CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regex
SonuD
SonuD

Reputation: 45

Regex for specific pattern containing multiline text

Need help in creating Regex for below -

Input -

Steps_taken "" loop
{
_1 "1st"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7"
],
_2 "2nd"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7,_98"
]
} fields -
(
slice "What were the steps you have taken from the time when the symptom appeared to when the pain         was addressed?

categorical [1…1]

fix exclusive
} ran;

) expand grid;

Output -

slice "What were the steps you have taken from the time when the symptom appeared to when the pain was addressed?

categorical [1…1]

fix exclusive
} ran;

There can be multiple instances of such pattern in a text file.

In Summary, I need to delete 2 parts here -

From the beginning of the line containing keyword 'loop' till keyword 'fields -'
Opening bracket (which will always be there below the line containing 'fields -') and closing bracket (which will always contain keyword 'grid;')

Upvotes: 1

Views: 110

Answers (1)

Peter Thoeny
Peter Thoeny

Reputation: 7616

Your summary of what should happen, and your output (for given input) example do not match. I assume your summary is what you want.

You can use a regex with replace:

/[^\n\r]+loop[\s\S]*?fields[ \-\n\r\(]*([\s\S]*?)\) expand grid;[\n\r]+/g

Explanation:

  • [^\n\r]+loop - scan over loop line
  • [\s\S]*?fields - non-greedily scan over anything until fields
  • [ \-\n\r\(]* - scan over additional characters we don't want
  • ([\s\S]*?) - non-greedily scan over and capture anything...
  • \) expand grid; - ...until ) expand grid;
  • [\n\r]+ - scan over newlines
  • the g flag is for global, e.g. match multiple patterns like this
  • for replace, reference the capture group with $ or \1, depending on your language

Let me use JavaScript with two repeating patterns to demo here on stackoverlow, you can easily translate that to your language:

const input = `Steps_taken "" loop
{
_1 "1st"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7"
],
_2 "2nd"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7,_98"
]
} fields -
(
slice "What were the steps of example 1?"
categorical [1…1]
fix exclusive
} ran;
) expand grid;
Steps_taken "" loop
{
_1 "1st"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7"
],
_2 "2nd"
[
Sub cat = "_1,_2,_3,_4,_5,_6,_7,_98"
]
} fields -
(
slice "What were the steps of example 2?"
categorical [2…2]
fix exclusive
} ran;
) expand grid;
`;

const regex = /[^\n\r]+loop[\s\S]*?fields[ \-\n\r\(]*([\s\S]*?)\) expand grid;[\n\r]+/g;
var result = input.replace(regex, '$1');
console.log('result:\n' + result);

Output:

result:
slice "What were the steps of example 1?"
categorical [1…1]
fix exclusive
} ran;
slice "What were the steps of example 2?"
categorical [2…2]
fix exclusive
} ran;

Upvotes: 1

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