How to build a case-insensitive regular expression with Regexp.union - regex

I have a list of strings, and need to build the regular expression from them, using Regexp#union. I need the resulting pattern to be case insensitive.
The #union method itself does not accept options/modifiers, hence I currently see two options:
strings = %w|one two three|
Regexp.new(Regexp.union(strings).to_s, true)
and/or:
Regexp.union(*strings.map { |s| /#{s}/i })
Both variants look a bit weird.
Is there an ability to construct a case-insensitive regular expression by using Regexp.union?

The simple starting place is:
words = %w[one two three]
/#{ Regexp.union(words).source }/i # => /one|two|three/i
You probably want to make sure you're only matching words so tweak it to:
/\b#{ Regexp.union(words).source }\b/i # => /\bone|two|three\b/i
For cleanliness and clarity I prefer using a non-capturing group:
/\b(?:#{ Regexp.union(words).source })\b/i # => /\b(?:one|two|three)\b/i
Using source is important. When you create a Regexp object, it has an idea of the flags (i, m, x) that apply to that object and those get interpolated into the string:
"#{ /foo/i }" # => "(?i-mx:foo)"
"#{ /foo/ix }" # => "(?ix-m:foo)"
"#{ /foo/ixm }" # => "(?mix:foo)"
or
(/foo/i).to_s # => "(?i-mx:foo)"
(/foo/ix).to_s # => "(?ix-m:foo)"
(/foo/ixm).to_s # => "(?mix:foo)"
That's fine when the generated pattern stands alone, but when it's being interpolated into a string to define other parts of the pattern the flags affect each sub-expression:
/\b(?:#{ Regexp.union(words) })\b/i # => /\b(?:(?-mix:one|two|three))\b/i
Dig into the Regexp documentation and you'll see that ?-mix turns off "ignore-case" inside (?-mix:one|two|three), even though the overall pattern is flagged with i, resulting in a pattern that doesn't do what you want, and is really hard to debug:
'foo ONE bar'[/\b(?:#{ Regexp.union(words) })\b/i] # => nil
Instead, source removes the inner expression's flags making the pattern do what you'd expect:
/\b(?:#{ Regexp.union(words).source })\b/i # => /\b(?:one|two|three)\b/i
and
'foo ONE bar'[/\b(?:#{ Regexp.union(words).source })\b/i] # => "ONE"
You can build your patterns using Regexp.new and passing in the flags:
regexp = Regexp.new('(?:one|two|three)', Regexp::EXTENDED | Regexp::IGNORECASE) # => /(?:one|two|three)/ix
but as the expression becomes more complex it becomes unwieldy. Building a pattern using string interpolation remains more easy to understand.

You've overlooked the obvious.
strings = %w|one two three|
r = Regexp.union(strings.flat_map do |word|
len = word.size
(2**len).times.map { |n|
len.times.map { |i| n[i]==1 ? word[i].upcase : word[i] } }
end.map(&:join))
"'The Three Little Pigs' should be read by every building contractor" =~ r
#=> 5

