eiffel

Eiffel: regular expressions how to do grouping


I'd like to do grouping of regular expressions with eiffel. How do I do something like

l_reg.compile ("^([0-9]{3}) (rabbit[0-9]).*")
l_groups := l_reg.groups ("123 rabbit1")
my_first_rabbit := l_groups.at (2)

Didn't find any example on groups, LX_DFA_REGULAR_EXPRESSION class and other googlings


Solution

  • One solution is to use RX_PCRE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION instead of LX_DFA_REGULAR_EXPRESSION:

    Including $ISE_LIBRARY\contrib\library\gobo\library\regexp\src\library.ecf library

    l_reg: RX_PCRE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
    ...
    l_reg.compile ("^([0-9]{3}) (rabbit[0-9]).*")
    l_reg.match ("123 rabbit1")
    my_first_rabbit := l_reg.captured_substring (2)
    

    There is no groups routine, although it could be implemented by calling captured_substring internally. There is only a routine split which does the reverse: returns the substrings which did not match the regular expression.

    Something like

        regex_groups (a_haystack, a_needle: STRING): ARRAY[STRING]
                -- Test with https://www.regextester.com/1911
            require
                regex_match (a_haystack, a_needle)
            local
                l_reg: RX_PCRE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
                l_index: like {RX_PCRE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION}.match_count
            do
                create Result.make_empty
                create l_reg.make
                l_reg.compile (a_needle)
                if l_reg.is_compiled then
                    l_reg.match (a_haystack)
                    from
                        l_index := 1
                    until
                        l_index > l_reg.match_count
                    loop
                        Result.extend (l_reg.captured_substring (l_index))
                        l_index := l_index + 1
                    end
                else
                    --- error compiling regex
                    fallible.set_last_error (create {SIT_INTERNAL_ERROR}.make ("regex_group-> regex does not compile:" + a_needle))
                end
            ensure
                not fallible.has_error
                instance_free: Class
            end
    

    you could test your regex here: https://www.regextester.com/1911