Replace with re.sub AFTER matching pattern

Question

i have a regex substitution that i cannot figure out.

s2 = re.compile("^DATA_ARRAY (.*?};)", re.DOTALL|re.MULTILINE)    
result = re.sub(s2, "newData", inputData)

The problem is that it replaces the "DATA_ARRAY" part as well. I need to replace only the text that comes AFTER the "DATA_ARRAY" part. I have placed the data in a group in the s2 (.*?};)but cannot figure out how to use the re.sub function to replace only the required part.

Regards

vks · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-27T16:14:57.820

2

s2 = re.compile("^(DATA_ARRAY )(.*?};)", re.DOTALL|re.MULTILINE)    
result = re.sub(s2, r"\1newData", inputData)

You can capture the first group and replace via backreferencing

or simply

s2 = re.compile("^DATA_ARRAY (.*?};)", re.DOTALL|re.MULTILINE)    
result = re.sub(s2, "DATA_ARRAY newData", inputData)

edited May 27 '15 at 16:14

answered May 27 '15 at 15:53

vks

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Thanks, this helped me on the right track! I actually had to use a named backreference since the "newData" was in a variable. – ele lont May 27 '15 at 16:22

karthik manchala · Answer 2 · 2015-05-27T16:23:45.653

0

s2 = re.compile("(?<=^DATA_ARRAY )(.*?};)", re.DOTALL|re.MULTILINE)    
result = re.sub(s2, "newData", inputData)

You can just have a lookbehind assertion (?<=___).

edited May 27 '15 at 16:23

answered May 27 '15 at 16:02

karthik manchala

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really?? lookbehinds wont match the patterns..? – karthik manchala May 27 '15 at 16:12
I tried and did not get any matches with this regex. – ele lont May 27 '15 at 16:15

Replace with re.sub AFTER matching pattern

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