ids[$id])) return false; // we purposely avoid using regex, hopefully this is faster if (ctype_alpha($id)) { $result = true; } else { if (!ctype_alpha(@$id[0])) return false; $trim = trim( // primitive style of regexps, I suppose $id, 'A..Za..z0..9:-._' ); $result = ($trim === ''); } if ($result) $accumulator->add($id); // if no change was made to the ID, return the result // else, return the new id if stripping whitespace made it // valid, or return false. return $result ? $id : false; } } ?>