I want to save an e-mail-address out of a .txt-file into a string variable. This is my code:
String path = "C:\\Users\\test.txt";
string from;
var fro = new Regex("from: (?<fr>)");
using (var reader = new StreamReader(File.OpenRead(#path)))
{
while (true)
{
var nextLine = reader.ReadLine();
if (nextLine == null)
break;
var matchb = fro.Match(nextLine);
if (matchb.Success)
{
from = matchb.Groups["fr"].Value;
Console.WriteLine(from);
}
}
}
I know that matchb.Success is true, however from won't be displayed correctly. I'm afraid it has something to do with the escape sequence, but I was unable to find anything helpful on the internet.
The textfile might look like this:
LOG 00:01:05 processID=123456-12345 from: test#test.org
LOG 00:01:06 processID=123456-12345 OK
Your (?<fr>) pattern defines a named group "fr" that matches an empty string.
To fill the group with some value you need to define the group pattern.
If you plan to match the rest of the line, you may use .*. To match a sequence of non-whitespace chars, use \S+. To match a sequence of non-whitespace chars that has a # inside, use \S+#\S+. All the three approaches will work for the current scenario.
In C#, it will look like
var fro = new Regex(#"from: *(?<fr>\S+#\S+)");
Note that #"..." is a verbatim string literal where a single backslash defines a literal backslash, so you do not have to double it. I also suggest using the * quantifier to match 0 or more spaces before the email. You might want to use \s* (to match any 0+ whitespace chars) or [\p{Zs}\t]* (to match only horizontal whitespace chars) instead.
I have this string
TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017
I want to eliminate _20112017, which is a underscore with numbers, those numbers can vary; my goal is to have only
TEST_TEXT_ONE
So far I have this but I get the entire string, is there something I'm missing?
Regex r = new Regex(#"\b\w+[0-9]+\b");
MatchCollection words = r.Matches("TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017");
foreach(Match word in words)
{
string w = word.Groups[0].Value;
//I still get the entire string
}
Notes for your consideration:
You should use parenthesis to mark groups for capture -or- use named group. The first group (index=0) is the entire match. you probably want index=1 instead.
\w stands for word character and it already includes both underscore and digits. If you want to match anything before the numbers then you should consider using . instead of \w.
by default +is greedy and your \w+ will consume your last undescore and all but the very last number as well. You probably want to explicitly require an underscore before last block of numbers.
I would suggest considering if you want to find a matching substring or the entire string to match. if the latter, then consider using the start and end markers: ^ and $.
if you know you want to eliminate 8 digits, then you could giving explicit count like \d{8}
For example this should work:
Regex r = new Regex(#"^(.+)_\d+$");
MatchCollection words = r.Matches("TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017");
foreach (Match word in words)
{
string w = word.Groups[1].Value;
}
Alternative
Use a Zero-Width Positive Lookahead Assertions construct to check what comes next without capturing it. This uses the syntax on (?=stuff). So you could use a shorter code and avoid surfing in Groups altogether:
Regex r = new Regex(#"^.+(?=_\d+$)");
String result = r.Match("TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017").Value;
Note that we require the end marker $ within the positive lookahead group.
Regex r = new Regex(#"(\b.+)_([0-9]+)\b");
String w = r.Match("TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017").Groups[1].Value; //TEST_TEXT_ONE
or:
String w = r.Match("TEST_TEXT_ONE_20112017").Groups[2].Value; //20112017
This seems a bit overkill for Regex in my opinion. As an alternative you could just split on the _ character and rebuild the string:
private static string RemoveDate(string input)
{
string[] parts = input.Split('_');
return string.Join("_", parts.Take(parts.Length - 1));
}
Or if the date suffix is always the same length, you could also just substring:
private static string RemoveDateFixedLength(string input)
{
//Removes last 9 characters (8 for date, 1 for underscore)
return input.Substring(0, input.Length - 9);
}
However I feel like the first approach is better, this is just another option.
