bad character regexp in python

Question

I have a string

1563:37say: 0 kl4|us: !!alias kl4

and I need to extract some information. I'm trying with this Python code:

 import re
 x = "1563:37say: 0 kl4us: !!alias kl4"
 res = re.search( r"(?P<say>say(team)?): (?P<id>\d+) (?P<name>\w+): (?P<text>.*)",x)

 slot= res.group("id")
 text = res.group("text")
 say = res.group("say")
 name = res.group("name")

This code works fine. Why if I have a character | or * into my string this regexp doesn't work?

For example:

 import re
 x = "1563:37say: 0 kl4|us: !!alias kl4"
 res = re.search( r"(?P<say>say(team)?): (?P<id>\d+) (?P<name>\w+): (?P<text>.*)",x)

 slot= res.group("id")
 text = res.group("text")
 say = res.group("say")
 name = res.group("name")

Anyone can help me?

Thanks a lot

@Wessie The characters mentioned appear in the data, not the regex. — cdhowie
– cdhowie, Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 17:59

Andrew Clark · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-17 17:58:55Z

5

Based on where you added the "|", it looks like you expect "|" and "*" to be matched by \w, but \w only matches letters, digits, and "_". To match those characters as well, change the \w to [\w|*]:

res = re.search( r"(?P<say>say(team)?): (?P<id>\d+) (?P<name>[\w|*]+): (?P<text>.*)",x)

answered Oct 17, 2012 at 17:58

Andrew Clark

210k36 gold badges285 silver badges310 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

kl4us Over a year ago

Thank you so much and sorry for late. Your code works fine. Thanks again

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

bad character regexp in python

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related