C# Regex: Capture everything up to...

Question

I want to capture everything up to (not including) a # sign in a string. The # character may or may not be present (if it's not present, the whole string should be captured).

What would the RegEx and C# code for this by? I've tried: ([^#]+)(?:#) but it doesn't seem to work.

Answer 1

Try:

.*(?=#)

I think that should work

EDIT:

^[^#]*

In code:

string match = Regex.Match(input,"^[^#]*").Value;

Answer 2

Not a regex but an alternative to try. A regex can be used though, but for this particular situation I prefer this method.

string mystring = "DFASDFASFASFASFAF#322323"; 
int length = (mystring.IndexOf('#') == -1) ? mystring.Length : mystring.IndexOf('#');
string new_mystring = mystring.Substring(0, length);

Answer 3

What's wrong with something as simple as:

[^#]*

Just take the first match?