C# regex to match a string which has a delimiter

Question

I need some help with regex. i want to get the string which has a delimiter in it between two specific words.

e.g. i need a regex which matches:

Statements1 start Statements2 ; Statements3 end fun;

There can be multiple occurences of ' ; ' between 'start' and 'end'.

Statements are multiple words where (.*) can be used in the regex for a word.

But the regex should not match if there is no ' ; ' between the 'start' and 'end'.

Also, the 'end' should be the first 'end' encountered after 'start'

So, the regex should not match

Statements1 start Statements2 end Statements3 ; end fun

i want the matches as

1. statements before 'start'
2. keyword
3. statements after 'start'

So, in this case it would be a group(for the 1st string since 2nd should not match) as:

1. Statements1
2. start
3. Statements2 ; Statements3 end fun;

Thanks.

Answer 1

start ((Statements) ;)+ (Statements) end fun

Answer 2

Might be quicker to use

    string[] Strings = stringToSplit.Split(new char[] { ';' });
    if (Strings.Count() > 1)
    {
        // Do your stuff
    }

Answer 3

It sounds like what you want is as simple as:

(.*)(start)(.*;.*end.*)

This would return the groups you list.

Answer 4

So the below regex will match your positive case and fail the negative case and place the results into group 1, 2, & 3.

(.*?) (start) ((?:(?:.*?) ;)+ (?:.*?) end fun)

In case you're unfamiliar with the (?:) syntax - they signify non-capturing parentheses. Check out Mastering Regular Expressions, it's a great reference for this topic!