($regex, $uri_path)) {
                return $routes[$path];
            }
        }
    }

    $routes[$path] = $options;

    return $routes; 
}

Route replace function:

function route_replace($path) {
    return str_replace(':any', '.+', str_replace(':num', '[0-9]+', $path));
}

A key/value pair in the $routes array looks like:

[admin/stats/(:num)] => Array
    (
        [#title] => Statistics //Page title
        [#access] => user_access //function to check if user is authorized 
        [#content] => html_stats //function that returns HTML for the page
        [#form_submit] => form_stats //Function to handle POST submits.
    )

Thanks for the help. This is my first router and I am not that familiar in making proper Regex’s.

Answer 1

‘admin/stats/(:num)’ will never match ‘admin/stats’ as in your “pattern” the slash is required. In pseduo-regex you need to do something like ‘admin/stats(/:num)’.

There does also seem to be a few bugs in your code. This line

$uri_path = route_replace(key($routes[$path]));

is in the block that is executed when $path is not a key that exists in $routes.

I’ve tried to rewrite it and this seems to work (this is just the else clause):

foreach( array_keys( $routes ) as $route ) {
        $regex = '#^' . $route . '?$#';
        //I am trying to get the array key for $route'$path', but it isn't working.

        // route_replace('admin/stats/(:num)') = 'admin/stats/('0-9'+)'.
        $uri_path = route_replace($regex); //route_replace replaces wildcards for regex.
        if(preg_match($uri_path,$path)) {
            return $routes[$route];
        }
    }

But this requires ‘admin/stats/(:num)’ to be ‘admin/stats(/:num)’.

btw if you don’t have one already, you should get a debugger (Zend and xDebug are two of the most common ones for PHP). They can be invaluable in solving problems like this.

Also, ask yourself if you need to write a router, or whether you can’t just use one of the perfectly good ones out there already…