Need Help with RegEx

webosb · 11-28-2007, 10:43 PM

I'm trying to code something that parses content the following content:

PHP Code:


			
<!-- Begin cached content "main" - updated on Mon Nov 26 12:00:01 EST 2007 -->

<div id="maincontent">

<h2>Resources</h2>

<ul>

GRAB THIS CONTENT HERE

</ul>

</div>

<hr id="seperator"/>

<!-- End cached content "main" -->

I'm using this code:

PHP Code:


			
<?php

$url = "http://www.somewebsite.com"; 

$data = file_get_contents($url);

$regex = '<!-- Begin cached content (.+?) <!-- End cached content "main" -->';

preg_match($regex,$data,$match);

var_dump($match); 

echo $match[1];

?>

Can someone help me fix the regex part so it will grab all the content above?

Wildhoney · 11-28-2007, 11:01 PM

Something like this, perhaps?

php Code:

preg_match('/(<!-- Begin cached content .* content "main" -->)/iUs', $szContents, $aMatches);

You can then find it in $aMatches[1].

webosb · 11-29-2007, 07:29 PM

that worked! thanks alot wildhoney!

*edit* is this example faster than using CURL to get the website content?

Wildhoney · 11-29-2007, 09:24 PM

I'd say so, yes. Although file_get_contents isn't as in-depth as cURL, for something like that, it's better to stick to the simplicity side than calling a group of functions that are somewhat overkill for what you require.

bluesaga · 12-01-2007, 12:38 AM

Generally speaking it will be dependent on the website that you are trying to open but generally speaking, while cURL may take a bit longer to implement its by FAR faster than file_get_contents in the long run....

Quote:

I have created a script that tests all 4 methods on 20 different websites 10 times each. The results are clear, here is one set of the results:

Curl time: 43.02 seconds
FGC time: 86.48 seconds
Fopen time: 86.34 seconds
Socket time: 44.91 seconds

Quoting: http://uk2.php.net/manual/en/ref.curl.php#75126

Wildhoney · 12-01-2007, 02:48 AM

If you were to have asked me before-hand about which I thought was faster, FGC or cURL, I would have been more inclined to have said FGC. I was under the false impression that it was a right little light-weight in comparison to cURL! Seems cURL is actually the master of both speed and functionality.

Geert · 12-09-2007, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wildhoney

php Code:

preg_match('/(<!-- Begin cached content .* content "main" -->)/iUs', $szContents, $aMatches);

You can then find it in $aMatches[1].

Small tip. You can speed up the regex by removing the capturing parentheses. You don't need them because the full pattern match is already included in $aMatches[0].