Nested multi-level optional elements in RegEx

I'm working with VB.NET and I'm working with a RESTful API... They have a construction for selecting resources (Includes) and fields. I've written a wrapper and want to add syntax checking before making any calls. I'm wanting to use RegEX but am struggling to understand and need help.

The calling syntax structure is nested up to 3 levels with field selection for each nested association (Include) as follows:

Include,Include/Subinclude,Include/Subinclude/Subinclude,Include/Subinclude(field)/Subinclude,Include(field,field,...,field)/Subinclude(field,field,...,field),...,Include(field,field,...,field)/Subinclude(field,field,...,field)/Subinclude(field,field,...,field)

Fields must be associated with Includes seperated by commas and are only lowercase letters, numbers & the '_' underscore character
Includes are seperated by commas and are title case letters & numbers
Includes can optionally specify one or more fields wrapped in braces. eg. Include(field,field,...,field)
Includes can be nested with two-sub levels. Subincludes are nested using '/' and are title case letters & numbers. eg. Include/Subinclude/Subinclude
Every sub-include can have fields like Includes.
There can be any number of each type of element, usage is variable, and Includes can only be nested to 3 levels (Include/Subinclude/Subinclude).

Here's a example:

Listing(listing_id,user_id,title,materials,tags,url)/Images(listing_image_id,url_75x75),Listing(listing_id)/User(user_id,login_name),Buyer(user_id,login_name),Author(user_id,login_name,feedback_info)/Profile,Subject(user_id,login_name)/User(user_id)/Profile(user_profile_id,login_name),Listing/User/Shops,Listing/User(user_id,login_name)/Shops,Listings/Images,Subject/User/Profile(user_profile_id,login_name)

And here's the RegEx code that I've created so far:

[0-9a-fA-F]*((.|\n)*?)(\(|\)|,|\\)

I can code this in VB.NET but am wanting to use RegEx for its speed benefits. I'm trying to stripe out all text and build a nested representation. It would look something like:

Listing(listing_id,user_id,title,materials,tags,url)/Images(listing_image_id,url_75x75),
Listing(listing_id)/User(user_id,login_name),
Buyer(user_id,login_name),
Seller(user_id,login_name),
Author(user_id,login_name,feedback_info)/Profile,
Subject(user_id, login_name)

Then further down into sub sections, and so on with group names. Being able to identify level/type groups would be a bonus...

I'm sure this is dead easy but am not sure how to work with nested multi-level optional elements in RegEx and would really appriciate some help from the gurus...

Here's the storage class definition where the results will be kept:

Public Class Include
    Public fields As List(Of String)
    Public Includes As Includes(Of Include)
    Sub New()
        Includes = New Includes(Of Include)
    End Sub
End Class

And the collection class definition:

Public Class Includes(Of Include) : Implements IEnumerable(Of include)

#Region "Constructor"

    Public Sub New()

    End Sub

#End Region

#Region "Public Properties"

    Private _Includes As New List(Of include)
    Default Public Property Item(ByVal index As Integer) As include
        Get
            Return _Includes(index)
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As include)
            Try
                _Includes.Remove(value)
            Catch ex As Exception

            End Try
            _Includes.Add(value)
        End Set
    End Property

#End Region

#Region "Pulic Methods & Functions"

    Public Sub Clear()
        _Includes.Clear()
    End Sub

    Public Sub Add(ByVal item As include)
        _Includes.Add(item)
    End Sub

    Public Function Count() As Integer
        Return _Includes.Count
    End Function

    Public Function GetEnumerator() As System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator(Of include) _
                                    Implements IEnumerable(Of include).GetEnumerator
        Return _Includes.GetEnumerator
    End Function

    Public Function GetEnumerator1() As System.Collections.IEnumerator _
                                     Implements IEnumerable.GetEnumerator
        Return _Includes.GetEnumerator
    End Function

#End Region

#Region "Boxing"

    Public Shared Narrowing Operator CType(ByVal src As includes(Of include)) As include()
        Dim dest(src.Count) As include
        For i As Integer = 0 To src.Count - 1
            dest(i) = src(i)
        Next
        Return dest
    End Operator

    Public Shared Widening Operator CType(ByVal src As include()) As includes(Of include)
        Dim dest = New includes(Of include)
        For i As Integer = 0 To src.Count - 1
            dest.Add(src(i))
        Next
        Return dest
    End Operator

#End Region

End Class

Thanks...

ansaurus

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Nested multi-level optional elements in RegEx

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