Powershell Regex Function Deleting CRLFs - regex

Question

I am using the below function to create a JSON file from a SQL file. Unfortunately it is deleting the CRLF at the end of each line of the SQL file. I want it to keep them instead.
function GetStringBetweenTwoStrings($firstString, $secondString, $importPath){
>>
>> #Get content from file
>> $file = Get-Content $importPath
>>
>> #Regex pattern to compare two strings
>> $pattern = "$firstString(.*?)$secondString"
>>
>> #Perform the opperation
>> $result = [regex]::Match($file,$pattern).Groups[1].Value
>>
>> #Return result
>> return "{""sql"":"""+$result+"""}"
>>
>> }
I have tried using -raw but it does not seem to work
Thanks,
John

Answer 1

Interesting question
Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out a way to keep CRLF characters from `[regex]::Match` command.
It captures them fine but seems to return them as a single string by default.
If someone can figure that out, I'd be glad to see it.
Thanks to people much smarter than me, the following way with [regex]::match seems to work
function Get-StringBetweenTwoStrings {
[cmdletBinding()]
param (
$firstString,
$secondString,
$fullString
)
# Get content from file WITH -RAW
$file = Get-Content -Path $fullString -Raw
Write-Verbose $file -Verbose
# Regex pattern to compare two strings
$pattern = '{0}(.*?){1}' -f $firstString, $secondString
Write-Verbose $pattern -Verbose
# Perform the operation
$result = [regex]::Match($file, $pattern, 'SingleLine, MultiLine, IgnoreCase').Value
# Result
"{""sql"":""$result""}"
}
Test the code
Get-StringBetweenTwoStrings -firstString '(?<=GO)' -secondString '(?=GO)' -fullString .\Downloads\test.txt
Image
Workaround
When all else fails, I go back to brute force.
Start capturing when we see our $firstString, and keep capturing until we find our $secondString or reach the end.
Sample Data
$s = #'
# This is a random comment
GOSELECT TOP (1)
*
FROM dbo.Users
WHERE CaffeineLevel = 'Low';
# Can we get a cafGOfeine drip?
GO
# Why isn't this easier
'# -split '\r?\n'
Code
$capture = [Text.StringBuilder]::new()
$capturing = $false
$firstString = 'GO'
$secondString = 'GO'
foreach ($line in $s) {
if ($line -match $secondString -and $capturing) {
Write-Verbose "Stopping...$line" -Verbose
<#
In case we want to capture a partial line
look for everything UNTIL our second string
#>
$splitLine = ($line | Select-String -Pattern ".*(?=$secondString)").Matches.Value
Write-Verbose "Capturing: [$splitLine]" -Verbose
$null = $capture.AppendLine($splitLine)
$capturing = $false
<# second string found, stop altogether #>
break
}
if ($capturing) {
Write-Verbose "Capturing: [$line]" -Verbose
$null = $capture.AppendLine($line)
}
if ($line -match $firstString) {
Write-Verbose "Starting...$line" -Verbose
<#
In case we want to capture a partial line,
look for everything AFTER our first string
#>
$splitLine = ($line | Select-String -Pattern "(?<=$firstString).*").Matches.Value
Write-Verbose "Capturing: [$splitLine]" -Verbose
$null = $capture.AppendLine($splitLine)
$capturing = $true
}
}
$capture.ToString()
Dirty Testing Results