CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regexvbscript
Lucas Bailey
Lucas Bailey

Reputation: 717

Regular Expressions VBScript using the OR Expression (|)

I need to use regular expressions to parse a string.

Most times, the string can be parsed using the expression

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,21})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})

Sometimes, the string needs to include an additional 4 characters so the expression would be

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,25})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})

By themselves either expression would work on their respective strings. The first will also be technically valid on a string intended for the second expression, however the .{0,9} section of the expression would be off by 4 characters.

A quick explanation of the expression:
Subset 1: 1 - 21 (or 25 characters)
any characters a-z
any characters A-Z
the dash, the comma
any digits 0-9
the open and close parenthesis, the hash tag, forward slash, space and period.

Subsets 2-7
Any characters (up to 9 total)

I was hoping for something like the expression below

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,21|25})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})

OR

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,21}|{1,25})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})

I tried these and they didn't work. Anyone else got any ideas?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 145

Answers (1)

p.s.w.g
p.s.w.g

Reputation: 149020

It's rather verbose, but I think you'd have to do this:

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,21}|[a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{25})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})(.{0,9})

The first capture group must be either 1-21 characters, or 25 characters long.

If you're willing to change how your groups are captured (and if your regex engine supports it), you might also be able to do this:

^([a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{1,21}|[a-zA-Z\-\,0-9\(\)\#\/ \.]{25})(.{0,9}){6}

Upvotes: 1

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