Variable data mystery

PHP
1

Ok, this is the oddest thing i have encountered.

I am working on a CMS that provides a template token which renders out some html. I want to obtain that html into a variable and have my way with it. So, im thinking ob_start etc.

Here’s the situation:

The template token: [special_section:edition_index]

This renders:

<a href="/special_section/4/">Answer Book</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/9/">Home Experts</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/11/">Young at Heart</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/28/">Bridal</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/29/">Complete Wellness</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/31/">Parade of Homes</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/37/">Summer Camp</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/38/">Recreation Services</a><br/><br/>

So to grab this into a variable:

ob_start(); ?>
[special_section:edition_index]
<?php 
$data=ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
?>

Then I echo out the $data variable:

echo 'DATA: ';
echo $data;

Which produces exactly what I want:

DATA: <a href="/special_section/4/">Answer Book</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/9/">Home Experts</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/11/">Young at Heart</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/28/">Bridal</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/29/">Complete Wellness</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/31/">Parade of Homes</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/37/">Summer Camp</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/38/">Recreation Services</a><br/><br/>

So now, I want to run this $data variable through preg_match_all() to get some particular data. First, I just grab any old character just to get going:

preg_match_all('/./', $data, $matches);
print_r($matches);

Then to my surprise, I get this:

[0] => Array
        (
            [0] => 	
            [1] => 	
            [2] => [
            [3] => s
            [4] => p
            [5] => e
            [6] => c
            [7] => i
            [8] => a
            [9] => l
            [10] => _
            [11] => s
            [12] => e
            [13] => c
            [14] => t
            [15] => i
            [16] => o
            [17] => n
            [18] => :
            [19] => e
            [20] => d
            [21] => i
            [22] => t
            [23] => i
            [24] => o
            [25] => n
            [26] => _
            [27] => i
            [28] => n
            [29] => d
            [30] => e
            [31] => x
            [32] => ]
            [33] => 	
            [34] => 	
        )

)

How in the heck is my $data var showing me one thing when I echo it out, then as soon as I add it to preg_match_all() it reverts to something else??? :sick:

Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks.

2

At the time you call preg_match_all, $data has a different value. You either changed it, or it is a different variable. If you echo $data on the line immediately before calling preg_match_all, you will see this.

3

That is what I did. Here is my script in full:


<?php  ob_start(); ?>
[special_section:edition_index]
<?php 
$data=ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();

echo 'DATA: ';
echo $data;

preg_match_all('/./', $data, $matches);
print_r($matches);

Which then outputs:


DATA: <a href="/special_section/4/">Answer Book</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/9/">Home Experts</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/11/">Young at Heart</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/28/">Bridal</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/29/">Complete Wellness</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/31/">Parade of Homes</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/37/">Summer Camp</a><br/><br/>
<a href="/special_section/38/">Recreation Services</a><br/><br/>

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => 	
            [1] => 	
            [2] => [
            [3] => s
            [4] => p
            [5] => e
            [6] => c
            [7] => i
            [8] => a
            [9] => l
            [10] => _
            [11] => s
            [12] => e
            [13] => c
            [14] => t
            [15] => i
            [16] => o
            [17] => n
            [18] => :
            [19] => e
            [20] => d
            [21] => i
            [22] => t
            [23] => i
            [24] => o
            [25] => n
            [26] => _
            [27] => i
            [28] => n
            [29] => d
            [30] => e
            [31] => x
            [32] => ]
            [33] => 	
            [34] => 	
        )
)
4

Your templating layer is processing the output of that php code. The replacement is done after that code is executed. echo $data; really does output the string that preg_match_all is showing. It’s just that the templating layer later alters it.

You either need to:
-run preg_match_all after your templating layer has done the replacement.
-Have your templating layer do the replacement before executing that php code.

5

I don’t see how I would go about doing that. Can you write a code example as to what I might do?

Thanks for the help.

6

I’m not likely to be familiar with the cms/templating system you use, so no, I wouldn’t be able to do that even if I knew what you’re using.

7

@OP: You could always look into the code of the template system, to see how things are replaced. Then grab the links directly from their source.

8

Unfortunately, they don’t allow access to any of their system files.

9

Well that’s gonna be a bit of a problem…

How about you create a blank file with just the template command in it, and then read remotely that as if it’s an external file?

10

Actually that is my plan if I cant figure this out.

It is just bothering me that I cant figure out how to process the output of the template through the preg_match function.

11

It’s because the template etc is done after your code, so preg_match will only see the template instructions.

12

So I’m guessing reading it remotely is my only option…

Thanks for the help Jake!