CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regexstringregex-lookarounds
jclark754
jclark754

Reputation: 1014

Remove a sequence of pipe separated numbers using regex

I am trying to match a sequence of four numbers that are separated by pipes in a string. The numbers may be negative, float, or double digits, for example:

13|5|-1|3 or 5|5|0|3 or 13|4|1.5|1

The string may also contain additional numbers and words; a full example looks like so:

SOME STRING CONTENT 13|5|-1|3 MORE 1.6 CONTENT HERE

How could I identify those numbers between and to the left/right of the pipes using regex?

I have tried [\d\-.\|] which matches all digits, decimals, pipes, and negative signs but also find it matches the additional number/decimal content in the string. Any help on just selecting that one section would be appreciated!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 157

Answers (2)

Ryszard Czech
Ryszard Czech

Reputation: 18641

As well use

(?<!\S)-?\d*\.?\d+(?:\|-?\d*\.?\d+){3}(?!\S)

See proof.

EXPLANATION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  (?<!                     look behind to see if there is not:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \S                       non-whitespace (all but \n, \r, \t, \f,
                             and " ")
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  )                        end of look-behind
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -?                       '-' (optional (matching the most amount
                           possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  \d*                      digits (0-9) (0 or more times (matching
                           the most amount possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  \.?                      '.' (optional (matching the most amount
                           possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  \d+                      digits (0-9) (1 or more times (matching
                           the most amount possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  (?:                      group, but do not capture (3 times):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \|                       '|'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -?                       '-' (optional (matching the most amount
                             possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \d*                      digits (0-9) (0 or more times (matching
                             the most amount possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \.?                      '.' (optional (matching the most amount
                             possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \d+                      digits (0-9) (1 or more times (matching
                             the most amount possible))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  ){3}                     end of grouping
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  (?!                      look ahead to see if there is not:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \S                       non-whitespace (all but \n, \r, \t, \f,
                             and " ")
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  )                        end of look-ahead

Upvotes: 0

The fourth bird
The fourth bird

Reputation: 163577

You can use

-?\b\d+(?:\.\d+)?(?:\|\-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?){3}\b

The pattern matches:

  • -? Match an optional -
  • \b A word boundary to prevent a partial match
  • \d+(?:\.\d+)? Match 1+ digits with an optional decimal part
  • (?:\|\-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?){3} Repeat 3 times the same as previous part preceded by a pipe
  • \b A word boundary

Regex demo

Upvotes: 1

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