ctype_alpha - how to add space
j.e ( if ctype_alpha => true if there are white spaces inside)
function _surname($v) {
if(!empty($v)) {
if(!ctype_alpha($v)) $e .= '» Please use only alphabet(no digits) characters in surname (+ no spaces)'."\r";
if(!lenght($v,2)) $e .= '» Surname must be above 2 letters lenght.'."\r";
} return $e;
}
ASKER
The regex is saying must start and end with a letter and may contain spaces and letters but not 2 spaces next to each other.
How to modify this to trim the empty 2 spaces to one?
How to modify this to trim the empty 2 spaces to one?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Slight update. The regex can be simplified. See comments in the code below.
<?php
$a_Tests = array
(
' ',
' ',
' starts with spaces',
'ends with spaces ',
' wrapped with spaces ',
'one space',
'nospace',
'lots of spaces'
);
foreach($a_Tests as $s_Test)
{
echo str_pad("'$s_Test' ", 40) . ": ";
// As we are trimming the string, no leading or trailing spaces.
// As we replace 2+ spaces with 1 only single spaces.
// So, the regex can be a lot simpler. Must match at least 1 letter or space
// (though 1 space will never actually get to the regex test).
// If you want to say there has to be at least 10 letters, use a regex of ...
// '`^[a-z ]{10,}$`i'
// The {10,} means at least 10 lettes.
// If you want between 10 and 40 letters ...
// '`^[a-z ]{10,40}$`i'
if (0 == preg_match('`^[a-z ]+$`i', preg_replace('` +`', ' ', trim($s_Test, ' ')), $a_Matches))
{
echo "Failed to pass test.", PHP_EOL;
}
else
{
$s_Test = $a_Matches[0];
echo "Passed test and was returned as '$s_Test'.", PHP_EOL;
}
}
But a regex will do ...
if (0 == preg_match('`^^[a-z](?!.* .*)[a-z ]+[a-z]$`i', $v)) $e .= '» Please use only alphabet(no digits) characters in surname (+ spaces)'."\r";
The regex is saying must start and end with a letter and may contain spaces and letters but not 2 spaces next to each other.