Fiddle here
I am splitting a string with regex using its Split() method.
var splitRegex = new Regex(#"[\s|{]");
string input = "/Tests/ShowMessage { 'Text': 'foo' }";
//second version of the input:
//string input = "/Tests/ShowMessage{ 'Text': 'foo' }";
string[] splittedText = splitRegex.Split(input, 2);
The string is just a sample pattern of the input. There are two different structures of input, once with a space before the { or without the space. I want to split the input on the { bracket in order to get the following result:
/Tests/ShowMessage
{ 'Text': 'foo' }
If there is a space, the string gets splitted there (space gets removed) and i get my desired result. But if there isnt a space i split the string on the {, so the { gets removed, what i dont want though. How can i use Regex.Split() without removing the split condition character?
The square brackets create a character set, so you want it to match exactly one of those inner characters. For your desire start off by removing them.
So to match it a random count of whitespaces you have to add *, the result is this one\s*.
\s is a whitespace
* means zero-or-more
That you don't remove the split condition character, you can use lookahead assertion (?=...).
(?=...) or (?!...) is a lookahead assertion
The combined Regex looks like this: \s*(?={)
This is a really good and detailed documentation of all the different Regex parts, you might have a look at it. Furthermore you can test your Regex easy and for free here.
In order to not include the curly brace in the match you can put it into a look ahead
\s*(?={)
That will match any number of white spaces up to the position before a open curly brace.
You can use regular string split, on "{" and trim the spaces off:
var bits = "/Tests/ShowMessage { 'Text': 'foo' }".Split("{", StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
bits[0] = bits[0].TrimEnd();
bits[1] = "{" + bits[1];
If you want to use the RegEx route, you can add the { back if you change the regex a bit:
var splitRegex = new Regex(#"\s*{");
string input = "/Tests/ShowMessage { 'Text': 'foo' }";
//second version of the input:
//string input = "/Tests/ShowMessage{ 'Text': 'foo' }";
string[] splittedText = splitRegex.Split(input, 2);
splittedText[1] = "{" + splittedText[1];
It means "split at occurrence of (zero or more whitespace followed by {)" - so the split operation nukes your spaces (you want), and your { (you don't want) but you can put the { back with certainty that it will mean you get what you want
var splitedList = srt.Text.Replace(".", ".#").Replace("?", "?#").Replace("!", "!#").Split(new[] { "#"}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
This will split text for .!? and will not remove condition chars. For better result just replace # with some uniq char. Like this one for example '®' That is all. Simple as it is. No regex.split which is slow and difficult due to many different task criterias, etc...
passing-> "Hello. I'am dev!"
result (split condition character exist )
"Hello."
"I'am dev!"
If I have a string like MCCORMIC 3H R Final 08-26-2011.dwg or even MCCORMIC SMITH 2N L Final 08-26-2011.dwg and I wanted to capture the R in the first string or the L in the second string in a variable, what is the best method for doing so? I was thinking about trying the below statement but it does not work.
string filename = "MCCORMIC 3H R Final 08-26-2011.dwg"
string WhichArea = "";
int WhichIndex = 0;
WhichIndex = filename.IndexOf("Final");
WhichArea = filename.Substring(WhichIndex - 1,1); //Trying to get the R in front of word Final
Just split by space:
var parts = filename.Split(new [] {' '},
StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
WhichArea = parts[parts.Length - 3];
It looks like the file names have a very specific format, so this will work just fine.
Even with any number of spaces, using StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries means spaces will not be part of the split result set.
Code updated to deal with both examples - thanks Nikola.
