wp_spaces_regexp(): string
- Since
- 4.0.0
- Source
wp-includes/formatting.php:5832
Description
By default, spaces include new lines, tabs, nbsp entities, and the UTF-8 nbsp.
This is designed to replace the PCRE s sequence. In ticket #22692, that sequence was found to be unreliable due to random inclusion of the A0 byte.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 4.0.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Return value
string- The spaces regexp.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wp_spaces_regexp() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Trivial
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 4–9
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 4
Touches nothing outside its own arguments.
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 9.
Third-party callbacks on 'wp_spaces_regexp' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
4 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_spaces_regexp() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
!empty($spaces) | 4 | none |
empty($spaces) | 9 | apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 9 instructions, 4–9 executed per call, 1 branch. The work does not change between versions.
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while wp_spaces_regexp() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( wp_spaces_regexp )filterline 5848 (+16 into the body)
Filters the regexp for common whitespace characters.
Uses · 1
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Used by · 4
- shortcode_unautop()Don't auto-p wrap shortcodes that stand alone.
- smilies_init()Converts smiley code to the icon graphic file equivalent.
- wptexturize()Replaces common plain text characters with formatted entities.
- wptexturize_primes()Implements a logic tree to determine whether or not "7'." represents seven feet, then converts the special char into either a prime char or a closing quote char.
Source code
function wp_spaces_regexp() { static $spaces = ''; if ( empty( $spaces ) ) { /** * Filters the regexp for common whitespace characters. * * This string is substituted for the \s sequence as needed in regular * expressions. For websites not written in English, different characters * may represent whitespace. For websites not encoded in UTF-8, the 0xC2 0xA0 * sequence may not be in use. * * @since 4.0.0 * * @param string $spaces Regexp pattern for matching common whitespace characters. */ $spaces = apply_filters( 'wp_spaces_regexp', '[\r\n\t ]|\xC2\xA0| ' ); } return $spaces;}Changelog
Introduced in 4.0.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from
src/wp-includes/formatting.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.