Related

Regex- to get part of String

I have got below string and I need to Get all the values Between Pizzahut: and |.
ABC:2fg45rdvsg|Pizzahut:j34532jdhgj|Dominos:3424232|Pizzahut:3242237|Wendys:3462783|Pizzahut:67688873rg|
I have got RegExpression .scan(/(?<=Pizzahut:)([.*\s\S]+)(?=\|)/) but it fetches
"j34532jdhgj|Dominos:3424232|Pizzahut:3242237|Wendys:3462783|Pizzahut:67688873rg|"
Result should be: 34532jdhgj,3242237,67688873rg
You can use
s='ABC:2fg45rdvsg|Pizzahut:j34532jdhgj|Dominos:3424232|Pizzahut:3242237|Wendys:3462783|Pizzahut:67688873rg|'
p s.scan(/Pizzahut:([^|]+)/).flatten
# => ["j34532jdhgj", "3242237", "67688873rg"]
See this Ruby demo and the Rubular demo.
It does not look possible that you have Pizzahut as a part of another word, but it is possible, use a version with a word boundary, /\bPizzahut:([^|]+)/.
The Pizzahut:([^|]+) matches Pizzahut: and then captures into Group 1 any one or more chars other than a pipe (with ([^|]+)).
Note that String#scan returns the captures only if a pattern contains a capturing group, so you do not need to use lookarounds.
I'm not sure why you're jumping to a regex solution here; that input string clearly looks structured to me, and you would probably do better by splitting it on the delimiters to convert it into a more convenient data structure.
Something like this:
input = "ABC:2fg45rdvsg|Pizzahut:j34532jdhgj|Dominos:3424232|Pizzahut:3242237|Wendys:3462783|Pizzahut:67688873rg"
converted_input = input
.split('|') #=> ["ABC:2fg45rdvsg", "Pizzahut:j34532jdhgj", ... ]
.map { |pair| pair.split(':') } #=> [["ABC", "2fg45rdvsg"], ["Pizzahut", "j34532jdhgj"], ... ]
.group_by(&:first) #=> {"ABC"=>[["ABC", "2fg45rdvsg"]], "Pizzahut"=>[["Pizzahut", "j34532jdhgj"], ... ], "Dominos"=>[["Dominos", "3424232"]], ... ]
.transform_values { |v| v.flat_map(&:last) }
(The above series of transformations is just one possible way; you could probably come up with a dozen similar alternative steps to convert this input into the same hash shown below! For example, by using reduce or even the CSV library.)
Which gives you the final result:
converted_input = {
"ABC" => ["2fg45rdvsg"],
"Pizzahut" => ["j34532jdhgj", "3242237", "67688873rg"],
"Dominos" => ["3424232"],
"Wendys" => ["3462783"]
}
Now that the data is formatted conveniently, obtaining data like your original request becomes trivial:
converted_input["Pizzahut"].join(',') #=> "j34532jdhgj,3242237,67688873rg"
(Although quite likely it would be more suitable to leave it as an Array, not a comma-separated String!!)

Combine multiple regular expressions in to one

given the following sample strings, how can the highlighted parts be extracted using regex?
x => x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five
x => x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five.get_Item(0)
x => x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five[0]
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five)
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five.get_Item(0))
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five[0])
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five, Object)
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five.get_Item(0), Object)
x => Convert(x.One.Two[0].Three.get_Item(0).Four[0].Five[0], Object)
so far, i was able to come up with a couple of different regex patterns but ideally i'd like to have a single regex that will handle all the above cases.
this is what i have so far:
\.(.+)(?<!\d)\)$ and \.(.+), Object\) and \.(.+)
here's the sample data to play with: https://regex101.com/r/jxqsQl/2
appreciate any help you can provide...
This regex will do what you want. It looks for multiple groups of a . and a word, followed optionally by digits enclosed in [] or ():
(?:\.\w+(?:[[(]\d+[)\]])?)+
Demo on regex101

Ruby (2.6.0) Regex multiple matches [duplicate]