I had to do something similar, but with Mirostation drawings instead of Autocad. I used regex in my case. Here's what I did, just in case you feel like making it more complex.
string filename = "MCCORMIC 3H R Final 08-26-2011.dwg";
string filename2 = "MCCORMIC SMITH 2N L Final 08-26-2011.dwg";
Console.WriteLine(TheMatch(filename));
Console.WriteLine(TheMatch(filename2));
public string TheMatch(string filename) {
Regex reg = new Regex(#"[A-Za-z0-9]*\s*([A-Z])\s*Final .*\.dwg");
Match match = reg.Match(filename);
if(match.Success) {
return match.Groups[1].Value;
}
return String.Empty;
}
I don't think Oded's answer covers all cases. The first example has two words before the wanted letter, and the second one has three words before it.
My opinion is that the best way to get this letter is by using RegEx, assuming that the word Final always comes after the letter itself, separated by any number of spaces.
Here's the RegEx code:
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
private string GetLetter(string fileName)
{
string pattern = "\S(?=\s*?Final)";
Match match = Regex.Match(fileName, pattern);
return match.Value;
}
And here's the explanation of RegEx pattern:
\S(?=\s*?Final)
\S // Anything other than whitespace
(?=\s*?Final) // Positive look-ahead
\s*? // Whitespace, unlimited number of repetitions, as few as possible.
Final // Exact text.
In C# what's the best way to remove blank lines i.e., lines that contain only whitespace from a string? I'm happy to use a Regex if that's the best solution.
EDIT: I should add I'm using .NET 2.0.
Bounty update: I'll roll this back after the bounty is awarded, but I wanted to clarify a few things.
First, any Perl 5 compat regex will work. This is not limited to .NET developers. The title and tags have been edited to reflect this.
Second, while I gave a quick example in the bounty details, it isn't the only test you must satisfy. Your solution must remove all lines which consist of nothing but whitespace, as well as the last newline. If there is a string which, after running through your regex, ends with "/r/n" or any whitespace characters, it fails.
If you want to remove lines containing any whitespace (tabs, spaces), try:
string fix = Regex.Replace(original, #"^\s*$\n", string.Empty, RegexOptions.Multiline);
Edit (for #Will): The simplest solution to trim trailing newlines would be to use TrimEnd on the resulting string, e.g.:
string fix =
Regex.Replace(original, #"^\s*$\n", string.Empty, RegexOptions.Multiline)
.TrimEnd();
string outputString;
using (StringReader reader = new StringReader(originalString)
using (StringWriter writer = new StringWriter())
{
string line;
while((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null)
{
if (line.Trim().Length > 0)
writer.WriteLine(line);
}
outputString = writer.ToString();
}
off the top of my head...
string fixed = Regex.Replace(input, "\s*(\n)","$1");
turns this:
fdasdf
asdf
[tabs]
[spaces]
asdf
into this:
fdasdf
asdf
asdf
Using LINQ:
var result = string.Join("\r\n",
multilineString.Split(new string[] { "\r\n" }, ...None)
.Where(s => !string.IsNullOrWhitespace(s)));
If you're dealing with large inputs and/or inconsistent line endings you should use a StringReader and do the above old-school with a foreach loop instead.
Alright this answer is in accordance to the clarified requirements specified in the bounty:
I also need to remove any trailing newlines, and my Regex-fu is
failing. My bounty goes to anyone who can give me a regex which passes
this test: StripWhitespace("test\r\n \r\nthis\r\n\r\n") ==
"test\r\nthis"
So Here's the answer:
(?<=\r?\n)(\s*$\r?\n)+|(?<=\r?\n)(\r?\n)+|(\r?\n)+\z
Or in the C# code provided by #Chris Schmich:
string fix = Regex.Replace("test\r\n \r\nthis\r\n\r\n", #"(?<=\r?\n)(\s*$\r?\n)+|(?<=\r?\n)(\r?\n)+|(\r?\n)+\z", string.Empty, RegexOptions.Multiline);
Now let's try to understand it. There are three optional patterns in here which I am willing to replace with string.empty.
(?<=\r?\n)(\s*$\r?\n)+ - matches one to unlimited lines containing only white space and preceeded by a line break (but does not match the first preceeding line breaks).
