Add a new line or space depending on pattern - regex

I am trying to do the following.
Patterns:
aaaaa.BBBBB - to add New Line after the (.)
aaaaaBBBBB - to add New Line when see a Caps letter.
aaaaa12345 - to add a space when there is a digit (Output: aaaaa 12345)
12345aaaaa - to add a space when there is a letter after the digit (Output: 12345 aaaaa)
Values:
Client asked about the 21year planPlease follow up at1234567
ReGex code need to the following:
Client asked about the 21 (space) year plan**(new line)** Please
follow up at (space) 1234567
Result:
Client asked about the 21 year plan
Please follow up at 1234567.
How do I recognize the pattern and also do a specific replacement be it adding (space) or (newline)?
Here is the code I use currently:
Function SplitCaps(strIn As String) As String
Dim objRegex As Object
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With objRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "([a-z])([A-Z0-9])"
SplitCaps = .Replace(strIn, "$1 $2")
End With
End Function

You can use two regex replacements. The first one to add spaces between 0a and a0 (between a number and a lowercase letter), and a second to create the newline between aA and a.A.
([a-z])([0-9])|([0-9])([a-z]) and replace with $1$3 $2$4
([a-z])\.?([A-Z]) and replace with $1\n$2
If you want a period added at the end use $ and replace with \.
Try this code:
Function SplitCaps(strIn As String) As String
Dim objRegex As Object
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
Dim result As String
With objRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "([a-z])([0-9])|([0-9])([a-z])"
result = .Replace(strIn, "$1$3 $2$4")
End With
With objRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "([a-z])\.?([A-Z])"
result = .Replace(result, "$1\n$2")
End With
SplitCaps = result
End Function

Related

Why is match object .Value not working as expected? [duplicate]

How can I use regular expressions in Excel and take advantage of Excel's powerful grid-like setup for data manipulation?
In-cell function to return a matched pattern or replaced value in a string.
Sub to loop through a column of data and extract matches to adjacent cells.
What setup is necessary?
What are Excel's special characters for Regular expressions?
I understand Regex is not ideal for many situations (To use or not to use regular expressions?) since excel can use Left, Mid, Right, Instr type commands for similar manipulations.
Regular expressions are used for Pattern Matching.
To use in Excel follow these steps:
Step 1: Add VBA reference to "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5"
Select "Developer" tab (I don't have this tab what do I do?)
Select "Visual Basic" icon from 'Code' ribbon section
In "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window select "Tools" from the top menu.
Select "References"
Check the box next to "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5" to include in your workbook.
Click "OK"
Step 2: Define your pattern
Basic definitions:
- Range.
E.g. a-z matches an lower case letters from a to z
E.g. 0-5 matches any number from 0 to 5
[] Match exactly one of the objects inside these brackets.
E.g. [a] matches the letter a
E.g. [abc] matches a single letter which can be a, b or c
E.g. [a-z] matches any single lower case letter of the alphabet.
() Groups different matches for return purposes. See examples below.
{} Multiplier for repeated copies of pattern defined before it.
E.g. [a]{2} matches two consecutive lower case letter a: aa
E.g. [a]{1,3} matches at least one and up to three lower case letter a, aa, aaa
+ Match at least one, or more, of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. a+ will match consecutive a's a, aa, aaa, and so on
? Match zero or one of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. Pattern may or may not be present but can only be matched one time.
E.g. [a-z]? matches empty string or any single lower case letter.
* Match zero or more of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. Wildcard for pattern that may or may not be present.
E.g. [a-z]* matches empty string or string of lower case letters.
. Matches any character except newline \n
E.g. a. Matches a two character string starting with a and ending with anything except \n
| OR operator
E.g. a|b means either a or b can be matched.
E.g. red|white|orange matches exactly one of the colors.
^ NOT operator
E.g. [^0-9] character can not contain a number
E.g. [^aA] character can not be lower case a or upper case A
\ Escapes special character that follows (overrides above behavior)
E.g. \., \\, \(, \?, \$, \^
Anchoring Patterns:
^ Match must occur at start of string
E.g. ^a First character must be lower case letter a
E.g. ^[0-9] First character must be a number.
$ Match must occur at end of string
E.g. a$ Last character must be lower case letter a
Precedence table:
Order Name Representation
1 Parentheses ( )
2 Multipliers ? + * {m,n} {m, n}?
3 Sequence & Anchors abc ^ $
4 Alternation |
Predefined Character Abbreviations:
abr same as meaning
\d [0-9] Any single digit
\D [^0-9] Any single character that's not a digit
\w [a-zA-Z0-9_] Any word character
\W [^a-zA-Z0-9_] Any non-word character
\s [ \r\t\n\f] Any space character
\S [^ \r\t\n\f] Any non-space character
\n [\n] New line
Example 1: Run as macro
The following example macro looks at the value in cell A1 to see if the first 1 or 2 characters are digits. If so, they are removed and the rest of the string is displayed. If not, then a box appears telling you that no match is found. Cell A1 values of 12abc will return abc, value of 1abc will return abc, value of abc123 will return "Not Matched" because the digits were not at the start of the string.
