NSString replace regex

Question

I have a string like this:

NSString* msg = @"Hello this is a new message to @[123:Dr Zoidberg] and his nippers";

And I want to use -stringByReplacingMatchesInString:options:range:withTemplate: to convert this pattern to:

NSString* msg = @"Hello this is a new message to Dr Zoidberg and his nippers";

This is what I have so far:

NSString* msg = @"Hello this is a new message to @[123:Dr Zoidberg] and his nippers";
NSRegularExpression* regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern: @"????"
                                                                       options: NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive
                                                                         error: nil];

NSString* plainText = [regex stringByReplacingMatchesInString: msg
                                                      options: 0
                                                        range: NSMakeRange(0, [msg length])
                                                 withTemplate: @"$2"];

Can anyone help me with the @"????" pattern?

What is the template format? In `@[123:Dr Zoidberg]`, what can replace the `123` number? — mmdemirbas, Aug 27 '12 at 13:50

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

2

This was the pattern I was after: @(.*?):(.*?)]. Thanks go to this question.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

Community

1
1

answered Aug 27 '12 at 13:49

Paul de Lange

10,613
10
41
56

Gabber · Answer 2 · 2012-08-27T14:00:40.273

0

Try replacing

@\[\d+:(.+?)\]

with the \1 group

Explanation:

Match @ followed by [, then any number of digits followed by a comma. From this point get the text until you find the closing square bracket.

If there can be any kind of whitespace between the digits and the : you can use this one

@\[\d+\t*:(.+?)\]

edited Aug 27 '12 at 14:00

answered Aug 27 '12 at 13:46

Gabber

5,152
6
35
49

It works on notepad++. What does it match / doesn't it match? It looks a lot like the one mmdemirbas commented, maybe the problem is the square bracket at the beginning – Gabber Aug 27 '12 at 13:55
Uhu, can there be a space (or any indentation character) between `123` and `:`? if so you can write it in this fashion `@\[\d+\t+?:(.+?)\]` – Gabber Aug 27 '12 at 13:58
the `?` means "don't be greedy with the +", in this case in fact you can omit it (my mistake, I'll edit the answer) – Gabber Aug 27 '12 at 13:59
Think I understood: you must replace `withTemplate: @"$2"` with `withTemplate: @"$1"` telling to use the first replacing group, not the second – Gabber Aug 27 '12 at 14:06

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 27 '12 at 13:48

0

Search for @\[123:(.*?)\] and replace with \1

answered Aug 27 '12 at 13:48

mmdemirbas

9,060
5
45
53

NSString replace regex

3 Answers3