Multiline regex- works in RegexBuddy and online tester, but doesn't work in c#

Question

I have a c# code, a regex expression, and HTML source file. It works fine in RegexBuddy and http://derekslager.com/blog/posts/2007/09/a-better-dotnet-regular-expression-tester.ashx, but not in Visual Studio. Please help and explain me what is wrong.

What I expect is:

Found 3 matches:

/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username</a></td> <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><a href="../../msg/?id=49244417" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message1 example text</a></td> <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">16.10.11 23:20</td> has 5 groups:
    1. 4387740
    2. Username
    3. 49244417
    4. Message1 example text
    5. 16.10.11 23:20
/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username2</a></td> <td><a href="../../msg/?id=49223017" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message2 example text</a></td> <td>16.10.11 14:42</td> has 5 groups:
    1. 4387740
    2. Username2
    3.49223017
    4. Message2 example text
    5. 16.10.11 14:42
/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username3</a></td> <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><a href="../../msg/?id=49222720" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message3 example text</a></td> <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">16.10.11 14:34</td> has 5 groups:
    1. 4387740
    2. Username3
    3. 49222720
    4. Message3 example text
    5. 16.10.11 14:34

Regex

    @"/setcard/\?set=([0-9]*).*;"" >(.*)</a></td>$\s.*/msg/\?id=([0-9]*).*ref\);"">(.*)</a></td>$\s\s?.*>(.*)</td>$"

C# Code

using (StreamReader rdr = File.OpenText("file.html"))
        { s = rdr.ReadToEnd(); }

        Regex listMsgs = new Regex(@"/setcard/\?set=([0-9]*).*;"".>(.*)</a></td>$
.*/msg/\?id=([0-9]*).*ref\);"">(.*)</a></td>$

?.*>(.*)</td>$", RegexOptions.Multiline);
        Match m = listMsgs.Match(s);
        while (m.Success)
        {}

HTML Source

        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" class="c1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="transparent.gif" width="15px" height="15px" /></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" style="width:108px"><a href="../../auswertung/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username</a></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><a href="../../msg/?id=49244417" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message1 example text</a></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">16.10.11 23:20</td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">
                    </td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" align="center">

        <img src="message_art1.gif" width="14" height="10" border="0" />            </td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><input type="checkbox" name="messages[]" id="id_msg_1" value="49244417"></td>
        </tr>
                                <tr height="20">
        <td class="c1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="transparent.gif" width="15px" height="15px" /></td>
        <td style="width:108px"><a href="../../auswertung/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username2</a></td>
        <td><a href="../../msg/?id=49223017" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message2 example text</a></td>

        <td>16.10.11 14:42</td>
        <td>
                    </td>
        <td align="center">
        2           </td>
        <td><input type="checkbox" name="messages[]" id="id_msg_2" value="49223017"></td>
        </tr>
                                <tr height="20">

        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" class="c1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="transparent.gif" width="15px" height="15px" /></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" style="width:108px"><a href="../../auswertung/setcard/?set=4387740&t=1&secure=xJHC9dYymGSnImebS4qLPw%3D%3D" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);" >Username3</a></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><a href="../../msg/?id=49222720" onclick="return openUrl(this.href);">Message3 example text</a></td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">16.10.11 14:34</td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6">
                    </td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6" align="center">

        2           </td>
        <td bgcolor="#F6F6F6"><input type="checkbox" name="messages[]" id="id_msg_3" value="49222720"></td>
        </tr>
                                <tr height="20">

how about describing your results vs what you were expecting. — Sam Axe
– Sam Axe, Commented Oct 19, 2011 at 0:09

Alan Moore · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-19 23:34:08Z

This regex yields the expected result for me:

@"/setcard/\?set=([0-9]*).*?;""\s*>(.*?)</a></td>\s*.*?/msg/\?id=([0-9]*).*?ref\);"">(.*?)</a></td>\s*.*>(.*?)</td>"

It looks like you're using the $ metacharacter to match newlines, which is incorrect. That's a zero-width assertion: it matches the position just before a newline, without consuming the newline character(s). That means the .* following the $ has to consume it, but of course the dot doesn't match newlines.

There's really no point in using the anchor ($) in this case; you have to consume the newlines anyway, so just match them the way you match any other characters. If the newlines were required I would suggest using [\r\n]+, which will match one or more of any kind of newlines, whether they're \r\n (DOS/Windows style), \r (pre-OSX Mac), or \n (everything else). But in this case I don't think you need to be that specific; \s* (zero or more of any whitespace characters) seems to work fine. You also don't need the Multiline option any more.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:28:54Z

0

Anywhere you're expecting any sort of newline character, you need to use a '\s' in your regex. Check out a similar question and answer here for more details.

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:28

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Oct 19, 2011 at 1:35

joelmdev

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1 Comment

Kassan Over a year ago

Hi jm2, thans for your help. I tried to use /setcard/\?set=([0-9]*).*;" >(.*)</a></td>$\s.*/msg/\?id=([09]*).*ref);">(.*)</a></td>$\s\s?.*>(.*)</td>$ and it still works online and in RegexBuddy, but not in c#... any suggestions?

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