Capturing items from multiple lists using a single regex

Question

My input looks like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. _4,7,13 Nullam suscipit orci sit amet feugiat facilisis. Curabitur eget 8 ligula malesuada, vehicula 3,6 quam sit amet, _5 tempor velit.

I need to capture every number that's in a comma-separated list preceded by _, individually and using a single regex.

In other words, I need the bolded numbers above:

[4, 7, 13, 5]

I've been trying again and again to make this work without success. I'd like to know if this is even possible before forfeiting and going with multiple expressions.

I'm looking for a solution in Javascript, but obviously any pointer will help.

Can you show us what you have tried? A jsfiddle would be even better. — EvilZebra
– EvilZebra, Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 15:38
@Evilzebra I haven't posted what I've tried because frankly, I couldn't really get much farther than a basic expression. Here is the closest I got to the requirement though (I'm still capturing that 6 in the second list): regex101.com/r/nX9hP9/2 — idmadj
– idmadj, Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 15:55

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 15:40:28Z

1

You can use this code in Javascript:

var input = 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. 4,7,13 Nullam suscipit orci sit amet feugiat facilisis. Curabitur eget 8 ligula malesuada, vehicula 3,6 quam sit amet, 5 tempor velit.';

var matches = [];
input.replace(/_(\d+(?:,\d+)*)\b/g, function($0, $1) { 
      matches = matches.concat( $1.split(/,/g) ); return $1; } );

console.log(matches);
//=> ["4", "7", "13", "5"]

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 15:40

anubhava

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2 Comments

idmadj Over a year ago

Thanks for the detailed answer. That seems to be the most efficient way to do it. I wanted to make sure that capturing the numbers through the regex alone wasn't possible before doing it "manually".

anubhava Over a year ago

I believe there is no alternative other than using a callback function like this.

vks · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-21 15:38:31Z

0

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

Try this.Grab the captures.Then split by ,.See demo.

http://regex101.com/r/rQ6mK9/23

answered Oct 21, 2014 at 15:38

vks

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