Private Sub simpleRegex()
Dim strPattern As String: strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,2}"
Dim strReplace As String: strReplace = ""
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1")
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = Myrange.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
MsgBox (regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace))
Else
MsgBox ("Not matched")
End If
End If
End Sub
Example 2: Run as an in-cell function
This example is the same as example 1 but is setup to run as an in-cell function. To use, change the code to this:
Function simpleCellRegex(Myrange As Range) As String
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strPattern As String
Dim strInput As String
Dim strReplace As String
Dim strOutput As String
strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,3}"
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = Myrange.Value
strReplace = ""
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.test(strInput) Then
simpleCellRegex = regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace)
Else
simpleCellRegex = "Not matched"
End If
End If
End Function
Place your strings ("12abc") in cell A1. Enter this formula =simpleCellRegex(A1) in cell B1 and the result will be "abc".
Example 3: Loop Through Range
This example is the same as example 1 but loops through a range of cells.
Private Sub simpleRegex()
Dim strPattern As String: strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,2}"
Dim strReplace As String: strReplace = ""
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A5")
For Each cell In Myrange
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = cell.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
MsgBox (regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace))
Else
MsgBox ("Not matched")
End If
End If
Next
End Sub
Example 4: Splitting apart different patterns
This example loops through a range (A1, A2 & A3) and looks for a string starting with three digits followed by a single alpha character and then 4 numeric digits. The output splits apart the pattern matches into adjacent cells by using the (). $1 represents the first pattern matched within the first set of ().
Private Sub splitUpRegexPattern()
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strPattern As String
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A3")
For Each C In Myrange
strPattern = "(^[0-9]{3})([a-zA-Z])([0-9]{4})"
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = C.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.test(strInput) Then
C.Offset(0, 1) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$1")
C.Offset(0, 2) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$2")
C.Offset(0, 3) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$3")
Else
C.Offset(0, 1) = "(Not matched)"
End If
End If
Next
End Sub
Results:
Additional Pattern Examples
String Regex Pattern Explanation
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]{3} Single alpha, single digit, three alpha characters
a1aaa [a-zA-Z]?[0-9][a-zA-Z]{3} May or may not have preceding alpha character
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]{0,3} Single alpha, single digit, 0 to 3 alpha characters
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]* Single alpha, single digit, followed by any number of alpha characters
</i8> \<\/[a-zA-Z][0-9]\> Exact non-word character except any single alpha followed by any single digit
To make use of regular expressions directly in Excel formulas the following UDF (user defined function) can be of help. It more or less directly exposes regular expression functionality as an excel function.
How it works
It takes 2-3 parameters.
A text to use the regular expression on.
A regular expression.
A format string specifying how the result should look. It can contain $0, $1, $2, and so on. $0 is the entire match, $1 and up correspond to the respective match groups in the regular expression. Defaults to $0.
Some examples
Extracting an email address:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "\w+#\w+\.\w+")
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "\w+#\w+\.\w+", "$0")
Results in: some#email.com
Extracting several substrings:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "E-Mail: $2, Name: $1")
Results in: E-Mail: some#email.com, Name: Peter Gordon
To take apart a combined string in a single cell into its components in multiple cells:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "$" & 1)
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "$" & 2)
Results in: Peter Gordon some#email.com ...
How to use
To use this UDF do the following (roughly based on this Microsoft page. They have some good additional info there!):
In Excel in a Macro enabled file ('.xlsm') push ALT+F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Editor.
Add VBA reference to the Regular Expressions library (shamelessly copied from Portland Runners++ answer):
Click on Tools -> References (please excuse the german screenshot)
Find Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 in the list and tick the checkbox next to it.
Click OK.
Click on Insert Module. If you give your module a different name make sure the Module does not have the same name as the UDF below (e.g. naming the Module Regex and the function regex causes #NAME! errors).
In the big text window in the middle insert the following:
Function regex(strInput As String, matchPattern As String, Optional ByVal outputPattern As String = "$0") As Variant
Dim inputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp, outputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp, outReplaceRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
Dim inputMatches As Object, replaceMatches As Object, replaceMatch As Object
Dim replaceNumber As Integer
With inputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
With outputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = "\$(\d+)"
End With
With outReplaceRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
End With
Set inputMatches = inputRegexObj.Execute(strInput)
If inputMatches.Count = 0 Then
regex = False
Else
Set replaceMatches = outputRegexObj.Execute(outputPattern)
For Each replaceMatch In replaceMatches
replaceNumber = replaceMatch.SubMatches(0)
outReplaceRegexObj.Pattern = "\$" & replaceNumber
If replaceNumber = 0 Then
outputPattern = outReplaceRegexObj.Replace(outputPattern, inputMatches(0).Value)
Else
If replaceNumber > inputMatches(0).SubMatches.Count Then
'regex = "A to high $ tag found. Largest allowed is $" & inputMatches(0).SubMatches.Count & "."
regex = CVErr(xlErrValue)
Exit Function
Else
outputPattern = outReplaceRegexObj.Replace(outputPattern, inputMatches(0).SubMatches(replaceNumber - 1))
End If
End If
Next
regex = outputPattern
End If
End Function
Save and close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Editor window.
