Extract variables from querystring

Question

I need to parse the following string

/MyData.csv(MemberCount.sum,Production.sum[Salesperson="James Almond","Area="Europe "Area 1" (Germany)",Area="North America",Area="North America [Level A]"])

The first part is easy, however the clause within the brackets ([]) is giving me a bit of headache since it can contain double quotes as the example shows. (note the content within the brackets can change dynamically)

I expect the following output when parsing the last part of the string :

Salesperson James Almond Area Europe "Area 1" (Germany) Area North America Area North America [Level A]

I've been working with regex but can't seem to get it right. Hoping someone have the magic!

what if you simply did String.Split() on "Area=" and did a little post manipulation? — Jonesopolis
– Jonesopolis, Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 12:28
I realize that my example should have had another example, Area could be substituted with another label as well like "CountryName" (it depends on the columns being queried) — ptrdk
– ptrdk, Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 12:36

Jerry · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-26 12:32:22Z

1

You can use the fact that the 'true' closing double quotes are either followed by a comma or the closing square bracket:

Area="(?<Area>.*?)"(?=\]|,)

regex101 demo.

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 12:32

Jerry

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2 Comments

ptrdk Over a year ago

Thanks Jerry. regex101 demo is very useful. I edited the question a bit as I didn't realize I made the data a bit too uniform.

Jerry Over a year ago

@ptrdk You're welcome! Also, is the part within the square brackets you need the only part with the format word = "word"? If so, you can use this: (\w+)="(.*?)"(?=\]|,) (updated regex101). If that's that, I'll update my answer with it.

Alex Filipovici · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-26 12:54:02Z

0

You may give a try to the Balancing Group Definitions:

string pattern = @"^[^\[\]]*" +
                @"(" +
                @"((?'Open'\[)[^\[\]]*)+" +
                @"((?'Close-Open'\])[^\[\]]*)+" +
                @")*" +
                @"(?(Open)(?!))$";

var results =
    Regex.Match(input, pattern)
    .Groups["Close"].Value
    .Split(new char[] { '=', ',' });

This outputs:

Salesperson
"James Almond"
Area
"Europe "Area 1" (Germany)"
Area
"North America"
Area
"North America [Level A]"

edited Aug 26, 2013 at 12:54

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 12:48

Alex Filipovici

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