Match besides first word and words starting with one or two hyphens

Question

I want to match any word except

the first word
anything that matches (-(-)?\w*(=\w*)?)

Example input:

test --par2 --par23=whatever 0 xd true hello "string test"
test --par23=whatever 0 xd true hello --par2 "string test"
test 0 xd "string test" true hello --par2 --par23=whatever

What I want is:

0, xd, true, hello, "string test"

I don't want: test, --par2 and --par23=whatever Language: JavaScript

What would be a good idea?

Please include sample strings and expected results to your question — baao, Dec 27 '16 at 13:44
It would be a good idea to clarify what you mean with sample input and expected output. — Wiktor Stribiżew, Dec 27 '16 at 13:45
@NilsBergmann Please check if my edit of your question is ok. And please specify what regex flavor/language you're using. — bobble bubble, Dec 27 '16 at 15:00
Before I went too far down this road, I'd look to see if there are existing JavaScript libraries that parse command line options. — Andy Lester, Dec 27 '16 at 17:53

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

1

See The Trick. How about matching what you don't need but capturing what you need.

don't want

^\S+ one or more non whitespaces at start (\S is negation of short \s)
\W-\S+ strings like -foo, --bar but want bar-baz (\W for non word character)

but ( capture )

"[^"]+" any quoted stuff (using negated class)
\S+ one or more remaining non whitespaces

Order according matching priority and combine with pipes |

("[^"]+")|^\S+|\W-\S+|(\S+)

See demo at regex101. Grab captures of the two groups like in this fiddle.

[ "0", "xd", "true", "hello", ""string test"" ]

If using PCRE you can skip the unneeded stuff by use of verbs (*SKIP)(*F).

edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

Community

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answered Dec 27 '16 at 15:11

bobble bubble

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It works. But if you would add `-t` or something like that i would also captured. The problem is, i don't understand how it works :D – Noim Dec 27 '16 at 17:29
@NilsBergmann did [another update](https://jsfiddle.net/pw7krcj9/5/) for matching [`"quoted str"` if at start](https://www.regex101.com/r/nTpeDL/1). Using two capturing groups. Hope this works for you! – bobble bubble Dec 27 '16 at 18:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 27 '16 at 13:59

0

I hope I understood you right, do you mean this?

=\S* ([^=]*)

read the matched text in group1.

answered Dec 27 '16 at 13:59

Kent

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Not really. It simply match everything after ...--par23. But the string could also be `test 0 xd true hello "string test" --par2 --par23=whatever` or `test 0 xd true hello --par2 "string test" --par23=whatever` – Noim Dec 27 '16 at 14:02
@NilsBergmann don't know which programming language are you using. If you are handling arguments, I don't think regex is a best way to go. E.g., your argument value could have `=` and `-`, `--` as well. There could be Argument Parsers available. Use them if you find some. – Kent Dec 27 '16 at 14:06
I don't want to use a parser. And parameters are fine to mach with (-(-)?\w*(=\w*)?) My only problem is to mach anything else. Except the first word. – Noim Dec 27 '16 at 14:13

Match besides first word and words starting with one or two hyphens

2 Answers2