CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#regex
Homam
Homam

Reputation: 23861

Regex gives different results for two similar cases

I have the following string:

Message 1 [V.Variable1] Message 2 [F.Field1] Message 3

Why does it work well in ex1 and doesn't in ex2?

var ex1 = Regex.Matches(message, @"\[F\.(?<name>.+)\]"); 
// the result `{[F.Field1]}` .. as expected


var ex2 = Regex.Matches(message, @"\[V\.(?<name>.+)\]");
// the result `{[V.Variable1] Message 2 [F.Field1]}` .. not as expected

When I'm trying to get the value of the group name, it gives the expected result in ex1 which is Field1 but it returns nothing in ex2

Any idea?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 82

Answers (1)

Gabi Purcaru
Gabi Purcaru

Reputation: 31524

You have to make the .+ lazy: \[V\.(?<name>.+?)\]" (note the question mark). The second case doesn't work because the + sign is greedy by default, and it will match as much as it can, in your case to the second closing square bracket from the second group.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions