Find the shortest match that matches a specific condition using regex

Question

I'd like to find these three strings in any order and the result may have all these three strings including any character between them with the shortest length.

strings are: "ACT", "AGT" and "CGT".

Sample input: "ACTACGTTTAGTAACTCGTCT"

I tried but the regex returns the first occurrence matched which is "ACTACGTTTAGTAACTCGT"

Output has to be "AGTACTCGT"

All next to each other? Nothing in between? Please point our where in that string you have the desired match. — dawg, May 25 '17 at 00:07

score -1 · Answer 1 · answered May 25 '17 at 00:00

-1

You can't return separate bits of a string already concatenated in one go.

See here: Regular expression to skip character in capture group

You can first match each bit, using parentheses to group them, and then put them together in a separate step

answered May 25 '17 at 00:00

George M Reinstate Monica

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Find the shortest match that matches a specific condition using regex

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