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phpregexpostal-code

Pattern match a partial British postcode


I have this pattern in a php project I inherited.

^(([gG][iI][rR] {0,}0[aA]{2})|((([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][a-hk-yA-HK-Y]?[0-9][0-9]?)|(([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][0-9][a-hjkstuwA-HJKSTUW])|([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][a-hk-yA-HK-Y][0-9][abehmnprv-yABEHMNPRV-Y]))) {0,}[0-9][abd-hjlnp-uw-zABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{2}))$

Which works fine for all practical purposes when used to validate a full British postcode (eg LE1 1AA). However I need to tweak it to allow for partial postcodes like LE1, SN5 ect where only the first segment is provided.

Can anyone suggest how to make the adjustment?


Solution

  • This should do the job

    ^(([gG][iI][rR] {0,}0[aA]{2})|((([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][a-hk-yA-HK-Y]?[0-9][0-9]?)|(([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][0-9][a-hjkstuwA-HJKSTUW])|([a-pr-uwyzA-PR-UWYZ][a-hk-yA-HK-Y][0-9][abehmnprv-yABEHMNPRV-Y])))( {0,}[0-9][abd-hjlnp-uw-zABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{2})?))$

    http://ideone.com/lLg4uD