Expanding on patszim's answer for those in a rush.
Open Excel workbook.
Alt+F11 to open VBA/Macros window.
Add reference to regex under Tools then References
and selecting Microsoft VBScript Regular Expression 5.5
Insert a new module (code needs to reside in the module otherwise it doesn't work).
In the newly inserted module,
add the following code:
Function RegxFunc(strInput As String, regexPattern As String) As String
Dim regEx As New RegExp
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.pattern = regexPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
Set matches = regEx.Execute(strInput)
RegxFunc = matches(0).Value
Else
RegxFunc = "not matched"
End If
End Function
The regex pattern is placed in one of the cells and absolute referencing is used on it.
Function will be tied to workbook that its created in.
If there's a need for it to be used in different workbooks, store the function in Personal.XLSB
Here is my attempt:
Function RegParse(ByVal pattern As String, ByVal html As String)
Dim regex As RegExp
Set regex = New RegExp
With regex
.IgnoreCase = True 'ignoring cases while regex engine performs the search.
.pattern = pattern 'declaring regex pattern.
.Global = False 'restricting regex to find only first match.
If .Test(html) Then 'Testing if the pattern matches or not
mStr = .Execute(html)(0) '.Execute(html)(0) will provide the String which matches with Regex
RegParse = .Replace(mStr, "$1") '.Replace function will replace the String with whatever is in the first set of braces - $1.
Else
RegParse = "#N/A"
End If
End With
End Function
This isn't a direct answer but may provide a more efficient alternative for your consideration. Which is that Google Sheets has several built in Regex Functions these can be very convenient and help circumvent some of the technical procedures in Excel. Obviously there are some advantages to using Excel on your PC but for the large majority of users Google Sheets will offer an identical experience and may offer some benefits in portability and sharing of documents.
They offer
REGEXEXTRACT: Extracts matching substrings according to a regular expression.
REGEXREPLACE: Replaces part of a text string with a different text string using regular expressions.
SUBSTITUTE: Replaces existing text with new text in a string.
REPLACE: Replaces part of a text string with a different text string.
You can type these directly into a cell like so and will produce whatever you'd like
=REGEXMATCH(A2, "[0-9]+")
They also work quite well in combinations with other functions such as IF statements like so:
=IF(REGEXMATCH(E8,"MiB"),REGEXEXTRACT(E8,"\d*\.\d*|\d*")/1000,IF(REGEXMATCH(E8,"GiB"),REGEXEXTRACT(E8,"\d*\.\d*|\d*"),"")
Hopefully this provides a simple workaround for those users who feel daunted by the VBS component of Excel.
To add to the valuable content, I would like to create this reminder on why sometimes RegEx within VBA is not ideal. Not all expressions are supported, but instead may throw an Error 5017 and may leave the author guessing (which I am a victim of myself).
Whilst we can find some sources on what is supported, it would be helpfull to know which metacharacters etc. are not supported. A more in-depth explaination can be found here. Mentioned in this source:
"Although "VBScript’s regular expression ... version 5.5 implements quite a few essential regex features that were missing in previous versions of VBScript. ... JavaScript and VBScript implement Perl-style regular expressions. However, they lack quite a number of advanced features available in Perl and other modern regular expression flavors:"
So, not supported are:
Start of String ancor \A, alternatively use the ^ caret to match postion before 1st char in string
End of String ancor \Z, alternatively use the $ dollar sign to match postion after last char in string
Positive LookBehind, e.g.: (?<=a)b (whilst postive LookAhead is supported)
Negative LookBehind, e.g.: (?<!a)b (whilst negative LookAhead is supported)
Atomic Grouping
Possessive Quantifiers
Unicode e.g.: \{uFFFF}
Named Capturing Groups. Alternatively use Numbered Capturing Groups
Inline modifiers, e.g.: /i (case sensitivity) or /g (global) etc. Set these through the RegExp object properties > RegExp.Global = True and RegExp.IgnoreCase = True if available.
Conditionals
Regular Expression Comments. Add these with regular ' comments in script
I already hit a wall more than once using regular expressions within VBA. Usually with LookBehind but sometimes I even forget the modifiers. I have not experienced all these above mentioned backdrops myself but thought I would try to be extensive referring to some more in-depth information. Feel free to comment/correct/add. Big shout out to regular-expressions.info for a wealth of information.
P.S. You have mentioned regular VBA methods and functions, and I can confirm they (at least to myself) have been helpful in their own ways where RegEx would fail.
I needed to use this as a cell function (like SUM or VLOOKUP) and found that it was easy to:
Make sure you are in a Macro Enabled Excel File (save as xlsm).
