Preg_replace with array replacements

Question

$string = \":abc and :def have apples.\";
$replacements = array(\'Mary\', \'Jane\');

should become:

Mary and Jane have apples.
         


        

Answer 1

For a Multiple and Full array replacement by Associative Key you can use this to match your regex pattern:

   $words=array("_saudation_"=>"Hello", "_animal_"=>"cat", "_animal_sound_"=>"MEooow");
   $source=" _saudation_! My Animal is a _animal_ and it says _animal_sound_ ... _animal_sound_ ,  _no_match_";


  function translate_arrays($source,$words){
    return (preg_replace_callback("/\b_(\w*)_\b/u", function($match) use ($words) {    if(isset($words[$match[0]])){ return ($words[$match[0]]); }else{ return($match[0]); } },  $source));
  }


    echo translate_arrays($source,$words);
    //returns:  Hello! My Animal is a cat and it says MEooow ... MEooow ,  _no_match_

*Notice, thats although "_no_match_" lacks translation, it will match during regex, but preserve its key. And keys can repeat many times.