Develop Reference

Find String Between To Identical Control Separators?

I'm reading from a file, and need to find a string that is encapsulated by two identical non-ascii values/control seperators, in this case 'RS'
How would I go about doing this? Would I need some form of regex?

RS stands for Record Separator, and it has a value of 30 (or 0x1E in hexadecimal). You can use this regular expression:
\x1E([\w\s]*?)\x1E
That matches the RS, then matches any letter, number or space, and then again the RS. The ? is to make the regex match as less characters as possible, in case there are more RS characters afterwards.
If you prefer not to match numbers, you could use [a-zA-Z\s] instead of [\w\s].
Example:
string fileContents = "Something \u001Eyour string\u001E more things \u001Eanother text\u001E end.";
MatchCollection matches = Regex.Matches(fileContents, #"\x1E([\w\s]*?)\x1E");
if (matches.Count == 0)
return; // Not found, display an error message and exit.
foreach (Match match in matches)
{
if (match.Groups.Count > 1)
Console.WriteLine(match.Groups[1].Value);
}
As you can see, you get a collection of Match, and each match.Value will have the whole matched string including the separators. match.Groups will have all matched groups, being the first one again the whole matched string (that's by default) and then each of your groups (those between parenthesis). In this case, you only have one in your regex, so you just need the second one on that list.

Using regex you can do something like this:
string pattern = string.Format("{0}(.*){1}",firstString,secondString);
var matches = Regex.Matches(myString, pattern);
foreach (Match match in matches)
{
foreach (Capture capture in match.Captures)
{
//Do stuff, with the current you should remove firstString and secondString from the capture.Value
}
}
After that use Regex.match to find the string that match with the pattern built before.
Remember to escape all the special char for regex.

You can use Regex.Matches, I'm using X as the separator in this example:
var fileContents = "Xsomething1X Xsomething2X Xsomething3X";
var results = Regex.Matches(fileContents, #"(X).*?(\1)");
The you can loop on results to do anything you want with the matches.
The \1 in the regex means "reference first group". I've put X between () so it is going to be group 1, the I use \1 to say that the match in this place should be exactly the same as the group 1.

You don't need a regular expression for that.
Read the contents of the file (File.ReadAllText).
Split on the separator character (String.Split).
If you know there's only one occurrence of your string, take the second array element (result[1]). Otherwise, take every other entry (result.Where((x, i) => i % 2 == 1)).

Regex within a regex?

Truth is, I'm having a hard time writing a regex string to parse something in the form of
[[[tab name=dog content=cat|tab name=dog2 content=cat2]]]
This regex would be parsed so that I can dynamically build tabs as demonstrated here. Initially I tried a regex pattern like \[\[\[tab name=(?'name'.*?) content=(?'content'.*?)\]\]\]
But I realized I couldn't get the tab as a whole and build upon a query without doing a regex.replace. Is it possible to take the entire tab leading up to the pipe symbol as a group and then parse that group down from the sub key/value pairs?
This is the current regex string I'm working with \[\[\[(?'tab'tab name=(?'name'.*?) content=(?'content'.*?))\]\]\]
And here is my code for performing the regex. Any guidance would be appreciated.
public override string BeforeParse(string markupText)
{
if (CompiledRegex.IsMatch(markupText))
{
// Replaces the [[[code lang=sql|xxx]]]
// with the HTML tags (surrounded with {{{roadkillinternal}}.
// As the code is HTML encoded, it doesn't get butchered by the HTML cleaner.
MatchCollection matches = CompiledRegex.Matches(markupText);
foreach (Match match in matches)
{
string tabname = match.Groups["name"].Value;
string tabcontent = HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(match.Groups["content"].Value);
markupText = markupText.Replace(match.Groups["content"].Value, tabcontent);
markupText = Regex.Replace(markupText, RegexString, ReplacementPattern, CompiledRegex.Options);
}
}
return markupText;
}

Is this what you want?
string input = "[[[tab name=dog content=cat|tab name=dog2 content=cat2]]]";
Regex r = new Regex(#"tab name=([a-z0-9]+) content=([a-z0-9]+)(\||])");
foreach (Match m in r.Matches(input))
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} : {1}", m.Groups[1].Value, m.Groups[2].Value);
}
http://regexr.com/3boot

Maybe string.split will be better in that case? For example something like that :
strgin str = "[[[tab name=dog content=cat|tab name=dog2 content=cat2]]]";
foreach(var entry in str.Split('|')){
var eqBlocks = entry.Split('=');
var tabName = eqBlocks[1].TrimEnd(" content");
var content = eqBlocks[2];
}
Ugly code, but should work.

