How do I extract a string of text that lies between two (brackets) using .NET?

Question

I have a string "User name (sales)" and I want to extract the text between the brackets, how would I do this? I suspect substring but I can't work out how to read until the closing bracket, the length of text will vary.

Answer 1

A regex maybe? I think this would work...

\(([a-z]+?)\)

Answer 2

Regular expressions might be the best tool here. If you are not famililar with them, I recommend you install Expresso - a great little regex tool.

Something like:

  Regex regex = new Regex("\\((?<TextInsideBrackets>\\w+)\\)");
  string incomingValue = "Username (sales)";
  string insideBrackets = null;
  Match match = regex.Match(incomingValue);
  if(match.Success)
  {
   insideBrackets = match.Groups["TextInsideBrackets"].Value;
  }

Answer 3

A very simple way to do it is by using regular expressions:

Regex.Match("User name (sales)", @"\(([^)]*)\)").Groups[1].Value

Answer 4

string input = "User name (sales)";

string output = input.Substring(input.IndexOf('(') + 1, input.IndexOf(')') - input.IndexOf('(') - 1);

Answer 5

Assuming that you only have one pair of parenthesis.

string s = "User name (sales)";
int start = s.IndexOf("(");
int end = s.IndexOf(")")
string result = s.substring(start, end - start -1)

Answer 6

Use a Regular Expression:

string test = "(test)"; 
string word = Regex.Match(test, @"\((\w+)\)").Groups[1].Value;
Console.WriteLine(word);

Answer 7

input.Remove(input.IndexOf(')')).Substring(input.IndexOf('(') + 1);

Answer 8

The regex method is superior I think, but if you wanted to use the humble substring

string input= "my name is (Jayne C)";
int start = input.IndexOf("(");
int stop = input.IndexOf(")");
string output = input.Substring(start+1, stop - start - 1);

or

string input = "my name is (Jayne C)";
string output  = input.Substring(input.IndexOf("(") +1, input.IndexOf(")")- input.IndexOf("(")- 1);

Answer 9

The regex method is not superior if performance is a consideration. Regex is using a sledgehammer on a flea.

As you described it, your bracket problem is extremely limited and well-defined. I like the answer by Tungle139 above.

Regex is better for problems with a lot less uniformity/predictability in them.