Question

<?php
$string = "Movies and Stars I., 32. part";
$pattern = "((IX|IV|V?I{0,3}[\.]))";

if(preg_match($pattern, $string, $x) == false)
{
    print "NAPAKA!";
}
else
{
    print_r($x);
}
?>

And the response is:

Array ( [0] => I. [1] => I. )

I should get only 1 response… Why do I get multiple responses?

Answer 1

The element at index 0 is the whole matched string. The element at index 1 is the contents of the first capture group, i.e. the content inside the parenthesis. In this case, they just happen to be the same. Just use $x[0] to get the value you’re looking for.