preg_quote

Definition and usage

preg_quote() function adds a backslash before characters with special meanings in regular expressions so that literal characters can be searched.

This function is useful when using user input in regular expressions.

Example

Use preg_quote() to safely use special characters in regular expressions:

 <?php
$search = preg_quote ( "://" , "/" ) ;
$input = 'https://www.gitbox.net/' ;
$pattern = "/ $search /" ;
if ( preg_match ( $pattern , $input ) ) {
  echo "The input is a URL." ;
} else {
  echo "The input is not a URL." ;
}
?>

Try it yourself