(?<=\r?\n)(\r?\n)+ - matches one to unlimited empty lines with no content that are preceeded by a line break (but does not match the first preceeding line breaks).
(\r?\n)+\z - matches one to unlimited line breaks at the end of the tested string (trailing line breaks as you called them)
That satisfies your test perfectly! But also satisfies both \r\n and \n line break styles! Test it out! I believe this will be the most correct answer, although simpler expression would pass your specified bounty test, this regex passes more complex conditions.
EDIT: #Will pointed out a potential flaw in the last pattern match of the above regex in that it won't match multiple line breaks containing white space at the end of the test string. So let's change that last pattern to this:
\b\s+\z The \b is a word boundry (beginning or END of a word), the \s+ is one or more white space characters, the \z is the end of the test string (end of "file"). So now it will match any assortment of whitespace at the end of the file including tabs and spaces in addition to carriage returns and line breaks. I tested both of #Will's provided test cases.
So all together now, it should be:
(?<=\r?\n)(\s*$\r?\n)+|(?<=\r?\n)(\r?\n)+|\b\s+\z
EDIT #2: Alright there is one more possible case #Wil found that the last regex doesn't cover. That case is inputs that have line breaks at the beginning of the file before any content. So lets add one more pattern to match the beginning of the file.
\A\s+ - The \A match the beginning of the file, the \s+ match one or more white space characters.
So now we've got:
\A\s+|(?<=\r?\n)(\s*$\r?\n)+|(?<=\r?\n)(\r?\n)+|\b\s+\z
So now we have four patterns for matching:
whitespace at the beginning of the file,
redundant line breaks containing white space, (ex: \r\n \r\n\t\r\n)
redundant line breaks with no content, (ex: \r\n\r\n)
whitespace at the end of the file
not good. I would use this one using JSON.net:
var o = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(prettyJson);
new minifiedJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(o, Formatting.None);
In response to Will's bounty, which expects a solution that takes "test\r\n \r\nthis\r\n\r\n" and outputs "test\r\nthis", I've come up with a solution that makes use of atomic grouping (aka Nonbacktracking Subexpressions on MSDN). I recommend reading those articles for a better understanding of what's happening. Ultimately the atomic group helped match the trailing newline characters that were otherwise left behind.
Use RegexOptions.Multiline with this pattern:
^\s+(?!\B)|\s*(?>[\r\n]+)$
Here is an example with some test cases, including some I gathered from Will's comments on other posts, as well as my own.
string[] inputs =
{
"one\r\n \r\ntwo\r\n\t\r\n \r\n",
"test\r\n \r\nthis\r\n\r\n",
"\r\n\r\ntest!",
"\r\ntest\r\n ! test",
"\r\ntest \r\n ! "
};
string[] outputs =
{
"one\r\ntwo",
"test\r\nthis",
"test!",
"test\r\n ! test",
"test \r\n ! "
};
string pattern = #"^\s+(?!\B)|\s*(?>[\r\n]+)$";
for (int i = 0; i < inputs.Length; i++)
{
string result = Regex.Replace(inputs[i], pattern, "",
RegexOptions.Multiline);
Console.WriteLine(result == outputs[i]);
}
EDIT: To address the issue of the pattern failing to clean up text with a mix of whitespace and newlines, I added \s* to the last alternation portion of the regex. My previous pattern was redundant and I realized \s* would handle both cases.
string corrected =
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(input, #"\n+", "\n");
I'll go with:
public static string RemoveEmptyLines(string value) {
using (StringReader reader = new StringReader(yourstring)) {
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
string line;
while ((line = reader.ReadLine()) != null) {
if (line.Trim().Length > 0)
builder.AppendLine(line);
}
return builder.ToString();
}
}
Here's another option: use the StringReader class. Advantages: one pass over the string, creates no intermediate arrays.