Open developer tools Alt + F11
Add Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 as in other answers
Create the following function either in workbook or in its own module:
Function REGPLACE(myRange As Range, matchPattern As String, outputPattern As String) As Variant
Dim regex As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
Dim strInput As String
strInput = myRange.Value
With regex
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
REGPLACE = regex.Replace(strInput, outputPattern)
End Function
Then you can use in cell with =REGPLACE(B1, "(\w) (\d+)", "$1$2") (ex: "A 243" to "A243")
Here is a regex_subst() function. Examples:
=regex_subst("watermellon", "[aeiou]", "")
---> wtrmlln
=regex_subst("watermellon", "[^aeiou]", "")
---> aeeo
Here is the simplified code (simpler for me, anyway). I couldn't figure out how to build a suitable output pattern using the above to work like my examples:
Function regex_subst( _
strInput As String _
, matchPattern As String _
, Optional ByVal replacePattern As String = "" _
) As Variant
Dim inputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
With inputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
regex_subst = inputRegexObj.Replace(strInput, replacePattern)
End Function
I don't want to have to enable a reference library as I need my scripts to be portable. The Dim foo As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp line caused User Defined Type Not Defined errors, but I found a solution that worked for me.
Update RE comments w/ #chrisneilsen :
I was under the impression that enabling a reference library was tied to the local computers settings, but it is in fact, tied directly to the workbook. So, you can enable a reference library, share a macro enabled workbook and the end user wouldn't have to enable the library as well. Caveat: The advantage to Late Binding is that the developer does not have to worry about the wrong version of an object library being installed on the user's computer. This likely would not be an issue w/ the VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp library, but I'm not sold that the "performance" benifit is worth it for me at this time, as we are talking imperceptible milliseconds in my code. I felt this deserved an update to help others understand. If you enable the reference library, you can use "early bind", but if you don't, as far as I can tell, the code will work fine, but you need to "late bind" and loose on some performance/debugging features.
Source: https://peltiertech.com/Excel/EarlyLateBinding.html
What you'll want to do is put an example string in cell A1, then test your strPattern. Once that's working adjust then rng as desired.
Public Sub RegExSearch()
'https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22542834/how-to-use-regular-expressions-regex-in-microsoft-excel-both-in-cell-and-loops
'https://wellsr.com/vba/2018/excel/vba-regex-regular-expressions-guide/
'https://www.vitoshacademy.com/vba-regex-in-excel/
Dim regexp As Object
'Dim regex As New VBScript_RegExp_55.regexp 'Caused "User Defined Type Not Defined" Error
Dim rng As Range, rcell As Range
Dim strInput As String, strPattern As String
Set regexp = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
Set rng = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A1")
strPattern = "([a-z]{2})([0-9]{8})"
'Search for 2 Letters then 8 Digits Eg: XY12345678 = Matched
With regexp
.Global = False
.MultiLine = False
.ignoreCase = True
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
For Each rcell In rng.Cells
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = rcell.Value
If regexp.test(strInput) Then
MsgBox rcell & " Matched in Cell " & rcell.Address
Else
MsgBox "No Matches!"
End If
End If
Next
End Sub

How to get match value of regex in VBA [duplicate]

How can I use regular expressions in Excel and take advantage of Excel's powerful grid-like setup for data manipulation?
In-cell function to return a matched pattern or replaced value in a string.
Sub to loop through a column of data and extract matches to adjacent cells.
What setup is necessary?
What are Excel's special characters for Regular expressions?
I understand Regex is not ideal for many situations (To use or not to use regular expressions?) since excel can use Left, Mid, Right, Instr type commands for similar manipulations.
Regular expressions are used for Pattern Matching.
To use in Excel follow these steps:
Step 1: Add VBA reference to "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5"
Select "Developer" tab (I don't have this tab what do I do?)
Select "Visual Basic" icon from 'Code' ribbon section
In "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window select "Tools" from the top menu.
Select "References"
Check the box next to "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5" to include in your workbook.
Click "OK"
Step 2: Define your pattern
Basic definitions:
- Range.
E.g. a-z matches an lower case letters from a to z
E.g. 0-5 matches any number from 0 to 5
[] Match exactly one of the objects inside these brackets.
E.g. [a] matches the letter a
E.g. [abc] matches a single letter which can be a, b or c
E.g. [a-z] matches any single lower case letter of the alphabet.
() Groups different matches for return purposes. See examples below.
{} Multiplier for repeated copies of pattern defined before it.
E.g. [a]{2} matches two consecutive lower case letter a: aa
E.g. [a]{1,3} matches at least one and up to three lower case letter a, aa, aaa
+ Match at least one, or more, of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. a+ will match consecutive a's a, aa, aaa, and so on
? Match zero or one of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. Pattern may or may not be present but can only be matched one time.
E.g. [a-z]? matches empty string or any single lower case letter.
* Match zero or more of the pattern defined before it.
E.g. Wildcard for pattern that may or may not be present.
E.g. [a-z]* matches empty string or string of lower case letters.
. Matches any character except newline \n
E.g. a. Matches a two character string starting with a and ending with anything except \n
| OR operator
E.g. a|b means either a or b can be matched.
E.g. red|white|orange matches exactly one of the colors.
^ NOT operator
E.g. [^0-9] character can not contain a number
E.g. [^aA] character can not be lower case a or upper case A
\ Escapes special character that follows (overrides above behavior)
E.g. \., \\, \(, \?, \$, \^
Anchoring Patterns:
^ Match must occur at start of string
E.g. ^a First character must be lower case letter a
E.g. ^[0-9] First character must be a number.
