need regex result integer only after parsing

Question

I want to extract a number of exactly 5 digits from a string.

If I try

\d{5}

this works for "12345" or "a12345a", but it also matches "12345" in the string "123456" which I don't want.

I can try

\d{5}\D

but then the string "12345a" will be matched in `"a12345a". Is there away to get just the number?

The proper way to post the last bit is as an answer, not part of the question. — CrazyCasta
– CrazyCasta, Commented May 27, 2013 at 19:50
Did you test out your regex? It doesn't appear as though it'd match 12345d... — Jerry
– Jerry, Commented May 27, 2013 at 19:52

Tim Pietzcker · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 20:21:02Z

2

To match a number of exactly five digits, even if it's surrounded by letters, use the regex

(?<!\d)\d{5}(?!\d)

This matches five digits (\d{5}) which are neither preceded ((?<!\d)) nor followed ((?!\d)) by a digit.

Word boundaries (\b) won't work here because they wouldn't allow 12345 to match in a12345a.

See a demo on regex101.com.

edited May 27, 2013 at 20:21

answered May 27, 2013 at 20:04

Tim Pietzcker

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4 Comments

Alex Chap Over a year ago

What if I can't assert? Is it impossible?

Tim Pietzcker Over a year ago

@AlexChap: What do you mean? I thought it was your aim to assert that no letter or digit follows after the 5-digit match?

Alex Chap Over a year ago

Oh, I thought you meant that it only works if I assert "mentally".Anyway My whole point was that there might be a letter after the number..like 12345a, but it will get only 12345 same for a12345a and a12345 and "12345". I hope you understand

Tim Pietzcker Over a year ago

Then your question is very misleading. You wrote "get a 5 digit number which doesn't end with a letter". I hope I understood now what you meant. Editing my answer...

Jerry · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 19:58:32Z

1

(\d{5})[^a-zA-Z] is the correct way.

(\d{5}) is capturing is the 5 numbers and the [^a-zA-Z] says the next character can't be a letter.

EDIT: For the sake of clarity: \b(\d{5})\b is used when you want to have 5 digit numbers that are surrounded by boundary's (tokens like ' , . " and of course the space.

edited May 27, 2013 at 19:58

Jerry

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answered May 27, 2013 at 19:50

B8vrede

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5 Comments

B8vrede Over a year ago

The new version should do the trick (or was my other solution what you meant?)

Aurand Over a year ago

Also, note that [^a-zA-Z] does not even begin to cover the definition of "letter" unless you're restricting the input to 7 bit ASCII.

Alex Chap Over a year ago

You one doesn't because it still gets me 123456 which I want only 5 number!

B8vrede Over a year ago

If you look at the second part of the answer, it says that way is used when you need exactly 5 numbers. The first part is an exact answer to the question, so 5 numbers not followed by a letter. (But i know that in your case you wanted the second part ;) )

Tim Pietzcker Over a year ago

The first regex fails if the 5-digit number is at the end of the string. [^a-zA-Z] says that there must be a next character (which can't be a letter).

Arjan · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-27 20:20:23Z

0

/\d{5}[^\d]/

This matches a sequence of five digits followed by a non-digit character.

answered May 27, 2013 at 20:20

Arjan

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