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Regular Expression with Capture Groups

See more Regular Expressions Examples

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

Demonstrates the following PCRE2 regular expression:

See the sample code below.

Name:\s+(\w+)\s+(\w+),\s+Email:\s+(\S+)

And apply it to this string:

Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com

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Regex Components Explained

Part	Meaning	Matched Text
"Name:"	Matches the literal text "Name:"	"Name:"
"\s+"	Matches one or more whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, etc.)	(space)
"(\w+)"	Capture Group 1: One or more word characters ("a-zA-Z0-9_")	"John"
"\s+"	More whitespace	(space)
"(\w+)"	Capture Group 2: Another word (the last name)	"Smith"
","	A literal comma	","
"\s+"	Whitespace again	(space)
"Email:"	Matches the literal "Email:"	"Email:"
"\s+"	Whitespace	(space)
"(\S+)"	Capture Group 3: One or more non-whitespace characters	"john.smith@example.com"

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Matches for Your Example String

String:

"Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com"

Regex Match Groups:

Group	Captured Value
Group 1	"John"
Group 2	"Smith"
Group 3	"john.smith@example.com"

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Notes on Character Classes

• \w matches [a-zA-Z0-9_] — so it doesn’t include punctuation like a period.
• \S matches any non-whitespace character, so it’s good for capturing an email.

AutoIt

Local $bSuccess = False

Local $subject = "Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com"
Local $sPattern = "Name:\s+(\w+)\s+(\w+),\s+Email:\s+(\S+)"

$oSb = ObjCreate("Chilkat.StringBuilder")
$oSb.Append($subject)

$oJson = ObjCreate("Chilkat.JsonObject")
$oJson.EmitCompact = False

Local $iTimeoutMs = 2000
Local $iNumMatches = $oSb.RegexMatch($sPattern,$oJson,$iTimeoutMs)
If ($iNumMatches < 0) Then
    ; Probably an error in the regular expression.
    ; Suggestion: Use AI to help create and/or diagnose regular expressions.
    ConsoleWrite($oSb.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

; Examine the matches:
ConsoleWrite($oJson.Emit() & @CRLF)

; This is the JSON with the match information.
; See the JSON parsing code below to get the matched capture group values.

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

; {
;   "match": [
;     {
;       "group": [
;         {
;           "cap": "Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com",
;           "idx": 0,
;           "len": 47
;         },
;         {
;           "cap": "John",
;           "idx": 6,
;           "len": 4
;         },
;         {
;           "cap": "Smith",
;           "idx": 11,
;           "len": 5
;         },
;         {
;           "cap": "john.smith@example.com",
;           "idx": 25,
;           "len": 22
;         }
;       ]
;     }
;   ]
; }

Local $sCap
Local $i = 0
Local $iMatchCount = $oJson.SizeOfArray("match")
While $i < $iMatchCount
    ConsoleWrite("Match " & ($i + 1) & ":" & @CRLF)
    $oJson.I = $i
Local $iJ = 0
Local $iNumCaptureGroups = $oJson.SizeOfArray("match[i].group")
    While $iJ < $iNumCaptureGroups
        $oJson.J = $iJ
        $sCap = $oJson.StringOf("match[i].group[j].cap")
        ConsoleWrite($iJ & ": " & $sCap & @CRLF)
        $iJ = $iJ + 1
    Wend
    $i = $i + 1
Wend

; Capture group 0 always contains the entire match — that is, the portion of the input string that matches the full regular expression.

; Output

; Match 1:
; 0: Name: John Smith, Email: john.smith@example.com
; 1: John
; 2: Smith
; 3: john.smith@example.com