Try this:
Starts with a word boundary and followed only by allowed characters.
/\b[\w =]*/g
https://regex101.com/r/cI7jS7/1

Just distill the regex pattern down to the individual tab patterns such as name=??? content=??? and match that only. That pattern which will make each Match (two in you example) where the data can be extracted.
string text = #"[[[tab name=dog content=cat|tab name=dog2 content=cat2]]]";
string pattern = #"name=(?<Name>[^\s]+)\scontent=(?<Content>[^\s|\]]+)";
var result = Regex.Matches(text, pattern)
.OfType<Match>()
.Select(mt => new
{
Name = mt.Groups["Name"].Value,
Content = mt.Groups["Content"].Value,
});
The result is an enumerable list with the created dynamic entities with the tabs needed which can be directly bound to the control:
Note in the set notation [^\s|\]] the pipe | is treated as a literal in the set and not used as an or. The bracket ] does have to be escaped though to be treated as a literal. Finally the logic the parse will look for: "To not (^) be a space or a pipe or a brace for that set".

c# regularexpression how to find two records in the string

ok i am building up my email templating engine and trying to break up some of the text between {{{ }}} from my this text
var matches = Regex.Matches("sdfsdfsdf{{{GetServices:Pilotage}}}sdfsdfsdf dfsdf{{{GetServices:Berth Fee}}}sdfdsf{{sss", "{{{(.*)}}}");
how can i parse this string so i get this as a result array. i have been trying different things but with no avail. how can i achieve this
1)GetServices:Pilotage
2)GetServices:Berth Fee

Your attempt (although maybe not optimal) should work if you force it to be non-greedy:
{{{(.*?)}}}
Just add a ? after the *.

Use Grouping to retrieve the matches.
var input = "sdfsdfsdf{{{GetServices:Pilotage}}}sdfsdfsdf dfsdf{{{GetServices:Berth Fee}}}sdfdsf{{sss\", \"{{{(.*)}}}";
var matches = Regex.Matches(input, "\\{\\{\\{(GetServices:[^{]*)\\}\\}\\}");
var result = new List<string>();
foreach (Match match in matches)
{
if (match.Groups.Count == 2)
{
result.Add(match.Groups[1].ToString());
}
}

You could try this regex:
(\{{3}\w*\:[\w\ ]*\}{3})+
Edit:
For obtaining the value, see answer:
Find each RegEx match in string

The pattern would be "\{{3}(.+?)\}{3}" or "\{{3}(.*?)\}{3}". It depends on your need if the string in between is optional or required.

How to add a new named group?

I have the following working pattern:
String pattern = #"<(?<field>[^/>]+)>(?<data>.*)</\k<field>>";
String tcSQML = "<Pri_Key1>62</Pri_Key1><First1>SAM</First1><Last1>SPADE</Last1> <GstNo1></GstNo1><Pri_Key2>63</Pri_Key2><First2>TONY</First2><Last2>TUNE</Last2><GstNo2></GstNo2><Pri_Key3>64</Pri_Key3><First3>FRANK</First3><Last3>FAST</Last3><GstNo3></GstNo3><Pri_Key4>65</Pri_Key4><First4>BILLIE</First4><Last4>BLADES</Last4><GstNo4></GstNo4>";
MatchCollection matches = Regex.Matches(tcSQML, pattern, RegexOptions.Singleline);
foreach (Match m in matches)
{
Console.WriteLine(m.Groups["field"].ToString());
Console.WriteLine(m.Groups["number"].ToString());
}
What I want is to be able to also capture number after the field. E.g. in pri_key1 pri_key should be the field and 1 should be the number. I can not figure out how to introduce this new Number group into this pattern. I tried a few variations and nothing works. I am not good with RegEx so help and explanation is appreciated.

