CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regex
bMikolaj
bMikolaj

Reputation: 39

Match a string between two characters if they exist

I'm in need of an expression for finding a name in a dynamic path string. Basically I need to find a string before last > character and it must be inside these > characters. Lets say I have this string: 

"Category 1 > Category 1.1 > Category 1.1.1"

With this expression \>(.*)\> it works, and I get the desired string which is "Category 1.1". The problem is if this string doesn't have a > at the beggining. E.g.

"Category 1.1  > Category 1.1.1"

I tried something like this \>?(?=>)?\>?(.*)\> and this works but only for this case. When I test it with "Category 1 > Category 1.1 > Category 1.1.1", it returns Category 1 > Category 1.1 > which is wrong.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 396

Answers (1)

Wiktor Stribiżew
Wiktor Stribiżew

Reputation: 626689

You may use

[^>]+(?=>[^>]*$)

See the regex demo. For both the test cases you have, it matches Category 1.1 text.

Details

  • [^>]+ - 1+ chars other than >
  • (?=>[^>]*$) - a positive lookahead that requires > and then 0+ chars other than > up to the end of the string.

Note you may want to trim() / strip() the result afterwards with the appropriate method your environment provides.

Upvotes: 1

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