How to Filter an Array in PHP Like SQL\'s `LIKE \'%search%\'`?

Filtering Values from an Array Similar to SQL LIKE '%search%'

Devising an autocomplete field using JQueryUI poses a challenge when it comes to filtering values from an array based on user input. Consider an array containing colors: ['orange', 'blue', 'green', 'red', 'pink', 'brown', 'black']. If the user types 'bl,' the desired output would be ['blue', 'black'].

To achieve this, one might consider using array_diff(), but a more suitable approach exists: preg_grep. This function combines regular expressions with filtering, making it ideal for the task at hand.

Implementation using preg_grep:

<code class="php">$input = preg_quote('bl', '~'); // Don't forget to quote the input string
$data = array('orange', 'blue', 'green', 'red', 'pink', 'brown', 'black');

$result = preg_grep('~' . $input . '~', $data);</code>

In this code, preg_quote is used to escape special characters in the input string. The regular expression '~w ~' matches any word (one or more letters) that contains the inputted string. preg_grep then applies this filter to the data array, resulting in the desired matches.

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