# EventBuffer::search

(PECL event >= 1.2.6-beta)

EventBuffer::search — Scans the buffer for an occurrence of a string

### Description

public EventBuffer::search ( string `$what` [, int `$start` = -1 [, int `$end` = -1 ]] ) : mixed

Scans the buffer for an occurrence of the string `what` . It returns numeric position of the string, or `FALSE` if the string was not found.

If the `start` argument is provided, it points to the position at which the search should begin; otherwise, the search is performed from the start of the string. If `end` argument provided, the search is performed between start and end buffer positions.

### Parameters

`what`

  String to search.

`start`

  Start search position.

`end`

  End search position.

### Return Values

Returns numeric position of the first occurance of the string in the buffer, or `FALSE` if string is not found.

Warning

This function may return Boolean `FALSE`, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to `FALSE`. Please read the section on Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

### Examples

Example #1 EventBuffer::search() example

`<?php
// Count total occurances of 'str' in 'buf'
function count_instances($buf, $str) {
$total = 0;
$p = 0;
$i = 0;
while (1) {
$p = $buf->search($str, $p);
if ($p === FALSE) {
break;
}
++$total;
++$p;
}
return $total;
}
$buf = new EventBuffer();
$buf->add("Some string within a string inside another string");
var_dump(count_instances($buf, "str"));
?>`

The above example will output something similar to:

    int(3)

### See Also

- EventBuffer::searchEol() - Scans the buffer for an occurrence of an end of line