Looking for a better way to code this

benton · 04-08-2008, 12:56 AM

I'm building a string dynamically. The result is that it may start with a dash (-), a space or a letter. I need to remove the first two, if they occur. The following code simulates the problem. If ran as is, it outputs XB - CX, which is correct (the X's are to show there aren't any spaces). But it seems unnecessary and overly complicated to use three trims in a row. The $array can come from a number of sources so while I could probably condition the string there, that would cause more code than the three trims. Can anyone see a better way to do this?

PHP Code:


			
$array = array();

$array['a'][0] = '';

$array['a'][1] = ' B';

$array['a'][2] = 'C';



$str = implode(' ' .' - ' . ' ', $array['a']);

$str = trim($str);

$str = ltrim($str, '-');

$str = ltrim($str);

echo 'X'.$str.'X';

delayedinsanity · 04-08-2008, 03:26 AM

PHP Code:


			
$array['a'][0] = '';
$array['a'][1] = ' B';
$array['a'][2] = 'C-';

$str = trim(implode(' - ', $array['a']), " -");
echo 'X'.$str.'X';

should do the trick.

benton · 04-08-2008, 12:10 PM

Hmm, I had tried something like that, although with ltrim. Maybe I'm confused about the charlist argument. I tried

PHP Code:


			
ltrim($str, "' '..'-')

which seems to be the way the manual says to enter multiple characters. Is that not correct? Isn't the ' -' in yours just searching for that combination (space and dash)? I can see the code works but would like to understand the correct use of the command.

delayedinsanity · 04-08-2008, 02:10 PM

What it means by "With .. you can specify a range of characters." is a range of characters such as 1 to 9, or A to C, etc (1..9, or A..C, etc). For the basic characters you wish stripped, simply list one right after another, such as " -" or " \t_" etc. Nothing to seperate them, PHP will look at the characters one by one unless it sees .. to designate a range.
-m

benton · 04-09-2008, 02:25 AM

Thank you for the explanation. I thought they were making more complicated than needed when I was trying that. Now it all makes sense.