PHP REGEX: Problem with Smiley `:)` and `:))`

Question

What I want

---

Hi! I want to replace :) to smile.png and :)) to laugh.png.

The problem

---

The script finds :) inside :)) so laugh.png is not shown, only smile.png+)

This is what I have tried so far for :)):

---

preg_replace("/:)+(?!))/i",$image, $string))

Some other regexes what I tried:

"/\:\)+(?=\))/i"

"/\:+(?=\)\))/i"

But nothing want's to work what I tried yet.

Answer 1

Why don't you do a simple text replace?

First :)) to laungh.png, then :) to smile.png

Answer 2

str_replace(array(":))", ":)"), array("laugh.png", "smile.png"), $string);

The order is important.

Answer 3

For :) – (:\)(?!\)))

Then

For :)) – (:\)\))

Answer 4

$string = str_replace(':))', 'laugh.png', $string);
$string = str_replace(':)', 'smile.png', $string);

php.net on str_replace: "If you don't need fancy replacing rules (like regular expressions), you should always use this function instead of ereg_replace() or preg_replace()."