Is there a quick way to find every match of a regular expression in Ruby? I've looked through the Regex object in the Ruby STL and searched on Google to no avail.
Using scan should do the trick:
string.scan(/regex/)
To find all the matching strings, use String's scan method.
str = "A 54mpl3 string w1th 7 numb3rs scatter36 ar0und"
str.scan(/\d+/)
#=> ["54", "3", "1", "7", "3", "36", "0"]
If you want, MatchData, which is the type of the object returned by the Regexp match method, use:
str.to_enum(:scan, /\d+/).map { Regexp.last_match }
#=> [#<MatchData "54">, #<MatchData "3">, #<MatchData "1">, #<MatchData "7">, #<MatchData "3">, #<MatchData "36">, #<MatchData "0">]
The benefit of using MatchData is that you can use methods like offset:
match_datas = str.to_enum(:scan, /\d+/).map { Regexp.last_match }
match_datas[0].offset(0)
#=> [2, 4]
match_datas[1].offset(0)
#=> [7, 8]
See these questions if you'd like to know more:
"How do I get the match data for all occurrences of a Ruby regular expression in a string?"
"Ruby regular expression matching enumerator with named capture support"
"How to find out the starting point for each match in ruby"
Reading about special variables $&, $', $1, $2 in Ruby will be helpful too.
if you have a regexp with groups:
str="A 54mpl3 string w1th 7 numbers scatter3r ar0und"
re=/(\d+)[m-t]/
you can use String's scan method to find matching groups:
str.scan re
#> [["54"], ["1"], ["3"]]
To find the matching pattern:
str.to_enum(:scan,re).map {$&}
#> ["54m", "1t", "3r"]
You can use string.scan(your_regex).flatten. If your regex contains groups, it will return in a single plain array.
string = "A 54mpl3 string w1th 7 numbers scatter3r ar0und"
your_regex = /(\d+)[m-t]/
string.scan(your_regex).flatten
=> ["54", "1", "3"]
Regex can be a named group as well.
string = 'group_photo.jpg'
regex = /\A(?<name>.*)\.(?<ext>.*)\z/
string.scan(regex).flatten
You can also use gsub, it's just one more way if you want MatchData.
str.gsub(/\d/).map{ Regexp.last_match }
If you have capture groups () inside the regex for other purposes, the proposed solutions with String#scan and String#match are problematic:
String#scan only get what is inside the capture groups;
String#match only get the first match, rejecting all the others;
String#matches (proposed function) get all the matches.
On this case, we need a solution to match the regex without considering the capture groups.
String#matches
With the Refinements you can monkey patch the String class, implement the String#matches and this method will be available inside the scope of the class that is using the refinement. It is an incredible way to Monkey Patch classes on Ruby.
Setup
/lib/refinements/string_matches.rb
# This module add a String refinement to enable multiple String#match()s
# 1. `String#scan` only get what is inside the capture groups (inside the parens)
# 2. `String#match` only get the first match
# 3. `String#matches` (proposed function) get all the matches
module StringMatches
refine String do
def matches(regex)
scan(/(?<matching>#{regex})/).flatten
end
end
end
Used: named capture groups
Usage
rails c
> require 'refinements/string_matches'
> using StringMatches
> 'function(1, 2, 3) + function(4, 5, 6)'.matches(/function\((\d), (\d), (\d)\)/)
=> ["function(1, 2, 3)", "function(4, 5, 6)"]
> 'function(1, 2, 3) + function(4, 5, 6)'.scan(/function\((\d), (\d), (\d)\)/)
=> [["1", "2", "3"], ["4", "5", "6"]]
> 'function(1, 2, 3) + function(4, 5, 6)'.match(/function\((\d), (\d), (\d)\)/)[0]
=> "function(1, 2, 3)"
Return an array of MatchData objects
#scan is very limited--only returns a simple array of strings!
Far more powerful/flexible for us to get an array of MatchData objects.
I'll provide two approaches (using same logic), one using a PORO and one using a monkey patch:
PORO:
class MatchAll
def initialize(string, pattern)
raise ArgumentError, 'must pass a String' unless string.is_a?(String)
raise ArgumentError, 'must pass a Regexp pattern' unless pattern.is_a?(Regexp)
#string = string
#pattern = pattern
#matches = []
end
def match_all
recursive_match
end
private
def recursive_match(prev_match = nil)
index = prev_match.nil? ? 0 : prev_match.offset(0)[1]
matching_item = #string.match(#pattern, index)
return #matches unless matching_item.present?
#matches << matching_item
recursive_match(matching_item)
end
end
USAGE:
test_string = 'a green frog jumped on a green lilypad'
MatchAll.new(test_string, /green/).match_all
=> [#<MatchData "green", #<MatchData "green"]
Monkey patch
I don't typically condone monkey-patching, but in this case:
we're doing it the right way by "quarantining" our patch into its own module
I prefer this approach because 'string'.match_all(/pattern/) is more intuitive (and looks a lot nicer) than MatchAll.new('string', /pattern/).match_all
module RubyCoreExtensions
module String
module MatchAll
def match_all(pattern)
raise ArgumentError, 'must pass a Regexp pattern' unless pattern.is_a?(Regexp)
recursive_match(pattern)
end
private
def recursive_match(pattern, matches = [], prev_match = nil)
index = prev_match.nil? ? 0 : prev_match.offset(0)[1]
matching_item = self.match(pattern, index)
return matches unless matching_item.present?
matches << matching_item
recursive_match(pattern, matches, matching_item)
end
end
end
end
I recommend creating a new file and putting the patch (assuming you're using Rails) there /lib/ruby_core_extensions/string/match_all.rb
To use our patch we need to make it available:
# within application.rb
require './lib/ruby_core_extensions/string/match_all.rb'
Then be sure to include it in the String class (you could put this wherever you want; but for example, right under the require statement we just wrote above. After you include it once, it will be available everywhere, even outside the class where you included it).
String.include RubyCoreExtensions::String::MatchAll
USAGE: And now when you use #match_all you get results like:
test_string = 'hello foo, what foo are you going to foo today?'
test_string.match_all /foo/
=> [#<MatchData "foo", #<MatchData "foo", #<MatchData "foo"]
test_string.match_all /hello/
=> [#<MatchData "hello"]
test_string.match_all /none/
=> []
I find this particularly useful when I want to match multiple occurrences, and then get useful information about each occurrence, such as which index the occurrence starts and ends (e.g. match.offset(0) => [first_index, last_index])

