How to Strip Non-Alphanumeric Characters and Replace Spaces with Hyphens Using Regular Expressions?

Stripping Non-Alphanumeric Characters and Replacing Spaces with Hyphens

Problem: Users face challenges when converting titles into URLs that only contain letters, numbers, and hyphens. They seek a way to strip special characters and replace spaces with hyphens.

Solution: Regular Expressions (Regex)

Regular expressions are a powerful tool for pattern matching and string manipulation. They can be used to achieve the desired transformations.

Code:

<code class="php">function clean($string) {
    // Replace spaces with hyphens
    $string = str_replace(' ', '-', $string);
    
    // Remove non-alphanumeric characters and hyphens
    $string = preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9\-]/', '', $string);
    
    // Replace multiple hyphens with a single one
    $string = preg_replace('/-+/', '-', $string);
    
    return $string;
}</code>

Usage:

<code class="php">echo clean('a|"bc!@£de^&amp;$f g');</code>

Output:

abcdef-g

Additional Modification:

To prevent multiple hyphens from appearing consecutively, replace the last line of the clean function with:

<code class="php">return preg_replace('/-+/', '-', $string);</code>

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