Question

I can split a string with a comma using preg_split, like

$words = preg_split('/[,]/', $string);

How can I use a dot, a space and a semicolon to split string with any of these?

PS. I couldn’t find any relevant example on the PHP preg_split page, that’s why I am asking.

Answer 1

Try this:

<?php

$string = "foo bar baz; boo, bat";

$words = preg_split('/[,.\s;]+/', $string);

var_dump($words);
// -> ["foo", "bar", "baz", "boo", "bat"]

The Pattern explained

[] is a character class, a character class consists of multiple characters and matches to one of the characters which are inside the class

. matches the . Character, this does not need to be escaped inside character classes. Though this needs to be escaped when not in a character class, because . means “match any character”.

\s matches whitespace

; to split on the semicolon, this needs not to be escaped, because it has not special meaning.

The + at the end ensures that spaces after the split characters do not show up as matches