Another Regex Question

[ShadowMage]

Hey guys, I've got another regex question. I've got the following code:

$test1 = "varchar(20)";$test2 = "date";$test3 = "decimal(10,3)";$regex = '/([a-z]+)[(]*((\d{1,})[,]*(\d{1,})*)*[)]*/';preg_match($regex, $test1, $matches);echo nl2br(print_r($matches, true));preg_match($regex, $test2, $matches);echo nl2br(print_r($matches, true));preg_match($regex, $test3, $matches);echo nl2br(print_r($matches, true));

This does almost what I want. It returns all the information I need but it also returns a match I don't need. It works perfectly for $test2, as the only match it returns (aside from matching the whole string) is "date" which is exactly what I want. However, it returns an extra match for the other two. Here's how the returned arrays look:Array([0] => varchar(20)[1] => varchar[2] => 20 <-- Extra value[3] => 20)Array([0] => decimal(10,3)[1] => decimal[2] => 10,3 <-- Extra value[3] => 10[4] => 3)Now I know it's matching this part of my regex: ((\d{1,})[,]*(\d{1,})*)*But my question is, is there a way to make it so that the match isn't returned in the array? I need to somehow specify that that portion is optional. Using the parens and the * quantifier works but returns this extra match. Is there another way to do this?

[wirehopper]

You might be able to escape the outer parenthesis\((\d{1,})[,]*(\d{1,})*\)

[ShadowMage]

You might be able to escape the outer parenthesis\((\d{1,})[,]*(\d{1,})*\)

That will match them as part of the pattern, though, and that's not what I want. I want to be able to specify that a portion of the string is optional.

[justsomeguy]

But my question is, is there a way to make it so that the match isn't returned in the array?

Make it an assertion instead of a matching pattern. Assertions do not get returned, just validated.

[ShadowMage]

Make it an assertion instead of a matching pattern. Assertions do not get returned, just validated.

How would I do that? I know that this: (?<=[a-z]) will match something preceded by any letter from a thru z. But how would I apply that in this case? I still need to return the stuff inside the parenthesis (if it exists) but not everything together should be returned. For example, with decimal(10,3) I still need to extract the 10 and the 3 but I don't want to get a match on '10,3'.

[justsomeguy]

I'm not sure if that's possible, but it might be. It sounds like you want an assertion, and inside the assertion you want 2 matches to get passed back. I'm not sure if it will work that way, but take a look through the section in the manual about assertions and see what it says there.

[ShadowMage]

I'm not sure if that's possible, but it might be.

Dun Dun Dun!The guru doesn't have an answer! :)

It sounds like you want an assertion, and inside the assertion you want 2 matches to get passed back. I'm not sure if it will work that way, but take a look through the section in the manual about assertions and see what it says there.

You are correct sir. I need to check if that piece exists, if it does, extract the information from it. I'll do some digging, see what I can find. Thanks tho! :)EDIT:After doing some digging, I've come across this:$regex = '/([a-z]+)(?:[(](\d{1,})(?:[,](\d{1,}))?[)])?/';It seems to work perfectly. (?: )? specifies a non-capturing, optional subpattern, yet the subpatterns within this subpattern will still be captured.