CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regex
James B
James B

Reputation: 9605

Regex - ignoring quotes

I'm using the regex

(?:^|;)\s*([^=]*[^=\s])\s*=\s*([^;]*[^;\s])

on the following string

"""A"" = .B; ""C"" = .D; ""E"" = .F"

The second capture group ([^;]*[^;\s]) matches the text .B, .D and .F", whilst the first capture group matches the text """A"", "C"" and ""E"".

How can I update this regex to match the text only, i.e., .B, .D and .F, and A, C and E?

I've tried add the quoted to the capture groups, e.g., ([^=\"]*[^=\s]), but this seems to have no affect.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 703

Answers (1)

Wiktor Stribiżew
Wiktor Stribiżew

Reputation: 627488

You may match zero or more quotes before the key value and then restrict the [^=\s] character class to avoid matching " by adding it to the class and again match 0+ quotes right after:

(?:^|;)\s*"*([^=]*[^=\s"])"*\s*=\s*([^;]*[^;\s"])
          ^^           ^  ^^                  ^

See the regex demo. Note that [^;]* will also match double quotes if any since it is a greedy pattern.

Details

  • (?:^|;) - start of string or ;
  • \s* - 0+ whitespaces
  • "* - 0+ double quotes
  • ([^=]*[^=\s"]) - Group 1:
    • [^=]* - 0+ chars other than =
    • [^=\s"] - a char other than =, whitespace and "
  • "* - 0+ double quotes
  • \s*=\s* - a = enclosed with 0+ whitespaces
  • ([^;]*[^;\s"]) - Group 2:
    • [^;]* - 0+ chars other than ;
    • [^;\s"] - a char other than ;, whitespace and ".

enter image description here

Upvotes: 4

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