regex - PHP preg_replace

Question

I use netbeans, I try to replace with \ but it fails , it can't escape the \ character.

This is not a Netbeans issue , it's a PHP issue .

preg_replace('','\','text to  be parsed');

Any sollutions?

Answer 1

Use 4 backslashes and please don't forget the delimiters:

echo echo preg_replace('~\\~','\\\\','text to \ be parsed');

Online demo

Explanation: When PHP parse \\ it will escape \ two times, which means it becomes \, now when PHP passes it to the regex engine, it will receive \ which means .