preg_replace problem

[mlse]

Hi all,

I want to replace strings matching the pattern {#<whatever>} (where whatever may vary) with the corresponding replacement, but only in unquoted strings. I know how to do this in all strings, but not in only unquoted ones.

for example:

PHP Code:

$string = "The \"quick {#colour}\" {#animal} jumps over the '{#adjective} dog'"; 


I know how to get preg_replace to replace {#colour}, {#animal} and {#adjective} with replacement strings, BUT what (generic) pattern should I use to make preg_replace ignore {#colour} and {#adjective} and only replace {#animal}?

I.e. I want to ignore matching patterns in strings-within-the-string.

Any help much appreciated

[shyam]

what you want to do cannot be done using a regex...you need to write a simple parser to handle quoted strings within strings

[mlse]

I thought as much! Thanks anyway