Using str_replace so that it only acts on the first match?

Question

I want a version of str_replace() that only replaces the first occurrence of $search in the $subject. Is there an easy solution to thi

Answer 1

To expand on @renocor's answer, I've written a function that is 100% backward-compatible with str_replace(). That is, you can replace all occurrences of str_replace() with str_replace_limit() without messing anything up, even those using arrays for the $search, $replace, and/or $subject.

The function could be completely self-contained, if you wanted to replace the function call with ($string===strval(intval(strval($string)))), but I'd recommend against it since valid_integer() is a rather useful function when dealing with integers provided as strings.

Note: Whenever possible, str_replace_limit() will use str_replace() instead, so all calls to str_replace() can be replaced with str_replace_limit() without worrying about a hit to performance.

Usage

$limit = -1; // No limit
$new_string = str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $subject, $count, $limit);
echo $count.' replacements -- '.$new_string;

2 replacements -- bbcbbc

$limit = 1; // Limit of 1
$new_string = str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $subject, $count, $limit);
echo $count.' replacements -- '.$new_string;

1 replacements -- bbcabc

$limit = 10; // Limit of 10
$new_string = str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $subject, $count, $limit);
echo $count.' replacements -- '.$new_string;

2 replacements -- bbcbbc

Function

 $this_subject){

            // Skip values that are arrays (to match str_replace()).
            if(!is_array($this_subject)){

                // Call this function again for
                $this_function = __FUNCTION__;
                $subject[$key] = $this_function(
                        $search,
                        $replace,
                        $this_subject,
                        $this_count,
                        $limit
                );

                // Adjust $count
                $count += $this_count;

                // Adjust $limit, if not -1
                if($limit!=-1){
                    $limit -= $this_count;
                }

                // Reached $limit, return $subject
                if($limit===0){
                    return $subject;
                }

            }

        }

        return $subject;

    } elseif(is_array($search)){
        // Only treat $replace as an array if $search is also an array (to match str_replace())

        // Clear keys of $search (to match str_replace()).
        $search = array_values($search);

        // Clear keys of $replace, if applicable (to match str_replace()).
        if(is_array($replace)){
            $replace = array_values($replace);
        }

        // Loop through $search array.
        foreach($search as $key => $this_search){

            // Don't support multi-dimensional arrays (to match str_replace()).
            $this_search = strval($this_search);

            // If $replace is an array, use the value of $replace[$key] as the replacement. If
            // $replace[$key] doesn't exist, just an empty string (to match str_replace()).
            if(is_array($replace)){
                if(array_key_exists($key, $replace)){
                    $this_replace = strval($replace[$key]);
                } else {
                    $this_replace = '';
                }
            } else {
                $this_replace = strval($replace);
            }

            // Call this function again for
            $this_function = __FUNCTION__;
            $subject = $this_function(
                    $this_search,
                    $this_replace,
                    $subject,
                    $this_count,
                    $limit
            );

            // Adjust $count
            $count += $this_count;

            // Adjust $limit, if not -1
            if($limit!=-1){
                $limit -= $this_count;
            }

            // Reached $limit, return $subject
            if($limit===0){
                return $subject;
            }

        }

        return $subject;

    } else {
        $search = strval($search);
        $replace = strval($replace);

        // Get position of first $search
        $pos = strpos($subject, $search);

        // Return $subject if $search cannot be found
        if($pos===false){
            return $subject;
        }

        // Get length of $search, to make proper replacement later on
        $search_len = strlen($search);

        // Loop until $search can no longer be found, or $limit is reached
        for($i=0;(($i<$limit)||($limit===-1));$i++){

            // Replace 
            $subject = substr_replace($subject, $replace, $pos, $search_len);

            // Increase $count
            $count++;

            // Get location of next $search
            $pos = strpos($subject, $search);

            // Break out of loop if $needle
            if($pos===false){
                break;
            }

        }

        // Return new $subject
        return $subject;

    }

}