PHP small problem with regular expressions

Question

Hello people, I use this for clean a string:

$clean = preg_replace("/[^a-zA-Z0-9\/_.;|+ -]/", '', $str);

Works good, but I need add into the regex the char '&' too, I tried to add:

$clean = preg_replace("/[^a-zA-Z0-9\/_.;&|+ -]/", '', $str);

or

$clean = preg_replace("/[^a-zA-Z0-9\/_.;\&|+ -]/", '', $str);

but this doesn't work, why? How can I do it? Big thanks.

Answer 1

I'm not sure about php, but you can try to backslash the backslash: \\&

Answer 2

i tried your pattern $clean = preg_replace("/[^a-zA-Z0-9\/_.;\&|+ -]/", '', $str); it seems to be working fine for me even without escaping it...

try this tool to test your regular expressions Regular expression tester

Answer 3

[&] should be enough, see

http://www.regexp.net/?function=preg%5Fmatch&pattern=%5B%26%5D&string=Batman+%26+Robin

Answer 4

Nothing guys, I tried your solutions but noone worked for me :/ I'm desperate :)