I am trying to extract firstname and lastname from a string. User can write inside my input the following: FirstName, FirstName LastName (sometimes full name, sometimes only firstname).
This is my regular expression, but it doesn't cover all the situations:
preg_match('/^(?<lastName>[^\s]+)[\s](?<firstName>.+)$/', $input, $matches);
This code will work for input like: A B, A B C D E, but not for A.
10x.
Making the space and firstname portion optional (notice the [\s] and (?<firstName>.+) are wrapped in parenthesis followed by a question mark):
^(?<lastName>[^\s]+)([\s](?<firstName>.+))?$
...against "A" captures this:
MATCH 1
lastName [0-1] `A`
...and against "A B, A B C D E" this:
MATCH 1
lastName [0-1] `A`
2. [1-14] ` B, A B C D E`
firstName [2-14] `B, A B C D E`
Try it on for size: https://regex101.com/r/zO5zR6/1