Delphi DLL Requires Chilkat v11.1.0+

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

Delphi DLL

var
success: Boolean;
subject: PWideChar;
pattern: PWideChar;
sb: HCkStringBuilder;
json: HCkJsonObject;
timeoutMs: Integer;
numMatches: Integer;

begin
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) then
  begin
    //  Probably an error in the regular expression.
    //  Suggestion: Use AI to help create and/or diagnose regular expressions.
    Memo1.Lines.Add(CkStringBuilder__lastErrorText(sb));
    Exit;
  end;

//  Examine the matches:
Memo1.Lines.Add(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'));
Memo1.Lines.Add('first: ' + CkJsonObject__stringOf(json,'match[0].group[i].cap'));

CkJsonObject_putI(json,CkJsonObject_IntOf(json,'named.last'));
Memo1.Lines.Add('last: ' + CkJsonObject__stringOf(json,'match[0].group[i].cap'));

//  Output is: 

//  first: John
//  last: Smith

CkStringBuilder_Dispose(sb);
CkJsonObject_Dispose(json);