That's untested:
String pattern = #"<(?<field>[^0-9/>]+)(?<number>[^/>]*)>(?<data>.*)</\k<field>\k<number>>";
I just added a new group behind the field element. The new field element matches any string that does not contain a digit or the / or the > characters. The number element matches anything that is left between the field and the end of the tag.

A probably simple regex expression

I am a complete newb when it comes to regex, and would like help to make an expression to match in the following:
{ValidFunctionName}({parameter}:"{value}")
{ValidFunctionName}({parameter}:"{value}",
{parameter}:"{value}")
{ValidFunctionName}()
Where {x} is what I want to match, {parameter} can be anything $%"$ for example and {value} must be enclosed in quotation marks.
ThisIsValid_01(a:"40")
would be "ThisIsValid_01", "a", "40"
ThisIsValid_01(a:"40", b:"ZOO")
would be "ThisIsValid_01", "a", "40", "b", "ZOO"
01_ThisIsntValid(a:"40")
wouldn't return anything
ThisIsntValid_02(a:40)
wouldn't return anything, as 40 is not enclosed in quotation marks.
ThisIsValid_02()
would return "ThisIsValid_02"
For a valid function name I came across: "[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*"
But I can't for the life of me figure out how to match the rest.
I've been playing around on http://regexpal.com/ to try to get valid matches to all conditions, but to no avail :(
It would be nice if you kindly explained the regex too, so I can learn :)

EDIT: This will work, uses 2 regexs. The first get the function name and everything inside it, the second extracts each pair of params and values from what's inside the function's brackets. You cannot do this with a single regex. Add some [ \t\n\r]* for whitespace.
Regex r = new Regex(#"(?<function>\w[\w\d]*?)\((?<inner>.*?)\)");
Regex inner = new Regex(#",?(?<param>.+?):""(?<value>[^""]*?)""");
string input = "_test0(a:\"lolololol\",b:\"2\") _test1(ghgasghe:\"asjkdgh\")";
List<List<string>> matches = new List<List<string>>();
MatchCollection mc = r.Matches(input);
foreach (Match match in mc)
{
var l = new List<string>();
l.Add(match.Groups["function"].Value);
foreach (Match m in inner.Matches(match.Groups["inner"].Value))
{
l.Add(m.Groups["param"].Value);
l.Add(m.Groups["value"].Value);
}
matches.Add(l);
}
(Old) Solution
(?<function>\w[\w\d]*?)\((?<param>.+?):"(?<value>[^"]*?)"\)
(Old) Explanation
Let's remove the group captures so it is easier to understand: \w[\w\d]*?\(.+?:"[^"]?"\)
\w is the word class, it is short for [a-zA-Z_]
\d is the digit class, it is short for [0-9]
\w[\w\d]*? Makes sure there is valid word character for the start of the function, and then matches zero or more further word or digit characters.
\(.+? Matches a left bracket then one or more of any characters (for the parameter)
:"[^"]*?"\) Matches a colon, then the opening quote, then zero or more of any character except quotes (for the value) then the close quote and right bracket.
Brackets (or parens, as some people call them) as escaped with the backslashes because otherwise they are capturing groups.
The (?<name> ) captures some text.
The ? after each the * and + operators makes them non-greedy, meaning that they will match the least, rather than the most, amount of text.
(Old) Use
Regex r = new Regex(#"(?<function>\w[\w\d]*?)\((?<param>.+?):""(?<value>[^""]*?)""");
string input = "_test0(aa%£$!:\"lolololol\") _test1(ghgasghe:\"asjkdgh\")";
List<string[]> matches = new List<string[]>();
if(r.IsMatch(input))
{
MatchCollection mc = r.Matches(input);
foreach (Match match in mc)
matches.Add(new[] { match.Groups["function"].Value, match.Groups["param"].Value, match.Groups["value"].Value });
}
EDIT: Now you've added an undefined number of multiple parameters, I would recommend making your own parser rather than using regexs. The above example only works with one parameter and strictly no whitespace. This will match multiple parameters with strict whitespace but will not return the parameters and values:
\w[\w\d]*?\(.+?:"[^"]*?"(,.+?:"[^"]*?")*\)
Just for fun, like above but with whitepace:
\w[\w\d]*?[ \t\r\n]*\([ \t\r\n]*.+?[ \t\r\n]*:[ \t\r\n]*"[^"]*?"([ \t\r\n]*,[ \t\r\n]*.+?[ \t\r\n]*:[ \t\r\n]*"[^"]*?")*[ \t\r\n]*\)
Capturing the text you want will be hard, because you don't know how many captures you are going to have and as such regexs are unsuited.