$ Match must occur at end of string
E.g. a$ Last character must be lower case letter a
Precedence table:
Order Name Representation
1 Parentheses ( )
2 Multipliers ? + * {m,n} {m, n}?
3 Sequence & Anchors abc ^ $
4 Alternation |
Predefined Character Abbreviations:
abr same as meaning
\d [0-9] Any single digit
\D [^0-9] Any single character that's not a digit
\w [a-zA-Z0-9_] Any word character
\W [^a-zA-Z0-9_] Any non-word character
\s [ \r\t\n\f] Any space character
\S [^ \r\t\n\f] Any non-space character
\n [\n] New line
Example 1: Run as macro
The following example macro looks at the value in cell A1 to see if the first 1 or 2 characters are digits. If so, they are removed and the rest of the string is displayed. If not, then a box appears telling you that no match is found. Cell A1 values of 12abc will return abc, value of 1abc will return abc, value of abc123 will return "Not Matched" because the digits were not at the start of the string.
Private Sub simpleRegex()
Dim strPattern As String: strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,2}"
Dim strReplace As String: strReplace = ""
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1")
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = Myrange.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
MsgBox (regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace))
Else
MsgBox ("Not matched")
End If
End If
End Sub
Example 2: Run as an in-cell function
This example is the same as example 1 but is setup to run as an in-cell function. To use, change the code to this:
Function simpleCellRegex(Myrange As Range) As String
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strPattern As String
Dim strInput As String
Dim strReplace As String
Dim strOutput As String
strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,3}"
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = Myrange.Value
strReplace = ""
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.test(strInput) Then
simpleCellRegex = regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace)
Else
simpleCellRegex = "Not matched"
End If
End If
End Function
Place your strings ("12abc") in cell A1. Enter this formula =simpleCellRegex(A1) in cell B1 and the result will be "abc".
Example 3: Loop Through Range
This example is the same as example 1 but loops through a range of cells.
Private Sub simpleRegex()
Dim strPattern As String: strPattern = "^[0-9]{1,2}"
Dim strReplace As String: strReplace = ""
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A5")
For Each cell In Myrange
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = cell.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
MsgBox (regEx.Replace(strInput, strReplace))
Else
MsgBox ("Not matched")
End If
End If
Next
End Sub
Example 4: Splitting apart different patterns
This example loops through a range (A1, A2 & A3) and looks for a string starting with three digits followed by a single alpha character and then 4 numeric digits. The output splits apart the pattern matches into adjacent cells by using the (). $1 represents the first pattern matched within the first set of ().
Private Sub splitUpRegexPattern()
Dim regEx As New RegExp
Dim strPattern As String
Dim strInput As String
Dim Myrange As Range
Set Myrange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A3")
For Each C In Myrange
strPattern = "(^[0-9]{3})([a-zA-Z])([0-9]{4})"
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = C.Value
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
If regEx.test(strInput) Then
C.Offset(0, 1) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$1")
C.Offset(0, 2) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$2")
C.Offset(0, 3) = regEx.Replace(strInput, "$3")
Else
C.Offset(0, 1) = "(Not matched)"
End If
End If
Next
End Sub
Results:
Additional Pattern Examples
String Regex Pattern Explanation
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]{3} Single alpha, single digit, three alpha characters
a1aaa [a-zA-Z]?[0-9][a-zA-Z]{3} May or may not have preceding alpha character
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]{0,3} Single alpha, single digit, 0 to 3 alpha characters
a1aaa [a-zA-Z][0-9][a-zA-Z]* Single alpha, single digit, followed by any number of alpha characters
</i8> \<\/[a-zA-Z][0-9]\> Exact non-word character except any single alpha followed by any single digit
To make use of regular expressions directly in Excel formulas the following UDF (user defined function) can be of help. It more or less directly exposes regular expression functionality as an excel function.
How it works
It takes 2-3 parameters.
A text to use the regular expression on.
A regular expression.
A format string specifying how the result should look. It can contain $0, $1, $2, and so on. $0 is the entire match, $1 and up correspond to the respective match groups in the regular expression. Defaults to $0.
Some examples
Extracting an email address:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "\w+#\w+\.\w+")
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "\w+#\w+\.\w+", "$0")
Results in: some#email.com
Extracting several substrings:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "E-Mail: $2, Name: $1")
Results in: E-Mail: some#email.com, Name: Peter Gordon
To take apart a combined string in a single cell into its components in multiple cells:
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "$" & 1)
=regex("Peter Gordon: some#email.com, 47", "^(.+): (.+), (\d+)$", "$" & 2)
Results in: Peter Gordon some#email.com ...
How to use
To use this UDF do the following (roughly based on this Microsoft page. They have some good additional info there!):
In Excel in a Macro enabled file ('.xlsm') push ALT+F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Editor.
Add VBA reference to the Regular Expressions library (shamelessly copied from Portland Runners++ answer):
Click on Tools -> References (please excuse the german screenshot)
Find Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 in the list and tick the checkbox next to it.
Click OK.
Click on Insert Module. If you give your module a different name make sure the Module does not have the same name as the UDF below (e.g. naming the Module Regex and the function regex causes #NAME! errors).