public static string RemoveEmptyLines(this string text) {
var builder = new StringBuilder();
using (var reader = new StringReader(text)) {
while (reader.Peek() != -1) {
string line = reader.ReadLine();
if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(line))
builder.AppendLine(line);
}
}
return builder.ToString();
}
Note: the IsNullOrWhiteSpace method is new in .NET 4.0. If you don't have that, it's trivial to write on your own:
public static bool IsNullOrWhiteSpace(string text) {
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(text) || text.Trim().Length < 1;
}
In response to Will's bounty here is a Perl sub that gives correct response to the test case:
sub StripWhitespace {
my $str = shift;
print "'",$str,"'\n";
$str =~ s/(?:\R+\s+(\R)+)|(?:()\R+)$/$1/g;
print "'",$str,"'\n";
return $str;
}
StripWhitespace("test\r\n \r\nthis\r\n\r\n");
output:
'test
this
'
'test
this'
In order to not use \R, replace it with [\r\n] and inverse the alternative. This one produces the same result:
$str =~ s/(?:(\S)[\r\n]+)|(?:[\r\n]+\s+([\r\n])+)/$1/g;
There're no needs for special configuration neither multi line support. Nevertheless you can add s flag if it's mandatory.
$str =~ s/(?:(\S)[\r\n]+)|(?:[\r\n]+\s+([\r\n])+)/$1/sg;
if its only White spaces why don't you use the C# string method
string yourstring = "A O P V 1.5";
yourstring.Replace(" ", string.empty);
result will be "AOPV1.5"
char[] delimiters = new char[] { '\r', '\n' };
string[] lines = value.Split(delimiters, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
string result = string.Join(Environment.NewLine, lines)
Here is something simple if working against each individual line...
(^\s+|\s+|^)$
Eh. Well, after all that, I couldn't find one that would hit all the corner cases I could figure out. The following is my latest incantation of a regex that strips
All empty lines from the start of a string
Not including any spaces at the beginning of the first non-whitespace line
All empty lines after the first non-whitespace line and before the last non-whitespace line
Again, preserving all whitespace at the beginning of any non-whitespace line
All empty lines after the last non-whitespace line, including the last newline
(?<=(\r\n)|^)\s*\r\n|\r\n\s*$
which essentially says:
Immediately after
The beginning of the string OR
The end of the last line
Match as much contiguous whitespace as possible that ends in a newline*
OR
Match a newline and as much contiguous whitespace as possible that ends at the end of the string
The first half catches all whitespace at the start of the string until the first non-whitespace line, or all whitespace between non-whitespace lines. The second half snags the remaining whitespace in the string, including the last non-whitespace line's newline.
Thanks to all who tried to help out; your answers helped me think through everything I needed to consider when matching.
*(This regex considers a newline to be \r\n, and so will have to be adjusted depending on the source of the string. No options need to be set in order to run the match.)
String Extension
public static string UnPrettyJson(this string s)
{
try
{
// var jsonObj = Json.Decode(s);
// var sObject = Json.Encode(value); dont work well with array of strings c:['a','b','c']
object jsonObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(s);
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(jsonObj, Formatting.None);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
throw new Exception(
s + " Is Not a valid JSON ! (please validate it in http://www.jsoneditoronline.org )", e);
}
}
Im not sure is it efficient but =)
List<string> strList = myString.Split(new string[] { "\n" }, StringSplitOptions.None).ToList<string>();
myString = string.Join("\n", strList.Where(s => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s)).Distinct().ToList());
Try this.
string s = "Test1" + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine + "Test 2";
Console.WriteLine(s);
string result = s.Replace(Environment.NewLine, String.Empty);
Console.WriteLine(result);
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"^[^\n\S]*\n", "");
[^\n\S] matches any character that's not a linefeed or a non-whitespace character--so, any whitespace character except \n. But most likely the only characters you have to worry about are space, tab and carriage return, so this should work too:
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"^[ \t\r]*\n", "");
And if you want it to catch the last line, without a final linefeed:
s = Regex.Replace(s, #"^[ \t\r]*\n?", "");