Someone else has already given an answer that gives you a flat list of strings, but in the interest of strong typing and proper class structure, I’m going to provide a solution that encapsulates the data properly.
First, declare two classes:
public class ParamValue // For a parameter and its value
{
public string Parameter;
public string Value;
}
public class FunctionInfo // For a whole function with all its parameters
{
public string FunctionName;
public List<ParamValue> Values;
}
Then do the matching and populate a list of FunctionInfos:
(By the way, I’ve made some slight fixes to the regexes... it will now match identifiers correctly, and it will not include the double-quotes as part of the “value” of each parameter.)
Regex r = new Regex(#"(?<function>[\p{L}_]\w*?)\((?<inner>.*?)\)");
Regex inner = new Regex(#",?(?<param>.+?):""(?<value>[^""]*?)""");
string input = "_test0(a:\"lolololol\",b:\"2\") _test1(ghgasghe:\"asjkdgh\")";
var matches = new List<FunctionInfo>();
if (r.IsMatch(input))
{
MatchCollection mc = r.Matches(input);
foreach (Match match in mc)
{
var l = new List<ParamValue>();
foreach (Match m in inner.Matches(match.Groups["inner"].Value))
l.Add(new ParamValue
{
Parameter = m.Groups["param"].Value,
Value = m.Groups["value"].Value
});
matches.Add(new FunctionInfo
{
FunctionName = match.Groups["function"].Value,
Values = l
});
}
}
Then you can access the collection nicely with identifiers like FunctionName:
foreach (var match in matches)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0}({1})", match.FunctionName,
string.Join(", ", match.Values.Select(val =>
string.Format("{0}: \"{1}\"", val.Parameter, val.Value))));
}

Try this:
^\s*(?<FunctionName>[A-Za-z][A-Za-z_0-9]*)\(((?<parameter>[^:]*):"(?<value>[^"]+)",?\s*)*\)
^\s*(?<FunctionName>[A-Za-z][A-Za-z_0-9]*) matches the function name, ^ means start of the line, so that the first character in string must match. You can keep you remove the whitespace capture if you don't need it, I just added it to make the match a little more flexible.
The next set \(((?<parameter>[^:]*):"(?<value>[^"]+)",?)*\) means capture each parameter-value pair inside the parenthesis. You have to escape the parenthesis for the function since they are symbols within the regex syntax.
The ?<> inside parenthesis are named capture groups, which when supported by a library, as they are in .NET, make grabbing the groups in the matches a little easier.

Here:
\w[\w\d]*\s*\(\s*(?:(\w[\w\d]*):("[^"]*"|\d+))*\s*\)
Visualization of that regex here.

For Problems like that I always suggest people not to "find" a single regex but to write multiple regex sharing the work.
But here is my quick shot:
(?<funcName>[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z_0-9]*)
\(
(?<ParamGroup>
(?<paramName>[^(]+?)
:
"(?<paramValue>[^"]*)"
((,\s*)|(?=\)))
)*
\)
The whitespaces are there for better readability. Remove them or set the option to ignore pattern whitespaces.

This regex passes all your test cases:
^(?<function>[A-Za-z][\w]*?)\(((?<param>[^:]*?):"(?<value>[^"]*?)",{0,1}\s*)*\)$
This works on multiple parameters and no parameters. It also handles special characters in the param name and whitespace after the comma. There may need to be some adjustments as your test cases do not cover everything you indicate in your text.
Please note that \w usually includes digits and is not appropriate as the leading character of the function name. Reference: http://www.regular-expressions.info/charclass.html#shorthand