- How do you refer to an HTML carriage return in PHP?

Question

Someone sent me a php script that replaces foul language with
kinder words
in message board postings. I'd like the same script to weed
out carriage
returns, but we can't find the correct syntax for it.
We're using :
$patterns[0] = '/\n\r/';
What's the correct syntax to use in this situation?
Thanks!

Answer 1

"David Powers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Reese wrote:
>> "David Powers" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
>>>
>>>$patterns[0] = '/[\n\r]/';
>>>
>>>That searches for either a newline character or a
carriage return.
>>
>> I'm told this will only work in Windows. That Macs
would require a
>> different string. Two, even.
>>
>> Anyone know if this is true?
>
> What you have been told is only partly correct. Windows
uses a carriage
> return followed by a newline character (\r\n). Macs just
use a newline
> character (\n).
>
> The pattern I have given you search for either a newline
character or
> carriage return. So if it's applied in such a way as to
remove all
> instances, it will work on both Windows and Mac. An
alternative pattern
> which would also work on both is this:
>
> $patterns[0] = '/\r?\n/';
>
> It looks for an optional carriage return followed by a
newline character.
> In other words, it still matches if there isn't a
carriage return.
The response of my know-it-all roumanian programmer with an
ego the size of
Texas to that was :
http://www.regular-expressions.info/characters.html
(bottom of the page)
\r\n = windows
\n = Linux (not Mac)
\r = Mac
http://www.regular-expressions.info/optional.html
(tells you what the '?'
does)
(it means that the character before it can be there 0 or 1
times)
\r?\n = \n (Linux) or \r\n (windows)
It leaves out the \r all alone, like added by the Mac.
So, it will not delete the Mac new lines (might delete the
Mac OSX ones
since that one is passed on Linux, but not the older ones.)
Now, you can contradict me all you want and have a busted
code (then you
will say it doesn't work because I made it wrong), or do it
like I told you
and get it working like it should.
To this, I told him I would present this to you for a
rebuttal, but not
before asking him why he used only the '/\r?\n/' model as an
example, and
not the recommended '/[\n\r]/'. Something tells me he has no
idea what [
and ] do in this context, so he's avoiding it altogether --
even though it
may very well solve the problem on its own the way you claim
it does.