I need to create a regex to test below kind of data,
xxx_yyy_zzz-aaa
I am able to verify the first two _ underscore, but unable to append the - hyphens.
#"[a-zA-Z0-9]_[a-zA-Z0-9]_[a-zA-Z0-9]s/[^-][a-zA-Z0-9]"
I am using c#. the number of characters above are just for an example
The xxx_yyy_zzz-aaa string implies that the format is {alphanum}_{alphanum}_{alphanum}-{alphanum}. The pattern for the {alphanum} part has already been written by you.
Next, you want to quantify each alphanumeric part since just [A-Za-z0-9] matches a single alphanum char. Use + to match 1 or more occurrences, or {3} to match only 3, or {3,} to match 3 or more.
That is not all, since you expect the whole string to match the pattern. Hence, you need anchors, ^ to match the start of string and $ (or \z) to match the end of string.
Thus, I'd recommend
#"^[a-zA-Z0-9]+_[a-zA-Z0-9]+_[a-zA-Z0-9]+-[a-zA-Z0-9]+\z"
See the regex demo.
Related
I am trying to write a regex to handle these cases
contains only alphanumeric with minimum of 2 alpha characters(numbers are optional).
only special character allowed is hyphen.
cannot be all same letter ignoring hyphen.
cannot be all hyphens
cannot be all numeric
My regex: (?=[^A-Za-z]*[A-Za-z]){2}^[\w-]{6,40}$
Above regex works for most of the scenarios except 1) & 3).
Can anyone suggest me to fix this. I am stuck in this.
Regards,
Sajesh
Rule 1 eliminates rule 4 and 5: It can neither contain only hyphens, nor only digits.
/^(?=[a-z\d-]{6,40}$)[\d-]*([a-z]).*?(?!\1)[a-z].*$/i
(?=[a-z\d-]{6,40}$) look ahead for specified characters from 6 to 40
([a-z]).*?(?!\1)[a-z] checks for two letters and at least one different
See this demo at regex101
This pattern with i flag considers A and a as the "same" letter (caseless matching) and will require another alpbhabet. For case sensitive matching here another demo at regex101.
You can use
^(?!\d+$)(?!-+$)(?=(?:[\d-]*[A-Za-z]){2})(?![\d-]*([A-Za-z])(?:[\d-]*\1)+[\d-]*$)[A-Za-z\d-]{6,40}$
See the regex demo. If you use it in C# or PHP, consider replacing ^ with \A and $ with \z to make sure you match the entire string even in case there is a trailing newline.
Details:
^ - start of string
(?!\d+$) - fail the match if the string only consists of digits
(?!-+$) - fail the match if the string only consists of hyphens
(?=(?:[\d-]*[A-Za-z]){2}) - there must be at least two ASCII letters after any zero or more digits or hyphens
(?![\d-]*([A-Za-z])(?:[\d-]*\1)+[\d-]*$) - fail the match if the string contains two or more identical letters (the + after (?:[\d-]*\1) means there can be any one letter)
[A-Za-z\d-]{6,40} - six to forty alphanumeric or hyphen chars
$ - end of string. (\z might be preferable.)
I want to find word matches that doesn't start nor end with some specific characters.
For example, I have this input and I only want to match the highlighted word:
"string" string 'string'
And exclude other words that start and end with either " or '.
I am currently using this pattern:
But I do not know what pattern I should use that would exclude words that start and end with some specified characters.
Can some one give me some advice on what pattern I should use? Thank you
The pattern you're currently using matches since \b properly asserts the positions between "s and g" (a position between a word character [a-zA-Z0-9_] and a non-word character). You can use one of the following methods:
Negate specific characters (negative lookbehind/lookahead)
This method allows you to specify a character, set of characters, or substring to negate from a match.
(?<!['"])\bstring\b(?!['"]) - see it in use here
(?<!['"]) - ensure " doesn't precede.
(?!['"]) - ensure " doesn't proceeds.
Allow specific characters (positive lookbehind/lookahead)
This method allows you to specify a character, set of characters, or substring to ensure match.
(?<=\s|^)\bstring\b(?=\s|$) - see it in use here
(?<=\s|^) - ensure whitespace or the beginning of the line precedes.
(?=\s|$) - ensure whitespace or the end of the line proceeds.
A combination of both above
This method allows you to negate specific cases while allowing others (not commonly used and not really needed for the problem presented, but may be useful to you or others.
Something like (?<=\s|^)string(?!\s+(?!stop)|$) would ensure the word isn't followed by the word stop
Something like (?<=(?<!stop\s*)\s+|^)string(?=\s+|$) would ensure the word doesn't follow the word stop - note that quantifiers (\s+) in lookbehinds are not allowed in most regex engines, .NET allows it.
Something like (?<=\s|^)\bstring\b(?=\s|$)(?!\z) would ensure a the word isn't at the end of the string (different from end of line if multi-line).
