PHP if character repeated more than one time [closed]

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I have a function that adds random dots to a string and stores the altered string in a variable, however, sometimes it adds multiple dots in a row. For example:

te...stin.g

or

t..e.st.in.g

or

te.st.in....g

...and so on.

I was wondering, how can I detect if there are multiple dots in a row, and just make them into one. So for example the first string above would become:

te.stin.g

the second...

t.e.st.in.g

the third...

te.st.in.g

...and so on.

How can I accmplish this with PHP? I have no idea where to start.

Answer 1

Use a regular expression:

$string = preg_replace('/\.{2,}/', '.', $string);

{2,} means 2 or more of the preceding expression, which is a literal ..

Go to regular-expressions.info to learn all about regular expressions.

Answer 2

You may edit your function so that it no more adds multiple dots in a row. Anyway, if that isn’t the expected behaviour of your function, apply preg_replace to its output in order to get rid of those multiple dots. Let’s say $str is the output of your function. Then:

$str = preg_replace("/\\.{2,}/", ".", $str);