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Displaying Formatted User Input
Formatting with Custom Markup Tags
You can provide your own special markup tags for the user to use. For example, you can allow the to use [b]...[/b] for bolding, and [i]...[/i] for italics. Those would be simple string replace operations: 
$output = str_replace("[b]", "<b>", $output);
$output = str_replace("[i]", "<i>", $output);
To get a little fancier, we will allow users to add links as well. For example, the user will be allowed to enter in [link="url"]...[/link], which we will turn into a proper <a href="">...</a> statement. We can't use a simple string replace here, instead we need to use regular expressions:
$output = ereg_replace('\[link="([[:graph:]]+)"\]', '<a href="\\1">', $output);
If you are unfamiliar with the ereg_replace() function, this statement means:
  • look for all occurrences of [link="..."] and replace it with <a href="...">
[[:graph:]] means any non-whitespace character. See the manual for more details about regular expressions.
The format_output() function in outputlib.php provides these markups and a few other ones as well. The general algorithm would be to:
  1. call htmlspecialchars() on the output text to convert all special characters to HTML entities
  2. systematically do string replacements or regexp replacements on our custom markup tags
<?php

function format_output($output) {
/****************************************************************************
* Takes a raw string ($output) and formats it for output using a special
* stripped down markup that is similar to HTML
****************************************************************************/

    $output = htmlspecialchars(stripslashes($output));

    /* new paragraph */
    $output = str_replace('[p]', '&lt;p>', $output);

    /* bold */
    $output = str_replace('[b]', '&lt;b>', $output);
    $output = str_replace('[/b]', '&lt;/b>', $output);

    /* italics */
    $output = str_replace('[i]', '&lt;i>', $output);
    $output = str_replace('[/i]', '&lt;/i>', $output);

    /* preformatted */
    $output = str_replace('[pre]', '&lt;pre>', $output);
    $output = str_replace('[/pre]', '&lt;/pre>', $output);

    /* indented blocks (blockquote) */
    $output = str_replace('[indent]', '&lt;blockquote>', $output);
    $output = str_replace('[/indent]', '&lt;/blockquote>', $output);

    /* anchors */
    $output = ereg_replace('\[anchor=&amp;quot;([[:graph:]]+)&amp;quot;\]', '&lt;a name="\1">&lt;/a>', $output);
    
    /* links, note we try to prevent javascript in links */
    $output = str_replace('[link=&amp;quot;javascript', '[link=&amp;quot; javascript', $output);
    $output = ereg_replace('\[link=&amp;quot;([[:graph:]]+)&amp;quot;\]', '&lt;a href="\1">', $output);
    $output = str_replace('[/link]', '&lt;/a>', $output);      
    
    return nl2br($output);
}

?>
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Comments:
기네스북 도전, 100배 빨라지고 쉬워진 영어원리 이훈기11/15/05 22:34
RE: Unclosed Tags?Filipe02/21/05 19:50
신.용.불.량자가 알아야할 정.보/대공개하지연12/28/04 02:21
카/드/돌려막기로/망가지신분/꼭 보세요!이혜진12/07/04 06:18
카,드,연,체,자/예.정.자 대,출 100-1000만원이다현12/05/04 06:47
대'출'거'절'시'100%되'게'하'는'방'법한경욱12/04/04 21:45
신.용.불.량.자/당일500/대.출.비.법이희진12/02/04 09:27
신.용.불.량/카.드.연.체/대.출/혼자/해.결하는/방.법김현서11/27/04 23:55
신.용.불.량.자/당일500/대.출.비.법이희진11/27/04 12:32
대'출'거'절'시'100%되'게'하'는'방'법한경민11/23/04 11:11
신.용불.량자가 알아야할 정.보 대.공.개 이다진11/22/04 03:08
카/드/돌려막기로/망가지신분/꼭 보세요!이정연11/18/04 13:03
5.분.만에 4.0만.원 무,이.자로 빌.리기지영희11/17/04 12:43
카.드.깡.안.하.고.돈.만.들.어.쓰.는.비.법이희진11/15/04 10:25
RE: off topicAmo10/29/03 19:40
Thanks Yingbacaribaro08/05/03 12:50
multiple page forms / formatting outputJose candelaria10/24/02 22:29
Use real HTML in input, but safelyBastiaan09/22/02 04:19
Database Driven Version in PHPRobert Taylor (Manix)08/20/02 16:15
RE: this is exactly what i wanted to knowTony Reid07/21/02 16:35
RE: saving user input in databasecraig jardine05/04/02 08:28
YOU ROCK!Ernest Correale05/01/02 10:54
SQL Error 1064 when $output contains a 'James Wyld04/25/02 22:12
off topicjeff03/12/02 23:50
replace, but not between <t>hes</e>Tsunami01/21/02 16:00
this is great!Leah Yates12/20/01 15:36
RE: parenthesisRockMonkey10/28/01 20:47
parenthesisandrew b08/27/01 15:14
saving user input in databaserishabh gupta08/16/01 10:15
Easy WayDarren Valentine07/27/01 05:26
RE: JavaScript Auto Formatting?Richard06/27/01 06:25
html<->pseudojuozas salna05/07/01 07:14
General script for replacing pseudo-markupJakob Persson04/27/01 09:13
RE: Generating linksVargo03/17/01 08:59
Generating linksLeo Miyagi02/19/01 10:23
php to call data neededlei02/11/01 01:07
UBB code translation functionZulu12/01/00 05:52
JavaScript Auto Formatting?Frank11/27/00 06:02
RE: yeah , but i'm slow like turtleOliwier09/30/00 18:20
RE: mouseovers in linksYing Zhang09/05/00 00:40
mouseovers in linksJoe Sheble08/30/00 18:30
Editing formated codeJ. Kobinski08/06/00 15:17
RE: Unclosed Tags?C�dric CHERCHI08/01/00 12:01
RE: yeah , but i'm slow like turtleSean Pecor07/25/00 20:05
RE: yeah , but i'm slow like turtleAdrian Kubala07/25/00 12:15
RE: str_tagsYing Zhang07/24/00 05:05
RE: Unclosed Tags?Keita Ito07/23/00 18:01
RE: instead of custom markup languages...Keita Ito07/23/00 17:56
RE: instead of custom markup languages...Keita Ito07/23/00 17:53
RE: instead of custom markup languages...Ben Munoz07/21/00 14:01
instead of custom markup languages...Ben Munoz07/21/00 13:56
Unclosed Tags?Brian Mertens07/21/00 00:44
yeah , but i'm slow like turtlephilip olson07/21/00 00:33
SimilarMike Hall07/20/00 05:11
RE: An additionVincent Vollers07/20/00 04:52
RE: An additionDoug MacDougall07/20/00 01:18
Just use HTML.. life is complicated enoughDoug MacDougall07/20/00 01:06
RE: str_tagsSteve Yelvington07/19/00 19:45
An additionVincent Vollers07/19/00 13:18
str_tagsMatt07/19/00 11:45
this is exactly what i wanted to knowphilip olson07/19/00 00:17
 

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