Putting Content between Brackets into an Array

Question

I want to put this string into an array. Every element should container the content of a bracket. So is there a simple way to do this?

(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010)) (USA) (alternative title)
 ----------------------------   -----   ----------------
            array[0]            array[1]    array[2]

Have already tried something like

$str = '(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010)) (USA) (alternative title)';

if (preg_match("/\(.*?\)/", $str, $matches)) {
    echo $matches[0];
}

Answer 1

Heres how to do it

$string = '(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010)) (USA) (alternative title)';

$brackets  = array();

$words = array();
$start = 0;


for($i=0; $i<strlen($string) ; $i++)
{

    if($string[$i]=="(")
    {
      array_push($brackets,"(");


    }
    if($string[$i]==")")
    {
      array_pop($brackets);

    }
    if(count($brackets)==0)
    {

        array_push($words,substr($string,$start+1,$i-$start-1));

    $start = $i+2;
    $i++;
    }

}
print_r($words);

Answer 2

You're just complicating it. Following will do it

$arr = explode(') (', trim('(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010)) (USA) (alternative title)', '()'));

Answer 3

RegEx is on the right path. Just include a + modifier to greedily collect any trailing embedded brackets.

$str = '(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010)) (USA) (alternative title)';
/* Regex */
preg_match_all('!\(.*?\)+!',$str,$match);

var_dump($match[0]);
/*
array(3) {
  [0] =>
  string(31) "(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010))"
  [1] =>
  string(5) "(USA)"
  [2] =>
  string(19) "(alternative title)"
}
*/

But this will not work for other embedded quotes, and whitespace between segments should't be trusted. A primitive lexer might be a better approach.

$str = '(aka "Beep My (Dad) Says" (2010)) (USA)(alternative title)';
/* Lexer/Scanner */
$length = strlen($str);
$stack = array();
$cursor = $nested = 0;
$top = -1;
while ( $cursor < $length ) {
 $c = $str[$cursor++];     // Grab char at index.
 if ( '(' == $c ) {        // Scan for starting character.
   if ( !$nested )         // Check if this is the start of a new segment.
     $stack[++$top] = "";  // Prototype new buffer (i.e. empty string).
  $nested++;               // Increase nesting.
 }
 if ( $nested )
   $stack[$top] .= $c;     // Append character, if inside brackets.
 if ( ')' == $c )          // Scan for ending character.
   $nested--;              // Decrease nesting.
}

var_dump($stack);
/*
array(3) {
  [0] =>
  string(33) "(aka "Beep My (Dad) Says" (2010))"
  [1] =>
  string(5) "(USA)"
  [2] =>
  string(19) "(alternative title)"
}
*/

Again, this will just punt the problem down field, as fields that include uneven brackets will confuse any regular expression, or lexer.

$str = '(Sunn O))) "NN O)))" (2000)) (USA) (drone metal)';

Ideally, you would want to return to the source generator, and include escaping (if possible).

$str = '(aka "Beep My Dad Says" \(2010\)) (USA) (alternative title)';

Answer 4

Simple is best

list($part1, $part2, $part3) = explode(') ', $string);

// Note the space after closing bracket - which is the trick to this

You could then run them through a ltrim('(') and rtrim(')') to remove the brackets from the array if they are not wanted.

Answer 5

Try this, I've tested it with the string you provided, this extracts what you need regardless of spaces:

public function stringToArray ( $startingCharacter, $endingCharacter, $string ) {
    $startCounter = 0;
    $strLen = strlen($string);
    $arrayResult = array();

    for ( $i = 0 ; $i < $strLen ; $i++ ) {
        if ( $string[$i] == $startingCharacter ) {
            if ( $startCounter == 0 ) {
                $startingPosition = $i + 1;
            }
            $startCounter++;
        }

        if ( $string[$i] == $endingCharacter && $startCounter == 1 ) {
            $startCounter--;
            $arrayResult[] = substr( $string, $startingPosition , ( $i - $startingPosition ) );
        }
        else if ( $string[$i] == $endingCharacter ) {
            $startCounter--;
        }
    }
}

And here's without the function format:

$string = '(aka "Beep My Dad Says" (2010))(USA)(alternative title)';

$startingCharacter = '(';
$endingCharacter = ')';
$startCounter = 0;
$strLen = strlen($string);
$arrayResult = array();

for ( $i = 0 ; $i < $strLen ; $i++ ) {
    if ( $string[$i] == $startingCharacter ) {
        if ( $startCounter == 0 ) {
            $startingPosition = $i + 1;
        }
        $startCounter++;
    }

    if ( $string[$i] == $endingCharacter && $startCounter == 1 ) {
        $startCounter--;
        $arrayResult[] = substr( $string, $startingPosition , ( $i - $startingPosition ) );
    }
    else if ( $string[$i] == $endingCharacter ) {
        $startCounter--;
    }
}

Hope it helps :)