Finding a sequence of numbers in a string

[Crump]

I have a string that will contain a sequence of consecutive numbers at some point. For instance

390 joe smith 1923892 baltimore, md

I need to extract the 0923892 out of this string. I can't use the spaces as a method of finding where it is. How can I extract the 7 digit number?

[jatar_k]

you need to find some reliable pattern to pull it out

where does the data come from? It must be generated with some consistency if it comes from a single source, if it is from multiple sources then you may need a pattern per source.

once you can identify the pattern then you can make decisions on how to best extract it

[nalin]

use a regular expression

ie

preg_match('/[0-9]{7}/',$string,$matches);
var_dump($matches);

[jatar_k]

that does assume though that the desired 7 digit number is the only 7 digit number that will ever occur in the data, which may not be the case

[g1smd]

Is the number always directly preceded and followed by spaces and/or punctuation?

[NomikOS]

first approah:

<?php 
$str = '1234567 str 999999999586 390 joe smith popopopopopopopopo '; 
$str .= '1923892 baltimore, md 787878 1234568 8586552895 1234569'; 
if (preg_match_all("/[^\d]+(\d{7})[^\d]+/si", $str, $extract, PREG_SET_ORDER)) 
{ 
 foreach ($extract as $number) 
 { 
 $extratctedNumbers[] = $number[1]; 
 } 
} 
var_dump($str); 
die(var_dump($extratctedNumbers)); 
?> 

but. this not extract numbers in the extrems!

[NomikOS]

Quick && dirty solution:

<?php 
$str = '1234567 str 999999999586 390 joe smith popopopopopopopopo '; 
$str .= '1923892 baltimore, md 787878 1234568 8586552895 1234569'; 
if (preg_match_all("/(\d+)/si", $str, $extract, PREG_SET_ORDER)) 
{ 
 foreach ($extract as $number) 
 { 
  if (strlen($number[1]) == 7) 
   $extratctedNumbers[] = $number[1]; 
 } 
} 
var_dump($str); 
die(var_dump($extratctedNumbers)); 
?> 

this is OK I think...