regex match character but not within regex

Question

STOPATDESK YES;
:: TXT "LCLLMT:29.4700";
:: TXT "LCLCURR;NON-USD";
:: TXT "CALLBK:3";
:: TXT "FFTRL:EUR-LIM;-TAP-5";

STOPATDESK YES; :: TXT "LCLLMT:29.4700"; :: TXT "LCLCURR;NON-USD"; :: TXT "CALLBK:3"; :: TXT "FFTRL:EUR-LIM;-TAP-5";

Could you please provide regex that will match semicolons but not within TXT "..."?

There were several useful questions on StackOverflow but I failed to compile working solution for my case
Regex for matching a character, but not when it's enclosed in square bracket
Regex for matching a character, but not when it's enclosed in quotes

I could not understand. Do you want to match the semicolons at the end of the lines? — stann1
– stann1, Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:21
there were several usefull questions on StackOverflow but I failed to compile working solution for my case — Mykhaylo Adamovych
– Mykhaylo Adamovych, Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:23
yes, I want to match semicollons but they may not be at the end of the lines — Mykhaylo Adamovych
– Mykhaylo Adamovych, Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:27
Just match? Easy: "TEXT\\s*\"[^\"]*\"|(;)" and grab .group(1). — Wiktor Stribiżew
– Wiktor Stribiżew, Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:33
Try using s.split("(?<!TXT \"[^\"]{0,1000});"). If the TXT "... are not longer than 1000 symbols long, that might work in this case. But I do not think a constrained witdth look-behind is that reliable. — Wiktor Stribiżew
– Wiktor Stribiżew, Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:43

Tobías · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-09 15:23:59Z

2

You need a regex that matches any semicolon that is not followed by an odd number of quotes.

;(?![^"]*(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*"[^"]*$)

The tricky part is to find the negative lookahead (?![^"]*(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*"[^"]*$):

[^"]* match any text before the first " after ;
(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})* match any even number of quotes with text inside
[^"]*"[^"]*$ match the last quote

If all the above conditions are matched, then an odd number of " is found after ;. That implies that the ; is inside two " and therefore it's not a valid ;.

Regex: https://regex101.com/r/dG6cC1/1

Java demo: https://ideone.com/OuAaA5

edited Sep 9, 2015 at 15:23

answered Sep 9, 2015 at 15:07

Tobías

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m.cekiera · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-09 16:51:07Z

0

You can also try with:

"[^"]*"|(;)

DEMO

which will match quotes or separate semicolons, then get separate semicolons with group(1). However the unbalanced quoting sings would couse a problem. Or, if whole file is formated as your example (semicolons in quotation are preceded and followed by another character, not whitespace), you can try with:

;(?=\s|$)

DEMO

It works with example above.

answered Sep 9, 2015 at 16:51

m.cekiera

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