Posted by Heiko Richler on 02/26/07 07:25

e_matthes@hotmail.com wrote:
> $string = "list of whales: white beluga whale humpback whale atlantic
> humpback whale";

> $regExp = "/(whales:)(.*)(whale)/";
> if ( preg_match($regExp, $string, $outputArray) ) {

> But, the output is "white beluga whale humpback whale atlantic
> humpback", as I expected. I know how to stop after finding a single
> character, but I can't figure out how to stop after finding a single
> instance of a word. Any help? Thanks.

RegEx are greedy. That means RegEx match as much as they can. This means
your Expression stops with the last whale. To make it stop with the
first whale make your Expression ungreedey:


$regExp = "/(whales:)(.*?)(whale)/";

or

$regExp = "/(whales:)(.*)(whale)/U";

see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression#Greedy_expressions

Heiko
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