This regex will pick string if it is between spaces: \sstring\s
var sample = "\"string\" string \"string\" astring 'string_ string?string string ";
var regx = new Regex(#"\sstring\s");
var matches = regx.Matches(sample);
foreach (Match mt in matches)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{mt.Value} {mt.Index,3} {mt.Length,3}");
}
I am trying to create regular expression for following type of strings:
combination of the prefix (XI/ YV/ XD/ YQ/ XZ), numerical digits only, and either no ‘Z’ or a ‘Z’ suffix.
For example, XD35Z should pass but XD01HW should not pass.
So far I tried following:
#"XD\d+Z?" - XD35Z passes but unfortunately it also works for XD01HW
#"XD\d+$Z" - XD01HW fails which is what I want but XD35Z also fails
I have also tried #"XD\d{1,}Z"? but it did not work
I need a single regex which will give me appropriate results for both types of strings.
Try this regex:
^(XI|YV|XD|YQ|XZ){1}\d+Z{0,1}$
I'm using quantifying braces to explicitly limit the allowed numbers of each character/group. And the ^ and $ anchors make sure that the regex matches only the whole line (string).
Broken into logical pieces this regex checks
^(XI|YV|XD|YQ|XZ){1} Starts with exactly one of the allowed prefixes
\d+ Is follow by one or more digits
Z{0,1}$ Ends with between 0 and 1 Z
You're misusing the $ which represents the end of the string in the Regex
It should be : #"^XD\d+Z?$" (notice that it appears at the end of the Regex, after the Z?)
The regex following the behaviour you want is:
^(XI|YV|XD|YQ|XZ)\d+Z?$
Explanation:
combination of the prefix (XI/ YV/ XD/ YQ/ XZ)
^(XI|YV|XD|YQ|XZ)
numerical digits only
\d+
‘Z’ or a ‘Z’ suffix
Z?$
I am new to RegEx and thus have a question on RegEx. I am writing my code in C# and need to come up with a regex to find matching strings.
The possible combination of strings i get are,
XYZF44DT508755
ABZF44DT508755
PQZF44DT508755
So what i need to check is whether the string starts with XY or AB or PQ.
I came up with this one and it doesn't work.
^((XY|AB|PQ).){2}
Note: I don't want to use regular string StartsWith()
UPDATE:
Now if i want to try a new matching condition like this -
If string starts with "XY" or "AB" or "PQ" and 3rd character is "Z" and 4th character is "F"
How to write the RegEx for that?
You can modify you expression to the following and use the IsMatch() method.
Regex.IsMatch(input, "^(?:XY|AB|PQ)")
The outer capturing group in conjuction with . (any single character) is trying to match a third character and then repeat the sequence twice because of the range quantifier {2} ...
According to your updated edit, you can simply place "ZF" after the grouping construct.
Regex.IsMatch(input, "^(?:XY|AB|PQ)ZF")
You want to test for just ^(XY|AB|PQ). Your RegEx means: Search for either XY, AB or PQ, then a random character, and repeat the whole sequence twice, for example "XYKPQL" would match your RegEx.
This is a screenshot of the matches on regex101:
^ forces the start of line,
(...) creates a matching group and
XY|AB|PQ matches either XY, AB or PQ.
If you want the next two characters to be ZF, just append ZF to the RegEx so it becomes ^(XY|AB|PQ)ZF.
Check out regex101, a great way to test your RegExes.
You were on the right track. ^(XY|AB|PQ) should match your string correctly.
The problem with ^((XY|AB|PQ).){2} is following the entire group with {2}. This means exactly 2 occurrences. That would be 2 occurrences of your first 2 characters, plus . (any single character), meaning this would match strings like XY_AB_. The _ could be anything.
It may have been your intention with the . to match a larger string. In this case you might try something along the lines of ^((XY|AB|PQ)\w*). The \w* will match 0 or more occurrences of "word characters", so this should match all of XYZF44DT508755 up to a space, line break, punctuation, etc., and not just the XY at the beginning.
There are some good tools out there for understanding regexes, one of my favorites is debuggex.
UPDATE
To answer your updated question:
If string starts with "XY" or "AB" or "PQ" and 3rd character is "Z" and 4th character is "F"
The regex would be (assuming you want to match the entire "word").
^((XY|AB|PQ)ZF\w*)
Debuggex Demo
I have this password regex for an application that is being built its purpose is to:
Make sure users use between 6 - 12 characters.
Make sure users use either one special character or one number.
Also that its case insensitive.
The application is in .net I have the following regex:
I have the following regex for the password checker, bit lengthy but for your viewing if you feel any of this is wrong please let me know.
^(?=.*\d)(?=.*[A-Za-z]).{6-12}$|^(?=.*[A-Za-z])(?=.*[!#$%&'\(\)\*\+-\.:;<=>\?#\[\\\]\^_`\{\|\}~0x0022]|.*\s).{6,12}$
Just a break down of the regex to make sure your all happy it’s correct.
