How to Parse a specific string in C#

Question

I have this structure:

{
   "longUrl" :"http://www.sample.com",
   "bok" :1,
   "url" :"http://pleasegetme.com ",
   "title" :""
}
//equivalent
    "{
       \n   \"longUrl\" :\"http://www.sample.com/\",
       \n   \"bok\" :1,
       \n   \"url\" :\"http://pleasegetme.com \",
       \n   \"title\" :\"\"\n
     }"

I have this function

public string Domain1Helper(string longText)
{
    Regex rgxUrl = new Regex("\"url\":\"(.*?)\"");
    Match mUrl = rgxUrl.Match(longText);

    string url = Regex.Replace(mUrl.Groups[1].Value, @"\\", "");
    return url;
}

What I want to get is http://pleasegetme.com.

What is the wrong in my Domain1Helper method?

@AJB - yes it is "just a string", but a string containing data in JSON format. — Hans Keﬆing
– Hans Keﬆing, Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 9:21
@kumarch1, I rollback your edit. The OP is not aware it's a JSON (so adding comment into question "it's json string" is wrong edit). I also change formatting, while you didn't. Pay attention to "was changed" warning when you are editing next time please. — Sinatr
– Sinatr, Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 9:29

plusheen · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-03 09:28:10Z

2

What you have there is a JSON string. You can parse this using a library called Json.Net. You can find this as a nuget package. You can then use the following code to pick out the strings you want.

JObject jo = JObject.Parse(longtext);
Console.WriteLine(jo["longUrl"].Value.ToString()); // Outputs 'http://www.sample.com'

edited Aug 3, 2016 at 9:28

answered Aug 3, 2016 at 9:21

plusheen

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Comments

Grubl3r · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-03 09:25:48Z

1

AJB, You have an error in your RegEx. That being said you should use a JSON deserializer, like JSON.NET. In the function Domain1Helper it should be:

Regex rgxUrl = new Regex("\"url\"\\s+:\"(.*?)\"");

Notice the \s+ ?

answered Aug 3, 2016 at 9:25

Grubl3r

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Mio Bambino · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-03 09:23:53Z

0

You have included the escape strings \. If you remove those, it should parse just fine, as in here:

https://regex101.com/r/hK7xR7/1

Note, that you method should look like this:

public string Domain1Helper(string longText)
{
    Regex rgxUrl = new Regex(@"\"url\" :\"(.*?)\"");
    Match mUrl = rgxUrl.Match(longText);

    string url = Regex.Replace(mUrl.Groups[1].Value, @"\\", "");
    return url;
}

And alternative solution would be using one json library, which is outlined here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc197957(v=vs.95).aspx

answered Aug 3, 2016 at 9:23

Mio Bambino

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Chandan Kumar · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-03 10:30:44Z

0

It is a freaking JSON formatted string. Use a JSON deserializer such as JSON.NET. I'll leave it to you on which one you'd want to use.

Here is the root object generated using json2csharp.com

public class RootObject
{
    public string longUrl { get; set; }
    public int bok { get; set; }
    public string url { get; set; }
    public string title { get; set; }
}

Example using JSON.NET:

using Newtonsoft.Json; // Namespace is something like this


string json = "{
                 \n   \"longUrl\" :\"http://www.sample.com/\",
                 \n   \"bok\" :1,
                 \n   \"url\" :\"http://pleasegetme.com \",
                 \n   \"title\" :\"\"\n
               }";

RootObject rootObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<RootObject>(json);
string url = rootObject.url;
// Do something with the url

edited Aug 3, 2016 at 10:30

Chandan Kumar

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answered Aug 3, 2016 at 9:23

jegtugado

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