Regular expressions for identifying a pattern that is not enclosed within double quotation marks

There is a specific string I need to analyze:

FIND files where file2=29 AND file32="12" OR file623134="file23"

A user inputs this text in order to conduct a search within their data. The application then converts this text into an SQL Query.

For instance, FIND gets replaced by SELECT, and any strings following the pattern file[number] (such as file2, file32, and file623134 in the example above) are transmuted to

FILE_ID=[number] AND FILE_VALUE=[value of FILE[number]]
. This results in the following SQL Query:

SELECT * FROM [FILES] WHERE (FILE_ID=2 AND FILE_VALUE=29) AND (FILE_ID=32 AND FILE_VALUE="12") OR (FILE_ID=623134 AND FILE_VALUE="file23")

I have managed to identify strings outside double quotes using the regex below:

(?<![\S"])([^"\s]+)(?![\S"])

This regex works correctly, but I am struggling to include the file[0-9] pattern within it. Could someone guide me on how to accomplish this?

If possible, please also advise on how to extract values from these patterns and replace them with corresponding values, such as transforming file123=2 into (FILE_ID=123 AND FILE_VALUE=2).

Answer №1

Here is a different method using a 2-step process:

  • Retrieve the key-value pairs containing IDs and replace them by referencing back to them
  • Substitute the initial portion (a literal "FIND files where") with another literal "SELECT * FROM [FILES] WHERE".

Check out this C# demo:

var str = "FIND files where file2=29 AND file32=\"12\" OR file623134=\"file23\"";
var rx = new Regex(@"\bfile(\d+)=""?(\w+)""?");
var result = rx.Replace(str, "(FILE_ID=$1 AND FILE_VALUE=$2)")
              .Replace("FIND files where", "SELECT * FROM [FILES] WHERE");
Console.WriteLine(result);

Final outcome:

SELECT * FROM [FILES] WHERE (FILE_ID=2 AND FILE_VALUE=29) AND (FILE_ID=32 AND FILE_VALUE=12) OR (FILE_ID=623134 AND FILE_VALUE=file23)

Breaking down the regex used:

  • \bfile - represents the word boundary followed by the word "file"
  • (\d+) - captures one or more digits into Group 1
  • = - matches the equals sign "=" literally
  • "? - denotes zero or one double quote character
  • (\w+) - second capturing group containing one or more alphanumeric characters
  • "? - represents an optional double quote

Answer №2

If you're looking to identify specific strings within your files, consider using the following regex pattern:

file([0-9]+)=\"([0-9]+)\"

This regex pattern will provide you with 3 strings: the entire match, the first number, and the second number found in the string.

I trust this meets your expectations.

However, it's important to note that grouping tokens in parentheses is key when working with regex:

By enclosing multiple tokens in parentheses, you can create a group and apply quantifiers to it. For example, (Value)? matches both Set and SetValue.

Parentheses generate capturing groups, meaning they store matched content for later use. In the previous example, there is one group. If Set was matched, group one would be empty; if SetValue was matched, group one would contain Value. Accessing the group's contents varies based on the software or programming language being used, while group zero always holds the full regex match.

Source:

To extract specific substrings, define a regex for the entire line and create matching groups for each substring of interest.

Answer №3

similar to this

<div id="date">file78="375"</div>

javascript

var data =$('#date').text();
var arr = data.split('=');
var val1 =arr[0];
val1 =  val1.replace(/[0-9]/g,'');
var val2 =arr[0];
val2 =  val2.replace(/[a-zA-Z]/g,'');
var val = arr[1];
val = val.replace(/[&\/\\#,+()$~%.'":*?<>{}]/g,'');
$("#date").html("<span>"+val1 + "</span></br>" + "<span> id="+val2 + "</span></br>" + "<span> value="+val + "</span></br>" );     

result

file
id=78
value=375

view on jsfiddle here

Answer №4

Let's consider the scenario where we need to find files that meet specific criteria such as

FIND files where file2=29 AND file32="12" OR file623134="file23"

To explain this process, let's break it down into steps.

An obvious approach is to create a regex pattern that directly matches the given string.

FIND files where file2=29 AND file32="12" OR file623134="file23"

https://i.sstatic.net/Mp3Km.png

Firstly, let's identify the parts of the string that are important and make them accessible.

FIND (files) where file(2)=(29) AND file(32)=("12") OR file(623134)=("file23")

https://i.sstatic.net/Q7vzj.png

We can define these parts as "capture groups" by enclosing them in brackets, which allows us to refer to them later. Additionally, we can generalize the regex to match various examples by using numeric ranges for keys.

FIND (files) where file([0-9]+)=(29) AND file([0-9]+)=("12") OR file([0-9]+)=("file23")

https://i.sstatic.net/cOGe5.png

Next, we focus on handling values - some are strings, so we need to account for that in our regex.

Incorporating the possibility of integer values as well, we adjust our regex accordingly.

FIND (files) where file([0-9]+)=([0-9]+) AND file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+") OR file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+")

https://i.sstatic.net/NH8Rp.png

To handle different value types like numbers or strings and allow for multiple key-value pairs, we introduce an option matcher.

FIND (files) where file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+) AND file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+) OR file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+)

https://i.sstatic.net/Hb6gM.png

Reducing redundancy in the regex, we address the operator being used between key-value pairs to refine our matching criteria.

FIND (files) where file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+) (AND) file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+) (OR) file([0-9]+)=("[^"]+"|[0-9]+)

https://i.sstatic.net/f2bhV.png

By allowing for repetition of the last part and considering the possibility of various value types, we enhance the flexibility of our regex pattern.

https://i.sstatic.net/qRV8v.png

Handling complex value scenarios like strings with spaces or escaped characters requires careful consideration in crafting the regex pattern.

Making use of named capturing groups in C# further enhances the readability and usability of our regex.

For more information on named capturing groups in .NET Regex, you can refer to this helpful resource.

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