Multi Line Regex Issue

Question

I have been searching all day on Stackoverflow and many other sites, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around trying to get regex to match what I need.

Please see example below:

This is the text I'm searching.

[Date]
;Possible values: Local, Static
;Type = Local
;If using Static type, the year/month/date to set the date to
;Year = 2012
;Month = 1
;Date = 1

[Time]
;Possible values: Local, Custom, Static
Type = Static
;If using Custom type, offset from UTC in hours (can be negative as well)
Offset = 0
;If using Static type (Hour value always the same on every server start), the value (0-24) to set the Hour to
Hour = 9

What I am trying to accomplish is a lookahead and obtain only the Type = Static under the [Time] bracket. I am using C# if that helps. I have tried many many different patterns with no success.

(?<=\[Time\]\n+Type = ).* 
(?<=\[Time\].*Type =).*

That's just a few ideas that I have tried. Can someone please show me the correct way to do this with an explanation on why it is doing what its doing? Based on the comments I noticed that I should be more clear on the fact that this file is much larger then what I have shown and almost each [SETTING] contains atleast one type flag to it. Also its almost 100% sure that the user will have ;comments put into the file so I have to be able to search out that specific [SETTING] and type to make it work.

Is there a specific reason you need to do this with a regex? — Dweeberly
– Dweeberly, Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 21:31
In addition to Dweeberly's question.. would you accept a non-regex version? — Simon Whitehead
– Simon Whitehead, Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 21:36
Not sure if C# supports \K, but in some languages you could use \[time\].*\KType\s*=\s*\w+ demo — HamZa
– HamZa, Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 21:40
I am not apposed to non regex idea and could probably do it without an issue just doing some simple FileIO but I'm trying to practice my Regex. So I would prefer it. — Timg
– Timg, Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 21:44
It looks like you're trying to read an ini file... you might be better off finding and using an existing library or code for parsing an ini file in .NET. — David Moore
– David Moore, Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 21:44

L.B · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-16 21:49:28Z

2

var val = Regex.Match(alltext, 
                      @"\[Time\].+?Type\s+=\s+([^\s]+)", 
                      RegexOptions.Singleline)
              .Groups[1].Value;

This will return Static

answered Oct 16, 2013 at 21:49

L.B

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3 Comments

Timg Over a year ago

Okay I have no idea how that is working and Would love someone to explain it to me but that grabs exactly what I was looking for to a tee. Please if you don't mind share an explanation with me.

Timg Over a year ago

Am I to understand that the .groups is produced as the first group being @"[Time].+?Type\s+=\s+ and the second group [1] is ([^\s]+)

Ben T Over a year ago

The first group is text matched for the entire pattern. Group N is the N-th regex pattern enclosed in parenthesis. msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/…

Ibrahim Najjar · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-16 21:51:13Z

0

You can try a different pattern:

(?<=Type\s*=\s*).*(?=[\r\n;]+)

I am assuming that Type = is always followed by a new line that starts with a semicolon ;.

Thanks for @SimonWhitehead and @HamZa for reminding me, I should note that this will capture both Type = lines, so you need to ignore the first match and look for the second one only.

EDIT: You can try another expression, which is not as efficient as the first one:

(?<=\[Time\][\r\n;]*[^\r\n]+[\r\n]*Type\s*=\s*).*

RegexHero Demo

edited Oct 16, 2013 at 21:51

answered Oct 16, 2013 at 21:34

Ibrahim Najjar

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6 Comments

Simon Whitehead Over a year ago

I didn't downvote.. but I assume whoever did is not happy with the fact this captures both of them. Which shouldn't matter to the OP.. they can just grab group 2.. +1 to undo the downvote.

Ibrahim Najjar Over a year ago

@SimonWhitehead Thank you very much. I don't know what's the problem with guys today. I got two answers down voted although they solve the problem correctly (the OPs told me saw) and even though I asked the down voters for a reason, they just don't respond. I want some payback :)

HamZa Over a year ago

@Sniffer Just to improve your answer: 1) you forgot = in (?<Type 2) It will match "type" under [Date] too, while the OP asked specifically for [Time]

Ibrahim Najjar Over a year ago

@user2005735 Check out the demo link I posted, It is working, and if it didn't work try the other pattern please.

Timg Over a year ago

Yea not sure what I could be doing wrong here but I can't get a match in notepad++ it gives me a invalid expression and in C# I get no match at all.

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