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phpregexack

Ignoring characters in search with ack

I am using ack to search for instances of the PHP function "split(" that has now been deprecated. Unfortunately, it is bringing up instances of preg_split (which is still valid), how can I ignore these results, whilst still searching for "split("? 

ack --type=php split\\\(

Thanks.

Solution 
  • ack --type=php '[^_]split\('

    Since preg_split() has an underscore before the split, just use a negated match for the underscore.