In the big text window in the middle insert the following:
Function regex(strInput As String, matchPattern As String, Optional ByVal outputPattern As String = "$0") As Variant
Dim inputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp, outputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp, outReplaceRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
Dim inputMatches As Object, replaceMatches As Object, replaceMatch As Object
Dim replaceNumber As Integer
With inputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
With outputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = "\$(\d+)"
End With
With outReplaceRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
End With
Set inputMatches = inputRegexObj.Execute(strInput)
If inputMatches.Count = 0 Then
regex = False
Else
Set replaceMatches = outputRegexObj.Execute(outputPattern)
For Each replaceMatch In replaceMatches
replaceNumber = replaceMatch.SubMatches(0)
outReplaceRegexObj.Pattern = "\$" & replaceNumber
If replaceNumber = 0 Then
outputPattern = outReplaceRegexObj.Replace(outputPattern, inputMatches(0).Value)
Else
If replaceNumber > inputMatches(0).SubMatches.Count Then
'regex = "A to high $ tag found. Largest allowed is $" & inputMatches(0).SubMatches.Count & "."
regex = CVErr(xlErrValue)
Exit Function
Else
outputPattern = outReplaceRegexObj.Replace(outputPattern, inputMatches(0).SubMatches(replaceNumber - 1))
End If
End If
Next
regex = outputPattern
End If
End Function
Save and close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Editor window.
Expanding on patszim's answer for those in a rush.
Open Excel workbook.
Alt+F11 to open VBA/Macros window.
Add reference to regex under Tools then References
and selecting Microsoft VBScript Regular Expression 5.5
Insert a new module (code needs to reside in the module otherwise it doesn't work).
In the newly inserted module,
add the following code:
Function RegxFunc(strInput As String, regexPattern As String) As String
Dim regEx As New RegExp
With regEx
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.pattern = regexPattern
End With
If regEx.Test(strInput) Then
Set matches = regEx.Execute(strInput)
RegxFunc = matches(0).Value
Else
RegxFunc = "not matched"
End If
End Function
The regex pattern is placed in one of the cells and absolute referencing is used on it.
Function will be tied to workbook that its created in.
If there's a need for it to be used in different workbooks, store the function in Personal.XLSB
Here is my attempt:
Function RegParse(ByVal pattern As String, ByVal html As String)
Dim regex As RegExp
Set regex = New RegExp
With regex
.IgnoreCase = True 'ignoring cases while regex engine performs the search.
.pattern = pattern 'declaring regex pattern.
.Global = False 'restricting regex to find only first match.
If .Test(html) Then 'Testing if the pattern matches or not
mStr = .Execute(html)(0) '.Execute(html)(0) will provide the String which matches with Regex
RegParse = .Replace(mStr, "$1") '.Replace function will replace the String with whatever is in the first set of braces - $1.
Else
RegParse = "#N/A"
End If
End With
End Function
This isn't a direct answer but may provide a more efficient alternative for your consideration. Which is that Google Sheets has several built in Regex Functions these can be very convenient and help circumvent some of the technical procedures in Excel. Obviously there are some advantages to using Excel on your PC but for the large majority of users Google Sheets will offer an identical experience and may offer some benefits in portability and sharing of documents.
They offer
REGEXEXTRACT: Extracts matching substrings according to a regular expression.
REGEXREPLACE: Replaces part of a text string with a different text string using regular expressions.
SUBSTITUTE: Replaces existing text with new text in a string.
REPLACE: Replaces part of a text string with a different text string.
You can type these directly into a cell like so and will produce whatever you'd like
=REGEXMATCH(A2, "[0-9]+")
They also work quite well in combinations with other functions such as IF statements like so:
=IF(REGEXMATCH(E8,"MiB"),REGEXEXTRACT(E8,"\d*\.\d*|\d*")/1000,IF(REGEXMATCH(E8,"GiB"),REGEXEXTRACT(E8,"\d*\.\d*|\d*"),"")
Hopefully this provides a simple workaround for those users who feel daunted by the VBS component of Excel.
To add to the valuable content, I would like to create this reminder on why sometimes RegEx within VBA is not ideal. Not all expressions are supported, but instead may throw an Error 5017 and may leave the author guessing (which I am a victim of myself).
Whilst we can find some sources on what is supported, it would be helpfull to know which metacharacters etc. are not supported. A more in-depth explaination can be found here. Mentioned in this source:
"Although "VBScript’s regular expression ... version 5.5 implements quite a few essential regex features that were missing in previous versions of VBScript. ... JavaScript and VBScript implement Perl-style regular expressions. However, they lack quite a number of advanced features available in Perl and other modern regular expression flavors:"
So, not supported are:
Start of String ancor \A, alternatively use the ^ caret to match postion before 1st char in string
End of String ancor \Z, alternatively use the $ dollar sign to match postion after last char in string
Positive LookBehind, e.g.: (?<=a)b (whilst postive LookAhead is supported)
Negative LookBehind, e.g.: (?<!a)b (whilst negative LookAhead is supported)
Atomic Grouping
Possessive Quantifiers
Unicode e.g.: \{uFFFF}
Named Capturing Groups. Alternatively use Numbered Capturing Groups
Inline modifiers, e.g.: /i (case sensitivity) or /g (global) etc. Set these through the RegExp object properties > RegExp.Global = True and RegExp.IgnoreCase = True if available.
