#25618 [Opn->Bgs]: * operator doesnt function as it is supposed to be

ID: 25618 Updated by: rasmus@php.net Reported By: yurtesen at ispro dot net dot tr -Status: Open +Status: Bogus Bug Type: PCRE related Operating System: FreeBSD 4.8-STABLE PHP Version: 4.3.3 New Comment: You just need to make your * non-greedy there. eg. "/<a.*href=\"(.*)\".*>(?:<.*>)*?(.*)<\/a>/iU" Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2003-09-21 07:46:02] yurtesen at ispro dot net dot tr Description: ------------ If I have string <a HREF="linkhere"><font>texthere</a></font> I can extract the text 'linkhere' and 'texthere' with preg_match_all("/<a.*href=\"(.*)\".*><.*>(.*)<\/a>/iU", $line, $matches); But if the string is <a HREF="linkhere"><font><b>texthere</a></b></font> preg_match_all("/<a.*href=\"(.*)\".*>(?:<.*>)*(.*)<\/a>/iU", $line, $matches); doesnt work. It matches for "<font><b>texthere" I am trying to exclude <font><b> by matching repeatedly by (?:<.*>)* before the actual text I need. You can check out my php configuration from http://www.ispro.net/temp/phpinfo.php Reproduce code: --------------- <? $line = '<a HREF="linkhere"><font><b>texthere</a></b></font>'; preg_match_all("/<a.*href=\"(.*)\".*>(?:<.*>)*(.*)<\/a>/iU", $line, $matches); print_r($matches); ?> Expected result: ---------------- Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => <a HREF="linkhere"><font><b>texthere</a> ) [1] => Array ( [0] => linkhere ) [2] => Array ( [0] => texthere ) ) Actual result: -------------- Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => <a HREF="linkhere"><font><b>texthere</a> ) [1] => Array ( [0] => linkhere ) [2] => Array ( [0] => <font><b>texthere ) ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=25618&edit=1