Finding text between parentheses in Swift

Question

How do you get an array of string values for the text between parentheses in Swift?

For example from: MyFileName(2015)(Type)(createdBy).zip

I would like: [2015,Type,createdBy]

@Thomas: You should post your comment as an answer. Bonus points if you elaborate it with a Swift / Cocoa regex example. :-) — Joshua Nozzi, Nov 13 '15 at 12:51
if I use that Reg Ex in Swift I get a compile error, say from the answer in the swift 2 link by @ConradoCostal I use the function suggested and then try `let matches = matchesForRegexInText("\((.*?)\)", text: string)` I get expected separator error after the . and if I try to do this: `let regEx = "\((.*?)\)"` I get invalid character in source error. — Kevin Mann, Nov 13 '15 at 14:20
@KevinMann This regex string conflicts with Swift's syntactic sugar for String interpolation. You have to escape each \ character with another \ to make it work. — Eric Aya, Nov 13 '15 at 17:05

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 29 '20 at 06:15

Here is a complete example in Swift 4.2

func matchesForRegexInText(regex: String!, text: String!) -> [String] {

do {

    let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: [])
    let nsString = text as NSString

    let results = regex.matches(in: text,
                                        options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
    return results.map { nsString.substring(with: $0.range)}

} catch let error as NSError {

    print("invalid regex: \(error.localizedDescription)")

    return []
}}

and usage :

let regex = "\\((.*?)\\)"
mmatchesForRegexInText(regex: regex, text: " exmaple (android) of (qwe123) text (heart) between parentheses")

The function looks like a verbatim copy from https://stackoverflow.com/a/27880748/1187415. — Martin R, Jun 12 '17 at 07:03

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 07 '16 at 07:15

Just updating the chosen answer to Swift 3:

func matchesForRegexInText(regex: String!, text: String!) -> [String] {

do {

    let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: [])
    let nsString = text as NSString

    let results = regex.matches(in: text,
                                        options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
    return results.map { nsString.substring(with: $0.range)}

} catch let error as NSError {

    print("invalid regex: \(error.localizedDescription)")

    return []
}}

The usage remains the same.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

0

You can use a regex for this

Thomas had a good example: \((.*?)\)

How to use a regex with Swift you can look up at: http://www.raywenderlich.com/86205/nsregularexpression-swift-tutorial

edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

Community

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answered Nov 13 '15 at 12:55

siegy22

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 10 '16 at 21:27

0

Here is my RegEx which is actually trying to get the words between parentheses. E.g. (smile)

NSRegularExpression(pattern: "\\\\(\\\w+\\\\)",options:NSRegularExpressionOptions.CaseInsensitive)

it works for me!

edited Mar 10 '16 at 21:27

Mogsdad

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answered Mar 10 '16 at 20:13

karthik

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Finding text between parentheses in Swift

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