Match string with php dom xpath by first and last character -

i want match html string(s) starting % , ending % character searching text xpath.

conditions:

• string starts %
• string ends %
• can have none or multiple matches within 1 html document
• string can contain (but optinional) :: needs @ least 1 alphabetic character before , after ::
• between first , last % alphabetic, numeric , - characters allowed.

the best got $xpath->query("//*[text()[starts-with(., '%')][substring(., string-length(.) - 1) = '%']]");

but not working. new php dom stuff , finding hard answers on own. explanations valued!

thanks in advance!

edit

see comments below in case use of preg_match_all beter. i'm using following code this:

preg_match_all('/%{1}[a-za-z0-9-]+?(::?[a-za-z0-9-]+?)?%{1}/', $string, $match); 

improvements pattern accepted.

this isn't xpath's strong point - you're describing best handled regexp engine (which, in php, presumably mean iterating on nodes , running each 1 through preg_match).

nonetheless, here's (very) hacky xpath approach think want. can see working demo @ this xmlplayground.

root/node[     substring(., 1, 1) = '%' ,     substring(., string-length(.)) = '%' ,     not(string-length(translate(substring(., 2, string-length(.)-2), 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-:', ''))) ,     (         (             contains(., '::') ,             substring(., 2, 1) != ':' ,             substring(., string-length(.)-2, 1) != ':'         ) or         not(contains(., '::'))     )  ]