Conditionals
Regular Expression Comments. Add these with regular ' comments in script
I already hit a wall more than once using regular expressions within VBA. Usually with LookBehind but sometimes I even forget the modifiers. I have not experienced all these above mentioned backdrops myself but thought I would try to be extensive referring to some more in-depth information. Feel free to comment/correct/add. Big shout out to regular-expressions.info for a wealth of information.
P.S. You have mentioned regular VBA methods and functions, and I can confirm they (at least to myself) have been helpful in their own ways where RegEx would fail.
I needed to use this as a cell function (like SUM or VLOOKUP) and found that it was easy to:
Make sure you are in a Macro Enabled Excel File (save as xlsm).
Open developer tools Alt + F11
Add Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 as in other answers
Create the following function either in workbook or in its own module:
Function REGPLACE(myRange As Range, matchPattern As String, outputPattern As String) As Variant
Dim regex As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
Dim strInput As String
strInput = myRange.Value
With regex
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
REGPLACE = regex.Replace(strInput, outputPattern)
End Function
Then you can use in cell with =REGPLACE(B1, "(\w) (\d+)", "$1$2") (ex: "A 243" to "A243")
Here is a regex_subst() function. Examples:
=regex_subst("watermellon", "[aeiou]", "")
---> wtrmlln
=regex_subst("watermellon", "[^aeiou]", "")
---> aeeo
Here is the simplified code (simpler for me, anyway). I couldn't figure out how to build a suitable output pattern using the above to work like my examples:
Function regex_subst( _
strInput As String _
, matchPattern As String _
, Optional ByVal replacePattern As String = "" _
) As Variant
Dim inputRegexObj As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp
With inputRegexObj
.Global = True
.MultiLine = True
.IgnoreCase = False
.Pattern = matchPattern
End With
regex_subst = inputRegexObj.Replace(strInput, replacePattern)
End Function
I don't want to have to enable a reference library as I need my scripts to be portable. The Dim foo As New VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp line caused User Defined Type Not Defined errors, but I found a solution that worked for me.
Update RE comments w/ #chrisneilsen :
I was under the impression that enabling a reference library was tied to the local computers settings, but it is in fact, tied directly to the workbook. So, you can enable a reference library, share a macro enabled workbook and the end user wouldn't have to enable the library as well. Caveat: The advantage to Late Binding is that the developer does not have to worry about the wrong version of an object library being installed on the user's computer. This likely would not be an issue w/ the VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp library, but I'm not sold that the "performance" benifit is worth it for me at this time, as we are talking imperceptible milliseconds in my code. I felt this deserved an update to help others understand. If you enable the reference library, you can use "early bind", but if you don't, as far as I can tell, the code will work fine, but you need to "late bind" and loose on some performance/debugging features.
Source: https://peltiertech.com/Excel/EarlyLateBinding.html
What you'll want to do is put an example string in cell A1, then test your strPattern. Once that's working adjust then rng as desired.
Public Sub RegExSearch()
'https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22542834/how-to-use-regular-expressions-regex-in-microsoft-excel-both-in-cell-and-loops
'https://wellsr.com/vba/2018/excel/vba-regex-regular-expressions-guide/
'https://www.vitoshacademy.com/vba-regex-in-excel/
Dim regexp As Object
'Dim regex As New VBScript_RegExp_55.regexp 'Caused "User Defined Type Not Defined" Error
Dim rng As Range, rcell As Range
Dim strInput As String, strPattern As String
Set regexp = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
Set rng = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A1")
strPattern = "([a-z]{2})([0-9]{8})"
'Search for 2 Letters then 8 Digits Eg: XY12345678 = Matched
With regexp
.Global = False
.MultiLine = False
.ignoreCase = True
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
For Each rcell In rng.Cells
If strPattern <> "" Then
strInput = rcell.Value
If regexp.test(strInput) Then
MsgBox rcell & " Matched in Cell " & rcell.Address
Else
MsgBox "No Matches!"
End If
End If
Next
End Sub

Using Regex pattern to copy and rename Excel sheet using VBA

I having trouble creating VBA to copy an existing sheet and rename the copy with a specific suffix.
The existing sheet is named with a variable prefix (a digit code) followed by a fix suffix.
The copied sheet should be renamed with the same prefix, followed by another fix suffix.
I would like to use regex to do so, but I cannot figure out how to specify the sheet names with regex. The pattern would simply be something like [0-9]+ for the prefix.
The suffix are always the same.
Example:
Existing sheet: 123_raw
New copied sheet: 123_analyzed
This is what I have so far and don't know how to go on:
Dim objRegex As Object
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With objRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "[0-9]+"
It should look something similar to this I guess:
Sheets("regex pattern + [suffix]").Select
Sheets("regex pattern + [suffix]").Copy After:=Sheets(3)
Sheets("regex pattern + [suffix] (2)").Select
Sheets("regex pattern + [suffix] (2)").Name = "regex pattern + [new suffix]"
But I have no idea on how to actually code it.
