Split string pattern

Question

I have a string that I need to split in an array of string. All the values are delimited by a pipe | and are separated by a comma.

|111|,|2,2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||

The array should have the following 8 values after the split

111
2,2
room 1
13'2'' x 13'8''
""
""
""
""

by "" I simply mean an empty string. Please note that the value can also have a comma e.g 2,2. I think probably the best way to do this is through Regex.Split but I am not sure how to write the correct regular expression. Any suggestions or any better way of achieving this will be really appreciated.

A CSV library like FileHelpers should have options to support such a format — Tim S.
– Tim S., Commented Nov 8, 2013 at 16:35

Ibrahim Najjar · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 23:18:37Z

2

You can use Match() to get the values instead of split() as long as the values between the pipe characters don't contain the pipe character itself:

(?<=\|)[^|]*(?=\|)

This will match zero or more non-pipe characters [^|]* which are preceded (?<=\|) and followed by a pipe (?=\|).

In C#:

var input = "|111|,|2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";
var results = Regex.Matches(input, @"(?<=\|)[^|]*(?=\|)"); 
foreach (Match match in results)
     Console.WriteLine("Found '{0}' at position {1}", 
                       match.Value, match.Index);

EDIT: Since commas always separate the values that are between pipe characters | then we can be sure that the commas used as separators will always appear at odd intervals, so we can only walk the even indexes of the array to get the true values like this:

var input = "|room 1|,|,|,||,||,||,||,||,||";

var results = Regex.Matches(input, @"(?<=\|)[^|]*(?=\|)");

for (int i = 0; i < results.Count; i+=2)
    Console.WriteLine("Found '{0}'", results[i].Value);

This can be also used in the first example above.

edited Nov 8, 2013 at 23:18

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 16:29

Ibrahim Najjar

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3 Comments

Steve Over a year ago

This does not work when a PIKE is part of the value, but then again, escape characters (as the pike is used here) should never be part of the value. I mean what if by chance, you have |,| within the value, how would you know? You can't. +1

Kanwar Rafi Over a year ago

@Sniffer This way, I will also get the commas as well and I wont know whether the comma is a seperator or a value for example here the second value is just a comma |room 1|,|,|,||,||,||,||,||,||

Ibrahim Najjar Over a year ago

@KanwarRafi This can be solved, check the edit I made to my answer.

Jeff · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 17:03:09Z

1

Assuming all fields are enclosed by a pipe and delimited by a comma you can use |,| as the delimiter, removing the leading and trailing |

Dim data = "|111|,|2,2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||"
Dim delim = New String() {"|,|"}
Dim results = data.Substring(1, data.Length - 2).Split(delim, StringSplitOptions.None)

For Each s In results
  Console.WriteLine(s)
Next

Output:

111
2,2
room 1
13'2'' x 13'8''
""
""
""
""

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 17:03

Jeff

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Comments

Ben · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 17:05:53Z

1

No need to use a regex, remove the pipes and split the string on the comma:

var input = "|111|,|2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";

var parts = input.Split(',').Select(x => x.Replace("|", string.Empty));

or

var parts = input.Replace("|", string.Empty).Split(',');

EDIT: OK, in that case, use a while loop to parse the string:

var values = new List<string>();
var str = @"|111|,|2,2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";;
while (str.Length > 0)
{
    var open = str.IndexOf('|');
    var close = str.IndexOf('|', open + 1);

    var value = str.Substring(open + 1, open + close - 1);
    values.Add(value);

    str = open + close < str.Length - 1 
            ? str.Substring(open + close + 2) 
            : string.Empty;
}

edited Nov 8, 2013 at 17:05

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 16:29

Ben

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2 Comments

Kanwar Rafi Over a year ago

Thanks @user2965995 but there's a possibility of a comma in the actual values as well. e.g. the string can also be |111|,|,2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||

Ben Over a year ago

See my edit, it uses a while loop rather than a regex

Aage · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 16:34:04Z

0

You could try this:

 string a = "|111|,|2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";

 string[] result = a.Split('|').Where(s => !s.Contains(",")).Select(s => s.Replace("|",String.Empty)).ToArray();

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 16:34

Aage

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Comments

kintaro · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 16:55:32Z

0

mmm maybe this work for you:

var data = "|111|,|2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";
var resultArray = data.Replace("|", "").Split(',');

Regards.,

k

EDIT: You can use wildcard

string data = "|111|,|2,2|,|,3|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";
var resultArray = data.Replace("|,|", "¬").Replace("|", "").Split('¬');

Regards.,

k

edited Nov 8, 2013 at 16:55

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 16:33

kintaro

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3 Comments

DWolf Over a year ago

you can't use empty char literals with replace

Steve Over a year ago

@DWolf Ah... sure you can. Do it all the time. Regardless, this is a bad answer because it does not account for commas or pikes within the actual value.

DWolf Over a year ago

i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/dreamtoffallout/vs2012_wolf.png visual studio seems to think you cannot

Dmytro · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-08 17:27:24Z

0

Check, if this fits your needs...

var str = "|111|,|2,2|,|room 1|,|13'2'' x 13'8''|,||,||,||,||";  
//Iterate through all your matches (we're looking for anything between | and |, non-greedy)                     
foreach (Match m in Regex.Matches(str, @"\|(.*?)\|"))
{
    //Groups[0] is entire match, with || symbols, but [1] - something between ()
    Console.WriteLine(m.Groups[1].Value);
}

Though, to find anything between | and |, you might and probably should use [^\|] instead of . character.

At least, for specified use case it gives the result you're expecting.

edited Nov 8, 2013 at 17:27

answered Nov 8, 2013 at 17:09

Dmytro

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