Regular expressions (regex) can be utilized to identify patterns in text and can be configured to only match when the

I'm attempting to create a regular expression in Java or JavaScript that will match the specified regex pattern only when the total character count is less than 13 (with a minimum of 4 characters).

(COT|MED)[ABCD]?-?[0-9]{1,4}(([JK]+[0-9]*)|(\ DDD)?)   ← originally posted

(COT|MED)[ABCD]?-?[0-9]{1,4}(([JK]+[0-9]*)|(\ [A-Z]+)?)

The following values should (and do) match:

MED-123
COTA-1224
MED4
COTB-892K777
MED-33 DDD
MED-234J5678

This value matches, but I don't want it to (I want to only match if there are fewer than 12 characters total):

COT-1111J11111111111111

You can view the examples at

I've attempted to group my expression and use {4,12} at the end, but this just looks for 4 to 12 instances of the entire expression matching.

I have a feeling like I might be overlooking something simple... Thank you in advance for your assistance!

javascriptjavaregex

Answer №1

A clever solution is to utilize negative look-ahead in your regex pattern:

(?!.{13,})(COT|MED)[ABCD]?-?[0-9]{1,4}(([JK]+[0-9]*)|(\ DDD)?)

By ensuring that the match must start with either COT or MED and must have at least one digit following it, you are already guaranteeing a minimum of 4 characters in the match.

Answer №2

After attempting to group my expression and adding {4,12} at the end, I realized that it was only looking for 4 to 12 instances of the entire expression matching.

The reason why your regex is searching for 4 to 12 instances of the whole expression is because you forgot to include a word boundary \b. Your regex is correct, just remember to add the word boundary for the desired outcome. You can refer to this DEMO.

Your current regex appears complicated and somewhat difficult to interpret. It also seems restricted to specific characters such as JK, unless intentional. For a more versatile pattern, consider using the following:

(COT|MED)[AB]?-?[\dJK]{1,8}(\s+D{1,3})?\b

(COT|MED): matches either COT or MED

[AB]?: matches A or B optionally due to the presence of ?

-?: matches - if present

[\dJK]{1,8}: This matches a number, J, or K with a length ranging from one to eight characters.

(\s+D{1,3})?: matches a space followed by D between one to three times, and is optional

\b: crucial for establishing boundaries to prevent capturing excess patterns beyond what is intended

View the demonstration DEMO2

Answer №3

The solution you seek is

(?!\S{13})(?:COT|MED)[ABCD]?-?\d{1,4}(?:[JK]+\d*|(?: [A-Z]+)?)

View regex example

Keep in mind that determining the length of a phrase with internal spaces or not forming a complete string can be challenging due to unclear boundaries. Thus, (?!\S{13}) acts as a workaround by ensuring there are no 13 or more non-whitespace characters without any spaces in between.

Breakdown of the regular expression:

  • (?!\S{13}) - Validates if the succeeding substring does not contain exactly 13 non-whitespace characters
  • (?:COT|MED) - Matches either COT or MED
  • [ABCD]?-? - Optional occurrences of A, B, C, D, followed by an optional hyphen -
  • \d{1,4} - Represents digits ranging from 1 to 4
  • (?:[JK]+\d*|(?: [A-Z]+)?) - Two alternatives within a group:
    • [JK]+\d* - Indicates one or more occurrences of J or K followed by zero or more digits
    • (?: [A-Z]+)? - Allows for an optional space and at least one uppercase Latin letter

Answer №4

According to this response, one approach to resolving this issue is:

(?=(COT|MED)[ABCD]?-?[0-9]{1,4}(([JK]+[0-9]*)|(\ DDD)?))(?={4 , 12})

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