Split using regex with (#something)

Question

I want to split above string using regex in c#

Input :

"some1 Text (#something) someothertext (#something) some3 Text"

Expected Output:

some1 Text
someothertext
some3 Text

My Code

string str = "some1 Text (#something) someothertext (#something) some3 Text";
Regex regex = new Regex(@"\(([^)]*)\)", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
var result = regex.Split(str);

Output

some1 Text
#something
someothertext
#something
some3 Text

Why are you mentioning `(#something)` when the values you want to match are `some1` and `Text`? Is this the delimiter between fields? What is the pattern in this string? Fields separated by `(#...)` and key values separated by a single space? — Panagiotis Kanavos, Mar 17 '17 at 12:07
Please give a more specific example including some code you have tried — Dec, Mar 17 '17 at 12:08
You can just ignore it and match the content, eg `\w+ \w+`. This will return the intended output. — Panagiotis Kanavos, Mar 17 '17 at 12:14
And the fields? What do they contain? Why can't you just use `\w+ \w+` ? — Panagiotis Kanavos, Mar 17 '17 at 12:15
So what's your problem? Is it the use of regex to split a string or to build a proper regex for your problem? Stackoverflow isn't a code writing service, so please show your attempt. — Maximilian Ast, Mar 17 '17 at 12:15
I am not able to make expression...i have tried this Regex regex = new Regex(@"\(([^)]*)\)", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase); — umesh gangwar, Mar 17 '17 at 12:17
@umeshgangwar and I already provided a pattern that works. Did you try it? Is your example *real*? Does your data use unseparated strings or something else? *Be specific* — Panagiotis Kanavos, Mar 17 '17 at 12:18

Charles Esau · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-17T12:34:35.090

1

String input = "some1 Text (#One) some2 other (#something) some3 Text";
String pattern = @"\(#.*?\)";
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex regex = new System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(pattern);
string output = regex.Replace(input, System.Environment.NewLine);

Breakdown of regex: \(#.*?\)

Escaped Left Parenthesis: \\(
Pound symbol: #
Match anything for any number of characters: .*
Non-Greedy Operator: ?
Escaped Right Parenthesis: \\)

edited Mar 17 '17 at 12:34

answered Mar 17 '17 at 12:23

Charles Esau

64
5

This will match the delimiters, not the fields – Panagiotis Kanavos Mar 17 '17 at 12:24
That's the idea - replace the delimiters with new lines. – Charles Esau Mar 17 '17 at 12:26
2

instead of `"\\(.*?\\)"` you can use a [verbatim string](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16635176/what-is-a-verbatim-string) instead: `@"\(.*?\)"` it is easier to read. – Maximilian Ast Mar 17 '17 at 12:26
1

`@"\(#.*?\)"` is perhaps more accurate as all the delimiters start with a hash sign. – Heki Mar 17 '17 at 12:27
why not `(\(#.*?\))` ? – PiLHA Mar 17 '17 at 12:28
@Heki this is the expression which i need...delimiter is always started with #...thanks...i am very new to Stack Overflow....i dont know how to mark answer.... :-) – umesh gangwar Mar 17 '17 at 12:32
1

I'm not sure of the larger context of the problem, but adding a # for a match seems very reasonable here. – Charles Esau Mar 17 '17 at 12:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 17 '17 at 12:44

You can match both the separators and the fields with (?<field>[^\(]+)(?<delim>\(#[^\)]*\))?. You can refer to each part by name, eg field or delim. For example:

var input = "some1 Text (#One) some2 other (#something) some3 Text";
var pattern = @"(?<field>[^\(]+)(?<delim>\(#[^\)]*\))??";

var matches = Regex.Matches(input,pattern);
var fields=from match in matches.OfType<Match>()
           select match.Group["field"].Value;
foreach(var field in fields)
{
    Console.WriteLine(field);
}

Results:

some1 Text  
 some2 other  
 some3 Text

The expression captures everything that isn't a ( as the field. Anything between (# and)` is captured as the delimiter.

Captured doesn't mean that a string is generated. The loop only retrieves the values of the fields

Split using regex with (#something)

2 Answers2