How to save SubMatches as array and print not empty submatches? - regex

Question

When I try the following Regex code and add a "Add Watch" (Shift + F9) to Matches
Sub TestRegEx1()
Dim regex As Object, Matches As Object
Dim str As String
str = "This is text for the submatches"
Set regex = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
regex.Pattern = "Th(is).+(for).+(submatches)|.+(\d)|([A-Z]{3})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
Set Matches = regex.Execute(str)
End Sub
I see that Matches is structured like this (with 2 empty submatches):
2 questions:
How can I save in an array variable the SubMatches?
How can I Debug.Print only elements that are not empty?
I've tried doing like below but is not working
Set Arr = Matches.SubMatches
Set Arr = Matches(1).SubMatches
Set Arr = Matches.Item(1).SubMatches
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Is the following what you intended? Oversize an array at the start and redim at the end. First version prints only non-empty but stores all. Second version prints and stores only non-empty.
You probably want to .Test to ensure there are matches.
Option Explicit
Sub TestRegEx1()
Dim regex As Object, matches As Object, match As Object, subMatch As Variant
Dim str As String, subMatches(), i As Long
ReDim subMatches(0 To 1000)
str = "This is text for the submatches"
Set regex = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
regex.Pattern = "Th(is).+(for).+(submatches)|.+(\d)|([A-Z]{3})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(str)
For Each match In matches
For Each subMatch In match.subMatches
subMatches(i) = match.subMatches(i)
If Not IsEmpty(subMatches(i)) Then Debug.Print subMatches(i)
i = i + 1
Next
Next
ReDim Preserve subMatches(0 To i)
End Sub
If you only want to store non-empty then
Option Explicit
Sub TestRegEx1()
Dim regex As Object, matches As Object, match As Object, subMatch As Variant
Dim str As String, subMatches(), i As Long
ReDim subMatches(0 To 1000)
str = "This is text for the submatches"
Set regex = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
regex.Pattern = "Th(is).+(for).+(submatches)|.+(\d)|([A-Z]{3})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(str)
For Each match In matches
For Each subMatch In match.subMatches
subMatches(i) = match.subMatches(i)
If Not IsEmpty(subMatches(i)) Then
Debug.Print subMatches(i)
i = i + 1
End If
Next
Next
ReDim Preserve subMatches(0 To i)
End Sub

Answer 2

You may use a Collection and fill it on the go.
Add
Dim m, coll As Collection
Initialize the collection:
Set coll = New Collection
Then, once you get the matches, use
If Matches.Count > 0 Then ' if there are matches
For Each m In Matches(0).SubMatches ' you need the first match submatches
If Len(m) > 0 Then coll.Add (m) ' if not 0 length, save value to collection
Next
End If
Result of the code with changes: