C

Regular Expression with Named Capture Groups

See more Regular Expressions Examples

Demonstrates regular expressions with named capture groups.

See the sample code below.

Note: Chilkat uses PCRE2. See PCRE2 Regular Expressions
Also see: PCRE2 Performance

In PCRE2, named capture groups allow you to assign a name to a capturing group, making it easier to reference by name instead of number.

Syntax

(?<name>pattern)

or

(?'name'pattern)

Example

(?<first>\w+)\s+(?<last>\w+)

Applied to:

"John Smith"

Produces:

• first: John
• last: Smith

C

#include <C_CkStringBuilder.h>
#include <C_CkJsonObject.h>

void ChilkatSample(void)
    {
    BOOL success;
    const char *subject;
    const char *pattern;
    HCkStringBuilder sb;
    HCkJsonObject json;
    int timeoutMs;
    int numMatches;

    success = FALSE;

    subject = "John Smith";
    pattern = "(?<first>\\w+)\\s+(?<last>\\w+)";

    sb = CkStringBuilder_Create();
    CkStringBuilder_Append(sb,subject);

    json = CkJsonObject_Create();
    CkJsonObject_putEmitCompact(json,FALSE);

    timeoutMs = 2000;
    numMatches = CkStringBuilder_RegexMatch(sb,pattern,json,timeoutMs);
    if (numMatches < 0) {
        // Probably an error in the regular expression.
        // Suggestion: Use AI to help create and/or diagnose regular expressions.
        printf("%s\n",CkStringBuilder_lastErrorText(sb));
        CkStringBuilder_Dispose(sb);
        CkJsonObject_Dispose(json);
        return;
    }

    // Examine the matches:
    printf("%s\n",CkJsonObject_emit(json));

    // Here is the JSON showing the matches.
    // Important:  Capture group 0 always contains the entire match — that is, the portion of the input string that matches the full regular expression.

    // {
    //   "named": {
    //     "first": 1,
    //     "last": 2
    //   },
    //   "match": [
    //     {
    //       "group": [
    //         {
    //           "cap": "John Smith",
    //           "idx": 0,
    //           "len": 10
    //         },
    //         {
    //           "cap": "John",
    //           "idx": 0,
    //           "len": 4
    //         },
    //         {
    //           "cap": "Smith",
    //           "idx": 5,
    //           "len": 5
    //         }
    //       ]
    //     }
    //   ]
    // }

    // The capture group index is obtained by looking up the name in the JSON result.
    // For example:

    CkJsonObject_putI(json,CkJsonObject_IntOf(json,"named.first"));
    printf("first: %s\n",CkJsonObject_stringOf(json,"match[0].group[i].cap"));

    CkJsonObject_putI(json,CkJsonObject_IntOf(json,"named.last"));
    printf("last: %s\n",CkJsonObject_stringOf(json,"match[0].group[i].cap"));

    // Output is: 

    // first: John
    // last: Smith


    CkStringBuilder_Dispose(sb);
    CkJsonObject_Dispose(json);

    }