C# simple regex match doesnt work properly for me

Question

I'm trying to write some code in C# to extract information out of a string using a regex:

var regex = new Regex("href=/skin/(.*)");
var matches = regex.Matches(line);
foreach (string regfr in matches)
    MessageBox.Show(regfr);

I'm doing something REALLY WRONG, I've done regex before but here it's much more confusing.

I want to turn:

<a href="/skin/result1">

into:

result1

i used this in php on preg_match which is easy to use..

a%20href="/skin/(.*)"

and it worked, this is probably really easy, but I'm extremely confused with the way these object-oriented things work :P

Where are double quotes?

Casimir et Hippolyte
– Casimir et Hippolyte

2015-03-04 21:23:50 +00:00
Commented Mar 4, 2015 at 21:23 — Casimir et Hippolyte
– Casimir et Hippolyte, Commented Mar 4, 2015 at 21:23

Wiktor Stribiżew · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-04 22:21:37Z

1

In var matches = regex.Matches(line);, matches is a MatchCollection. You cannot declare the items as strings.

Your error message says that a Match object cannot be cast to a String.

You should first cast the MatchCollection to the array or list of something that can be iterated. Like this:

var regex = new Regex(@"href=""/skin/([^""]*)(?="")");
var line = @"<a href=""/skin/result1"">";
var matches = regex.Matches(line);
foreach (var regfr in matches.Cast<Match>().ToList())
    MessageBox.Show(regfr.Groups[1].Value);

edited Mar 4, 2015 at 22:21

answered Mar 4, 2015 at 22:10

Wiktor Stribiżew

631k41 gold badges502 silver badges632 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

timo_pomer Over a year ago

it works,so thank you for that,im not sure what this means:matches.Cast<Match>().ToList()

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

@timo_pomer: BTW, using this .Cast() allows you to use LINQ on the match collection. It turned out a very handy thing for me.

Parimal Raj · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-04 21:22:01Z

0

Try :

var regex = new Regex("href=\"/skin/(.+?)\"");
var matches = regex.Matches(line);
foreach (string regfr in matches)
    MessageBox.Show(regfr);

The only issue with your current Regex pattern is that it is missing " after =. So, href=/skin/(.*) must be href="/skin/(.*)

answered Mar 4, 2015 at 21:22

Parimal Raj

20.6k9 gold badges76 silver badges113 bronze badges

1 Comment

timo_pomer Over a year ago

i see you escaped many things.2 questions.1:why .+? and not all matches like i did? 2:im getting this error i.imgur.com/bLpTt1p.png

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

C# simple regex match doesnt work properly for me

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related