Using Regex in C#.NET to extract data from a string

Question

I am trying to extract the values AGST, 1, or 2 from:

string order = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";

I have found a close answer on stack overflow here.

I would like to use a method similar to the top solution at the above link, but I think I have to change the regular expression in the line:

var pattern = string.Format("(?<=[\\{{\\s,]{0}\\s*=\\s*)\\d+", escIdPart);

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edit:

Thanks for the help! Here is my current code -

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var order = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";

    var id = GetValue("ID:", order); // should return "AGST"
    var quantity = GetValue("Quantity:", order); // should return "1"

    Label3.Text = id.ToString();
    Label4.Text = quantity.ToString();
}

public string GetValue(string idPart, string test)
{
    var escIdPart = Regex.Escape(idPart);
    var pattern = string.Format(@": (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*(\d+)", escIdPart);
    var result = default(string);
    var match = Regex.Match(test, pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
    if (match.Success)
    {
        result = match.Value;
    }
    return result;
}

id.ToString() and quantity.ToString() both produce ": AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2" when they should produce "AGST" and "1" respectively.

Again, any help is appreciated!

Edit 2: Solved!

Thanks for all the help! Here is my final code:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var order = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";

    var id = GetValue(1, order); // returns "AGST"
    var quantity = GetValue(2, order); // returns "1"
    var cost = GetValue(3, order); // returns "2"

    Label3.Text = id.ToString();
    Label4.Text = quantity.ToString();
    Label5.Text = cost.ToString();
}

public string GetValue(int group, string test)
{
    var pattern = @": (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*(\d+)";
    var result = default(string);
    var match = Regex.Match(test, pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
    if (match.Success)
    {
        result = match.Groups[group].Value;
    }
    return result;
}

Edit 3: "var pattern" expression change

I found that the expression only works if the value after "Points each: " is one digit. I changed the expression and now it seems to work fine with any number of digits in the values following "Quantity: " and "Points each: " - any objections/suggestions? Here is the code:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var order = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";

    var id = GetValue(1, order); // returns "AGST"
    var quantity = GetValue(2, order); // returns "1"
    var cost = GetValue(3, order); // returns "2"

    Label3.Text = id.ToString();
    Label4.Text = quantity.ToString();
    Label5.Text = cost.ToString();
}

public string GetValue(int group, string test)
{
    var pattern = @": (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*: (\d+)";
    var result = default(string);
    var match = Regex.Match(test, pattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
    if (match.Success)
    {
        result = match.Groups[group].Value;
    }
    return result;
}

You have a completely different string and can't use the same Regex. If you explain in more detail what you want to extract from the string and how the string can vary in its content. — Håkan Fahlstedt
– Håkan Fahlstedt, Commented Jan 28, 2014 at 15:48

J0e3gan · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:58:06Z

3

What about this?

var pattern = @"^Tumbler \(ID\: ([A-Z]+), Quantity\: (\d+), Points each\: (\d+)\)";
var regex = new Regex(pattern);
var match = regex.Match("Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)");
foreach (var group in match.Groups)
{
    Console.WriteLine(group.ToString());
}

Output should be:

Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)
AGST
1
2

I am assuming some uniformity across other target strings insofar as alpha IDs and whole-number quantities & points, but you can adjust as needed.

MSDN has some great reference info and examples to help.

Also, check out Regex Hero's online tester to tinker - with IntelliSense even. :) You can tinker with the a copy of the above regex pattern that I saved there.

edited Jan 28, 2014 at 15:58

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:53

J0e3gan

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Comments

Mike Perrenoud · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:46:33Z

2

I think you can simplify the expression a bit, consider the following:

: (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*(\d+)

Regular expression visualization

Debuggex Demo

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:46

Mike Perrenoud

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7 Comments

user3105013 Over a year ago

Thanks for your help. I changed the line to: var pattern = string.Format(": (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*(\d+)", escIdPart); But got the error: CS1009: Unrecognized escape sequence...

Mike Perrenoud Over a year ago

@user3105013, put the @ at the beginning of the string, right before the first ".

user3105013 Over a year ago

Thank you, the error is fixed! But now I'm getting an output of: ": AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2". I will update my question with my current code...

Mike Perrenoud Over a year ago

@user3105013: You can't use match.Value, you need to use match.Groups[1], match.Groups[2], and match.Groups[3] to get the values of the groups.

Mike Perrenoud Over a year ago

@user3105013: As a follow up, the line var pattern = string.Format(@": (.+)?,.*: (\d+).*(\d+)", escIdPart); isn't doing anything. The value of escIdPart isn't inserted into the string. If you wanted it in there then you'll need to put {0} where ever you want it.

|

Roman Pushkin · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:50:16Z

2

using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string pattern = @"ID\s?\:\s(?<id>\w+).+Quantity\s?\:\s(?<quantity>\d+).+each\s?\:\s(?<points>\d+)";
        string input = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";

        Regex regex = new Regex(pattern);
        Match m = regex.Match(input);

        if(m.Success)
        {
            string id = m.Groups["id"].Value;
            int quantity = Int32.Parse(m.Groups["quantity"].Value);
            int points = Int32.Parse(m.Groups["points"].Value);

            Console.WriteLine(id + ", " + quantity + ", " + points);
        }
    }
}

See example on DotNetFiddle.

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:50

Roman Pushkin

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Comments

Frank59 · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:48:05Z

1

Try to use next regex

"ID: (.*), Quantity: (.*), Points each: (.*)\)"

After that you can get AGST from group1, 1 from group2 and 2 from group3

answered Jan 28, 2014 at 15:48

Frank59

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Comments

Tim Schmelter · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-28 15:51:20Z

Here is a string-method only approach:

string order = "Tumbler (ID: AGST, Quantity: 1, Points each: 2)";
var keyValues = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();

int index = order.IndexOf('(');
if(index++ >= 0)
{
    int endIndex = order.IndexOf(')', index);
    if(endIndex >= 0)
    {
        string inBrackets = order.Substring(index, endIndex - index);
        string[] tokens = inBrackets.Trim().Split(new[]{','}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);

        foreach(string token in tokens)
        {
            string[] keyVals = token.Trim().Split(new[]{':'}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
            if(keyVals.Length == 2)
            {
                keyValues.Add(new KeyValuePair<string,string>(keyVals[0].Trim(), keyVals[1].Trim()));
            }
        }
    }
}
foreach (var keyVal in keyValues)
{
    Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", keyVal.Key, keyVal.Value);
}

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