php - preg matching and replacing elements -

hi how do preg match on

$string1 = "[%refund%]processed_by"  $string2 = "[%refund%]date_sent" 

i want grab bits inside %% , remove [%item%] altogether. leaving "proccessed_by" or "date_sent" have had go below come bit stuck.

$unprocessedstring = "[%refund%]date_sent"  $match   =  preg_match('/^\[.+\]/', $unprocessedstring); $string  =  preg_replace('/^\[.+\]/', $unprocessedstring);  echo $match; // should output refund  echo $string; // should output date_sent 

your problem use of preg_match function. returns number of matches found. if pass variable third parameter, stores matches entire pattern , subpatterns in array.

so can capture both of parts want in subpatterns preg_match, means don't need preg_replace:

$unprocessedstring = "[%refund%]date_sent" preg_match('/^\[%(.+)%\](.+)/', $unprocessedstring, $matches); echo $matches[1]; // outputs 'refund' echo $matches[2]; // outputs 'date_sent'