View Category
Regex
Matching

Check if a string matches a regular expression

Display "ok" if "Hello" matches /[A-Z][a-z]+/
groovy
if ("Hello" =~ /[A-Z][a-z]+/) println 'ok'
if ("Hello".find(/[A-Z][a-z]+/)) println 'ok'
// with precompiled regex
def regex = ~/[A-Z][a-z]+/
if ("Hello".find(regex)) println 'ok'
// with precompiled regex
def regex = ~/[A-Z][a-z]+/
if ("Hello".matches(regex)) println 'ok'
if ("Hello".matches("[A-Z][a-z]+")) println 'ok'
erlang
String = "Hello", Regexp = "[A-Z][a-z]+",
is_match(String, Regexp) andalso (begin io:format("ok~n"), true end).
case re:run("Hello", "[A-Z][a-z]+") of {match, _} -> ok end.

Check if a string matches with groups

Display "two" if "one two three" matches /one (.*) three/
groovy
matcher = ("one two three" =~ /one (.*) three/)
if (matcher) println matcher[0][1]
match = "one two three".find("one (.*) three") { it[1] }
if (match) println match
erlang
case re:run("one two three", "one (.*) three", [{capture, [1], list}]) of {match, Res} -> hd(Res) end.
Searching

Check if a string contains a match to a regular expression

Display "ok" if "abc 123 @#$" matches /\d+/
groovy
if ('abc 123 @#$' =~ /\d+/) println 'ok'
if ('abc 123 @#$'.find(/\d+/)) println 'ok'
erlang
% Erlang uses 'egrep'-compatible regular expressions, so shortcuts like '\d' not supported
String = "abc 123 @#$", Regexp = "[0-9]+",
is_match(String, Regexp) andalso (begin io:format("ok~n"), true end).
case re:run("abc 123 @#$", "\\d+") of {match, _} -> ok end.

Loop through a string matching a regex and performing an action for each match

Create a list [fish1,cow3,boat4] when matching "(fish):1 sausage (cow):3 tree (boat):4" with regex /\((\w+)\):(\d+)/
groovy
list = (text =~ /\((\w+)\):(\d+)/).collect{ it[1] + it[2] }
list = []
text.eachMatch(/\((\w+)\):(\d+)/){
list << it[1] + it[2]
}
list = []
text.eachMatch(/\((\w+)\):(\d+)/){ m, name, number ->
list << "$name$number"
}
list = (text =~ /\((\w+)\):(\d+)/).collect{ all, name, num -> "$name$num" }
list = text.findAll(regex){ _, name, num -> "$name$num" }
list = text.findAll(regex){ it[1] + it[2] }
erlang
solve(S) ->
R = "\\((\\w+?)\\):(\\d+)",
{match, M} = re:run(S,R, [global, {capture, all_but_first, list}]),
[ A++N || [A, N] <- M].
Replacing

Replace the first regex match in a string with a static string

Transform "Red Green Blue" into "R*d Green Blue" by replacing /e/ with "*"
groovy
replaced = "Red Green Blue".replaceFirst("e", "*")
erlang
{ok, Replaced, _} = regexp:sub("Red Green Blue", "e", "*"),
re:replace("Red Green Blue", "e", "*", [{return, list}]).

Replace all regex matches in a string with a static string

Transform "She sells sea shells" into "She X X shells" by replacing /se\w+/ with "X"
groovy
replaced = text.replaceAll(/se\w+/,"X")
erlang
% Erlang uses 'egrep'-compatible regular expressions, so shortcuts like '\w' not supported
{ok, Replaced, _} = regexp:gsub("She sells sea shells", "se[A-Za-z0-9_]+", "X"),
re:replace("She sells sea shells", "se\\w+", "X", [global, {return, list}]).

Replace all regex matches in a string with a dynamic string

Transform "The {Quick} Brown {Fox}" into "The kciuQ Brown xoF" by reversing words in braces using the regex /\{(\w+)\}/.
groovy
replaced = "The {Quick} Brown {Fox}".replaceAll(/\{(\w+)\}/, { full, word -> word.reverse() } )
erlang
% Erlang regular expressions lack both group capture and backreferences, thus this problem is not directly
% solvable. Presented solution is close, but not on-spec

String = "The {Quick} Brown {Fox}",
{match, FieldList} = regexp:matches(String, "\{([A-Za-z0-9_]+)\}"),

NewString = lists:foldl(fun ({Start, Length}, S) -> replstr(S, lists:reverse(string:substr(S, Start, Length)), Start) end, String, FieldList),