^ = start of string ”^”
(?=.*\d) = must contain “?=” any set of characters “.*” but must include a digit “\d”.
(?=.*[A-Za-z]) = must contain “?=” any set of characters “.*” but must include an insensitive case letter.
.{6-12}$ = must contain any set of characters “.” but must have between 6-12 characters and end of string “$”.
|^ = or “|” start of string “^”
(?=.*[A-Za-z]) = must contain “?=” any set of characters “.*” but must include an insensitive case letter.
(?=.*[!#$%&'\(\)\*\+-\.:;<=>\?#\[\\\]\^_`\{\|\}~0x0022]|.*\s) = must contain “?=” any set of characters “.*” but must include at least special character we have defined or a space ”|.*\s)”. “0x0022” is Unicode for single quote “ character.
.{6,12}$ = set of characters “.” must be between 6 – 12 and this is the end of the string “$”
It's quite long winded, seems to be doing the job but I want to know if there is simpler methods to write this sort of regex and I want to know how I can shorten it if its possible?
Thanks in Advanced.
Does it have to be regex? Looking at the requirements, all you need is String.Length and String.IndexOfAny().
First, good job at providing comments for your regex. However, there is a much better way. Simply write your regex from the get-go in free-spacing mode with lots of comments. This way you can document your regex right in the source code (and provide indentation to improve readability when there are lots of parentheses). Here is how I would write your original regex in C# code:
if (Regex.IsMatch(usernameString,
#"# Validate username having a digit and/or special char.
^ # Either... Anchor to start of string.
(?=.*\d) # Assert there is a digit AND
(?=.*[A-Za-z]) # assert there is an alpha.
.{6-12} # Match any name with length from 6 to 12.
$ # Anchor to end of string.
| ^ # Or... Anchor to start of string
(?=.*[A-Za-z]) # Assert there is an alpha AND
(?=.* # assert there is either a special char
[!#$%&'\(\)\*\+-\.:;<=>\?#\[\\\]\^_`\{\|\}~\x22]
| .*\s # or a space char.
) # End specialchar-or-space assertion.
.{6-12} # Match any name with length from 6 to 12.
$ # Anchor to end of string.
", RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace)) {
// Valid username.
} else {
// Invalid username.
}
The code snippet above uses the preferable #"..." string syntax which simplifies the escaping of metacharacters. This original regex erroneously separates the two numbers of the curly brace quantifier using a dash, i.e. .{6-12}. The correct syntax is to separate these numbers with a comma, i.e. .*{6,12}. (Maybe .NET allows using the .{6-12} syntax?) I've also changed the 0x0022 (the " double quote char) to \x22.
That said, yes the original regex can be improved a bit:
if (Regex.IsMatch(usernameString,
#"# Validate username having a digit and/or special char.
^ # Anchor to start of string.
(?=.*?[A-Za-z]) # Assert there is an alpha.
(?: # Group for assertion alternatives.
(?=.*?\d) # Either assert there is a digit
| # or assert there is a special char
(?=.*?[!#$%&'()*+-.:;<=>?#[\\\]^_`{|}~\x22\s]) # or space.
) # End group of assertion alternatives.
.{6,12} # Match any name with length from 6 to 12.
$ # Anchor to end of string.
", RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace)) {
// Valid username.
} else {
// Invalid username.
}
This regex eliminates the global alternative and instead uses a non-capture group for the "digit or specialchar" assertion alternatives. Also, you can eliminate the non-capture group for the "special char or whitespace" alternatives by simply adding the \s to the list of special chars. I've also added a lazy modifier to the dot-stars in the assertions, i.e. .*? - (this may make the regex match a bit faster.) A bunch of unnecessary escapes were removed from the specialchar character class.
But as Stema cleverly pointed out, you can combine the digit and special char to simplify this even further:
if (Regex.IsMatch(usernameString,
#"# Validate username having a digit and/or special char.
^ # Anchor to start of string
(?=.*?[A-Za-z]) # Assert there is an alpha.
# Assert there is a special char, space
(?=.*?[!#$%&'()*+-.:;<=>?#[\\\]^_`{|}~\x22\s\d]) # or digit.
.{6,12} # Match any name with length from 6 to 12.
$ # Anchor to end of string.
", RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace)) {
// Valid username.
} else {
// Invalid username.
}
Other than that, there is really nothing wrong with your original regex with regard to accuracy. However, logically, this formula allows a username to end with whitespace which is probably not a good idea. I would also explicitly specify a whitelist of allowable chars in the name rather than using the overly permissive "." dot.
I am not sure if it makes sense what you are doing, but to achieve that, your regex can be simpler
^(?=.*[A-Za-z])(?=.*[\d\s!#$%&'\(\)\*\+-\.:;<=>\?#\[\\\]\^_`\{\|\}~0x0022]).{6,12}$
Why using alternatives? Just Add \d and \s to the character class.