preg_replace with random selection

Hi,
Here is what I have:

I have the above string. I need to select a random word from each of the { }

Example result:

Easiest way to do it?

Thanks

 

$string = '{word1/word2/word3} {word4/word5/wor6/word7} {word8/word9}';
$words = array();

$sets = preg_split('~(\} )?[\{\}]~', $string, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);

foreach ($sets AS $set)
{
	$tmp_words = explode('/', $set);
	$words[] = $tmp_words[array_rand($tmp_words)];
}

print_r($words);

PHP:

 

Thanks nico, it works great.
You saved me one more time

One problem though.
Between the } { it may be other characters.
Ex:

$string = '{word1/word2/word3} abc{word4/word5/wor6/word7}etc.{word8/word9}';

PHP:

I only need to choose a random word between { }, the rest should remain the same.

So, I will output

word2 abcword6etc.word8

Code (markup):

I do care about space chars, as I must output them too.

Cheers mate

 

<?php
	$pat = '#\{(?:[^/]+/){%d}([^/}]+)(?:/[^}]+)?\} \{(?:[^/]+/){%d}([^/}]+)(?:/[^}]+)?\} \{(?:[^/]+/){%d}([^/}]+)(?:/[^}]+)?\}#';
	$str = '{the cat/my dog/a super sexy cheetah} {drank/meowed loudly/went to the bathroom/chilled} {with me/by itself}';
	$rpat = sprintf($pat, rand(0,2), rand(0,3), rand(0,1));
	echo $rpat, '<br/>', preg_replace($rpat, "$1 $2 $3", $str)
?>

PHP:

 

Joebert only one problem. I may have more then 3 pairs of {}
Your code works too, but not for more than 3 pairs.

Thanks

 

How many words/sections do you anticipate ?

preg_replace can deal with a maximum of 99 back references.

 

It might be even more than 100 sections.

 

$string = '{word1/word2/word3} abc{word4/word5/wor6/word7}etc.{word8/word9}';
$words = array();

if (preg_match_all('~\{([^\}]+)\}~', $string, $matches))
{
	foreach ($matches[1] AS $set)
	{
		$tmp_words = explode('/', $set);
		$words[] = $tmp_words[array_rand($tmp_words)];
	}
}

print_r($words);

PHP:

 

this is new information for me, thanks nico. a lot of your posts have improved my knowledge

 

He's called joebert. But you're welcome anyway, lol.

 

preg_replace_callback might be a good fit with this task.

<?php
	$str = '{word1/word2/word3} abc{word4/word5/wor6/word7}etc.{word8/word9}';
	
	$str = preg_replace_callback(
		'#\{[^}]+\}#',
		create_function(
			'$match',
			'$match = explode(\'/\', trim($match[0], \'{}\')); return $match[rand(0,sizeof($match)-1)];'
		),
		$str
    );
    echo $str;
?>

PHP: