CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-rails
AnApprentice
AnApprentice

Reputation: 111080

rails, ruby - Given a Regex - Determine the Match Count

Given something like:

 message.split(/\n.* at.* XXXXXXXX wrote:.*/m).first

This works if there is a match, but when there isn't, it just returns all of message.

Upvotes: 33

Views: 18064

Answers (2)

Paul Russell
Paul Russell

Reputation: 4747

If you're trying to count the number of matches, then you're using the wrong method. split is designed to take a string and chop it into bits, but as you've observed, if there aren't any matches, then it returns the whole thing. I think you want to use String.scan instead:

message.scan(/\n.* at.* XXXXXXXX wrote:.*/m).size

Upvotes: 62

Doon
Doon

Reputation: 20232

Well split will return an array. So you could just check for length > 1

m =  message.split(/\n.* at.* XXXXXXXX wrote:.*/m)
if m.length > 1 
   return m.first
else
   return nil 
end

Upvotes: 1

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