Any help much appreciated!
Assuming your Sheet names are 123_raw 456_raw Or something [3 digits_words] so your Pattern will be Pattern = "([0-9]{3}\_)" https://regex101.com/r/Iu6nxn/1
([0-9]{3}\_) Match a single character present in the list below
0-9 a single character in the range between 0 and 9
{3} Quantifier — Matches exactly 3 times
\_ matches the character _ literally (case sensitive)
VBA Code Example as simple as it can be - Here we are searching for the sheet name 123_ or [3 digits_words] Copy and rename to 3 digits_analyzed
Option Explicit
Public Sub Example()
Dim RegExp As Object
Dim Matches As Variant
Dim Pattern As String
Dim NewName As String
Dim Sht As Worksheet
Set RegExp = CreateObject("VbScript.RegExp")
For Each Sht In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
Pattern = "([0-9]{3}\_)" ' Sheet name 123_
With RegExp
.Global = False
.Pattern = Pattern
.IgnoreCase = True
Set Matches = .Execute(Sht.Name)
End With
If Matches.Count > 0 Then
Debug.Print Matches(0) ' Print on Immediate Win
NewName = Matches(0) & "analyzed" ' New sheet name
Sht.Copy After:=Sheets(3) ' Copy Sheet
ActiveSheet.Name = NewName ' Rename sheet with new name
End If
Next
Set RegExp = Nothing
Set Matches = Nothing
Set Sht = Nothing
End Sub
Something like this (where _new replaces the prior suffix)
Sub B()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim objRegex As Object
Set ws = Sheets(1)
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With objRegex
.Pattern = "([0-9]+)_[a-z]+"
If .test(ws.Name) Then
ws.Copy After:=Sheets(Sheets.Count)
ActiveSheet.Name = .Replace(ws.Name, "$1_new")
End If
End With
End Sub

Excel Regex Add 2 spaces instead of one

I'm using the below function in Excel to split the caps of some data. How can I adapt it to add 2 spaces between words e.g Mike Jones rather than just one as it does now. Simple answer I'm sure but RegEx baffles me at the best of times.
Function SplitCaps(strIn As String) As String
Dim objRegex As Object
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With objRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "([a-z])([A-Z])"
SplitCaps = .Replace(strIn, "$1 $2")
End With
End Function
very very simple: add an extra space between the 2 regex groups $1 and $2
SplitCaps = .Replace(strIn, "$1 $2")
I think all you need is
([a-zA-Z]*\s*[a-zA-Z]*)*
Have you tried add '\s'? This should be a comment but I cant comment as of now.
try:
You can add extra white space using \s:
SplitCaps = .Replace(strIn, "$1\s\s$2")

Create clean URL from text in Excel

I want to create a clean URL from a text such as this one:
Alpha Tests' Purchase of Berta Global Associates (C)
The URL should look like this:
alpha-tests-purchase-of-berta-global-associates-c
Currently I use this formula in Excel:
=LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A38;"--";"-");" / ";"-");" ";"-");": ";"-");" - ";"-");"_";"-");"?";"");",";"");".";"");"'";"");")";"");"(";"");":";"");" ";"-");"&";"and");"!";"");"/";"-");"""";""))
However, I don't seem to catch all special symbols etc. and as a consequence my URLs are not as clean as I want them to be.
Do you know an Excel formula or VBA code, which ensures that all special symbols are properly converted to a clean URL?
Thank you.
I can suggest the following Function that you can put into a VBA module and use a normal formula:
Function NormalizeToUrl(cell As Range)
Dim strPattern As String
Dim regEx As Object
Set regEx = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
strPattern = "[^\w-]+"
With regEx
.Global = True
.Pattern = strPattern
End With
NormalizeToUrl = LCase(regEx.Replace(Replace(cell.Value, " ", "-"), ""))
End Function
The point is that we replace all spaces with hyphens at the beginning, then use a regex that matches any non-word and non-hyphen characters and remove them with RegExp.Replace.
UPDATE:
After your comments, it is still unclear what you want to do with Unicode letters. Delete or replace with hyphen. Here is a function that I tried to rebuild from your formula, but the logics may be flawed. I would prefer a generic approach above.
Function NormalizeToUrl(cell As Range)
Dim strPattern As String
Dim regEx As Object
Set regEx = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
strPattern = "[^\w -]"
With regEx
.Global = True
.Pattern = "[?,.')(:!""]+" ' THESE ARE REMOVED
End With
NormalizeToUrl = regEx.Replace(cell.Value, "")
NormalizeToUrl = Replace(NormalizeToUrl, "&", "and") ' & TURNS INTO "and"
With regEx
.Global = True
.Pattern = strPattern ' WE REPLACE ALL NON-WORD CHARS WITH HYPHEN
End With
NormalizeToUrl = LCase(regEx.Replace(Replace(NormalizeToUrl, " ", "-"), "-"))
With regEx
.Global = True
.Pattern = "--+" ' WE SHRINK ALL HYPHEN SEQUENCES TO SINGLE HYPHEN
End With
NormalizeToUrl = regEx.Replace(NormalizeToUrl, "-")
End Function