perl string catenation and substitution in a single line?

I need to modify a perl variable containing a file path; it needs to begin and end with a forward slash (/) and have all instances of multiple forward slashes reduced to a single slash.
(This is because an existing process does not enforce a consistent configuration syntax, so there are hundreds of config files scattered everywhere that may or may not have slashes in the right places in file names and path names.)
Something like this:
foreach ( ($config->{'backup_path'},
$config->{'work_path'},
$config->{'output_path'}
) ) {
$_ = "/" . $_ . "/";
$_ =~ s/\/{2,}/\//g;
}
but this does not look optimal or particularly readable to me; I'd rather have a more elegant expression (if it ends up using an unusual regex I'll use a comment to make it clearer.)
Input & output examples
home/datamonster//c2counts becomes /home/datamonster/c2counts/
home/////teledyne/tmp/ becomes /home/teledyne/tmp/
and /var/backup/DOC/all_instruments/ will pass through unchanged
Well, just rewriting what you got:
my #vars = qw ( backup_path work_path output_path );
for ( #{$config}{#vars} ) {
s,^/*,/,; #prefix
s,/*$,/,; #suffix
s,/+,/,g; #double slashes anywhere else.
}
I'd be cautious - optimising for magic regex is not an advantage in every situation, because they become quite quickly unreadable.
The above uses the hash slice mechanism to select values out of a hash (reference in this case), and the fact that s/// implicitly operates on $_ anyway. And modifies the original var when it does.
But it's also useful to know, if you're operating on patterns containing / it's helpful to switch delimiters, because that way you don't get the "leaning toothpicks" effect.
s/\/{2,}/\//g can be written as:
s,/+,/,g
or
s|/{2,}|/|g
if you want to keep the numeric quantifier, as + is inherently 1 or more which works the same here, because it collapses a double into a single anyway, but it technically matches / (and replaces it with /) where the original pattern doesn't. But you wouldn't want to use the , if you have that in your pattern, for the same reason.
However I think this does the trick;
s,(?:^/*|\b\/*$|/+),/,g for #{$config}{qw ( backup_path work_path output_path )};
This matches an alternation grouping, replacing either:
start of line, zero or more /
word boundary, zero or more / end of line
one or more slashes anywhere else.
with a single /.
uses the hash slice mechanism as above, but without the intermediate 'vars'.
(For some reason the second grouping doesn't work correctly without the word boundary \b zero width anchor - I think this is a backtracking issue, but I'm not entirely sure)
For bonus points - you could probably select #vars using grep if your source data structure is appropriate:
my #vars = grep { /_path$/ } keys %$config;
#etc. Or inline with:
s,(?:^/*|\b\/*$|/+),/,g for #{$config}{grep { /_path$/ } keys %$config };
Edit: Or as Borodin notes:
s|(?:/|\A|\z)/*|/|
Giving us:
#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
my $config = {
backup_path => "/fish/",
work_path => "narf//zoit",
output_path => "/wibble",
test_path => 'home/datamonster//c2counts',
another_path => "/home/teledyne/tmp/",
again_path => 'home/////teledyne/tmp/',
this_path => '/var/backup/DOC/all_instruments/',
};
s,(?:/|\A|\b\z)/*,/,g for #{$config}{grep { /_path$/ } keys %$config };
print Dumper $config;
Results:
$VAR1 = {
'output_path' => '/wibble/',
'this_path' => '/var/backup/DOC/all_instruments/',
'backup_path' => '/fish/',
'work_path' => '/narf/zoit/',
'test_path' => '/home/datamonster/c2counts/',
'another_path' => '/home/teledyne/tmp/',
'again_path' => '/home/teledyne/tmp/'
};
you could do it like this, but I wouldn't call it more readable:
foreach ( ($config->{'backup_path'},
$config->{'work_path'},
$config->{'output_path'}
) ) {
( $_ = "/$_/" ) =~ s/\/{2,}/\//g;
}
This question already got many fantastic answers.
From the view of non-perl-expert (me), some are hard to read / understand. ;)
So, I would probably use this:
my #vars = qw ( backup_path work_path output_path );
for my $var (#vars) {
my $value = '/' . $config->{$var} . '/';
$value =~ s|//+|/|g;
$config->{$var} = $value;
}
For me, this is will be readable after a year too. :)

