Use regex to find text into a string? 1

[Paco75]

Hi,

Im searching how to use regular expressions to find text patterns inside a string... like dates. How we do it in visual foxpro?

thanks

 

[Mike Lewis]

One option is to invoke the VBScript RegExp class. Something like this:

oRE = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
oRE.Pattern = "[i]regular expression here[/i]"
lcString = "[i]string to search[/i]"
llResult = oRE.test(lcString)

The last line will return .T. if the expression is found.

You should also take a look at the Regular Expressions Foundation Class - see the VFP Help for details.

Also, Craig Boyd has an FLL to handle Regular Expressions. See:

http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com/spsblog/2006/01/04/ARegularExpressionsLibraryForVisualFoxPro.aspx

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[Paco75]

Thanks Mike
It works #1

 

[Mike Lewis]

Glad it worked, Paco. It's the method I generally use.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[Paco75]

Is there a place where i can find complete methods list availiable in VBScript.Regexp?

 

[Paco75]

Im asking because i also want to do a substring to retrieve the matched characters. Do you know how to?

 

[Olaf Doschke]

google VBScript.RegExp, and you find

http://www.regular-expressions.info/vbscript.html

In the section "Getting Information about Individual Matches" you see there is another method "execute" beside "test".

Intellisense would also tell you that, and as third method there is Replace.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

The full reference of the RegExp Object of VBScript is very small and it's home is here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kxt24tyh(v=vs.85).aspx

from that page you are directed to properties and methods are described here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kxt24tyh(v=vs.85).aspx

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

The full reference of the RegExp Object of VBScript is very small

That's right. It's small, in the sense that it has very few properties and methods. Its functionality comes in the power of the actual regular expressions.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Actually I still think the design of that class is awkward and could be simpler and better explained or better self-explanatory besides the regexp stuff you need to know or learn anyway.

I wished the Global, IgnoreCase and Pattern properties would just be parameters and then it would boil down to three Functions TestPattern (Test), SearchPattern (Execute) and ReplacePattern (Replace).

Bye, Olaf.