Python Re: Multiple Capturing Groups

Question

I have a problem building a working and correct pattern to re.finditer with multiple capturing groups in a pattern. I have the following string I want to search for data.

search_string="""
option.Map['2015'] = new CG.New.Option('text1', '2015', 100, 200);
option.Map['2016'] = new CG.New.Option('text2', '2016', 150, 210);
option.Map['2017'] = new CG.New.Option('text3', '2017', 160, 260);
"""

I would like to use Python regex to extract the text, the year, and the numbers. My pattern looks like the following:

pattern=r"option.Map\[\'(.*)\'] = new CG\.New\.Option\(\'(.*)\',\'(.*)\',(.*),(.*)\);"

My code looks like the following:

for finding in re.finditer(pattern,search_string):
    print(finding.group(1))
    print(finding.group(2))
    print(finding.group(3))
    print(finding.group(4))
    print(finding.group(5))

I know that my pattern is off, but I don't know why.

The output I would expect/want to achieve looks like the following:

@JonClements thanks for the hint. Updated the problem. Prints zero findings still though. — jonas778
– jonas778, Commented May 9, 2017 at 21:47

Jon Clements · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-09 21:52:38Z

2

You need to take into account the spaces after the numbers, eg:

import re

search_string = """
option.Map['2015'] = new CG.New.Option('text1', '2015', 100, 200);
option.Map['2016'] = new CG.New.Option('text2', '2016', 150, 210);
option.Map['2017'] = new CG.New.Option('text3', '2017', 160, 260);
"""

pattern = r"option.Map\['(.*?)'\] = new CG.New.Option\('(.*?)', '(.*?)', (\d+), (\d+)\);"

Then:

for match in re.finditer(pattern, search_string):
    print(*match.groups(), sep='\n')

Gives you:

answered May 9, 2017 at 21:52

Jon Clements

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