Parse labeled param strings with Regex

Can anyone help me with this one?
My objective here is to grab some info from a text file, present the user with it and ask for values to replace that info so to generate a new output. So I thought of using regular expressions.
My variables would be of the format: {#<num>[|<value>]}.
Here are some examples:
{#1}<br>
{#2|label}<br>
{#3|label|help}<br>
{#4|label|help|something else}<br><br>
So after some research and experimenting, I came up with this expression: \{\#(\d{1,})(?:\|{1}(.+))*\}
which works pretty well on most of the ocasions, except when on something like this:
{#1} some text {#2|label} some more text {#3|label|help}
In this case variables 2 & 3 are matched on a single occurrence rather than on 2 separate matches...
I've already tried to use lookahead commands for the trailing } of the expression, but I didn't manage to get it.
I'm targeting this expression for using into C#, should that further help anyone...
I like the results from this one:
\{\#(\d+)(?:|\|(.+?))\}
This returns 3 groups. The second group is the number (1, 2, 3) and the third group is the arguments ('label', 'label|help').
I prefer to remove the * in favor of | in order to capture all the arguments after the first pipe in the last grouping.
A regular expression which can be used would be something like
\{\#(\d+)(?:\|([^|}]+))*\}
This will prevent reading over any closing }.
Another possible solution (with slightly different behaviour) would be to use a non-greedy matcher (.+?) instead of the greedy version (.+).
Note: I also removed the {1} and replaced {1,} with + which are equivalent in your case.
Try this:
\{\#(\d+)(?:\|[^|}]+)*\}
In C#:
MatchCollection matches = Regex.Matches(mystring,
#"\{\#(\d+)(?:\|[^|}]+)*\}");
It prevents the label and help from eating the | or }.
match[0].Value => {#1}
match[0].Groups[0].Value => {#1}
match[0].Groups[1].Value => 1
match[1].Value => {#2|label}
match[1].Groups[0].Value => {#2|label}
match[1].Groups[1].Value => 2
match[2].Value => {#3|label|help}
match[2].Groups[0].Value => {#3|label|help}
match[2].Groups[1].Value => 3