Question

$so = file_get_contents(...) ;
$so = preg_replace("/\*([^*]+)\*/e", constant(\1), $so) ;

trying to replace text between asterisks with constants of the same name but I keep getting an
unexpected T_LNUMBER. What am I writing wrong? I verified the existence of $so as a string, and all the constants exist as they are plain text.

I probably won’t use this script but I was curious what I’m messing up

Answer 1

The problem is with how the code is evaluated.

The line:

preg_replace("/\*([^*]+)\*/e", constant(\1), $so) ;

Should be:

$so = preg_replace("/\*([^*]+)\*/e", "constant('\\1')", $so) ;

You need to enclose the value passed to constant() in quotes so it is treated as a string. Furthermore, enclose the second argument in quotes so the backreferences are evaluated.