Dear colleagues,

I like to parse a text and split it at specific keywords (e.g. k1 or k2). I'll use it in a .NET application like

MatchCollection matches = Regex.Matches (sSrc, sRegEx); but for testing I am using RadSoftware Regex-Designer.

My sSrc is something like:

"k1 blakblak\r\nblakblak k2 blablabla k1 data3 k2 bla\r\nbla"

I like to get multiple matches:

• "k1 blakblak\r\nblakblak "
• "k2 blablabla "
• "k1 data3 "
• "k2 bla\r\nbla"

I tried: "\b(k1|k2)\b[^(k1|k2)]*", but matches ended at any character 'k' and not at the word k1 or k2, returning "k1 bla" instead of "k1 blakblak\r\nblakblak".

I don't know how to stop matching at specific words instead instead of single characters.

Thank you for your help.

Regards, Thomas

 

Try a regex like this:

(?:k1|k2)((?!(?:k1|k2)).)*+

and enable a DOT-all option/flag so that the DOT will match new line characters.

Extending that pattern you could also use:

(?s)(k1|k2)(?:(?!(?1)).)*

Where (?1) is the contents of the first parens group, in this case, "k1|k2".  Since you are using .NET you could also dynamically build the keyword list "k1|k2" if desired.

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Thank you for your help.

(?:k1|k2)((?!(?:k1|k2)).)*+

What is the ending plus sign for? "*+" reports an error.

While testing it in RadSw Regex Designer I did not find an DOT-All option. But replacing the dot with [\s\S] worked fine.

Thank you again. Regards, Thomas

The plus after the star makes all the matches the plus makes, possessive. Details about possessiveness can be found here:

http://www.regular-expressions.info/possessive.html

 Good to hear you've got it sorted, and you're welcome.

Dear ddrudik,

thank you for your answer. I have not heard about ?1 yet. Sounds interesting and makes repetitive parts shorter and easier to read.

I will try it. Thank you.

Sincerly, Thomas 

Dear prometheuzz,

thank you for your indepth guiding. As a regex-newbie I definitly need it. ;-)

As I learned at http://www.regular-expressions.info/dotnet.html .NET lacks of possessive features.

But the way you told me works fine yet.

Thank you and have a nice day,

Thomas

You're welcome Thomas, and thank your for informing me about the lack of possessive features in C#: I have also learnt something new!