php replace string of known length but unknown characters

Question

If I have a string that begins foo and is 8 characters in length so looks like foo????? What pattern will I need to replace it using preg_replace()?

possible duplicate of [Reference - What does this regex mean?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22937618/reference-what-does-this-regex-mean) >> jump to quantifiers and "any character" — HamZa, Apr 10 '14 at 12:52

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:51

2

preg_replace('/foo.{5}/', '',  $string)

should do what you want.

answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:51

Tom Macdonald

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:50

1

You can easily do that by matching:

/(foo)(.{5})/

and replacing with

''

Demo: http://regex101.com/r/fX7tV9

answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:50

sshashank124

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:52

preg_replace('^/foo.{5}$/','',$string)

This should fit your needs.

Search in $string for

^  //Begin of the line
foo //Text your searching for
. //Some character
{5} //5 times the dot as character.
$ // end of line

and replace it with '' (second parameter)

php replace string of known length but unknown characters

3 Answers3