Java

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

Java

import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    boolean success = false;

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

    CkStringBuilder sb = new CkStringBuilder();
    sb.Append(subject);

    CkJsonObject json = new CkJsonObject();
    json.put_EmitCompact(false);

    int timeoutMs = 2000;
    int numMatches = sb.RegexMatch(pattern,json,timeoutMs);
    if (numMatches < 0) {
        // Probably an error in the regular expression.
        // Suggestion: Use AI to help create and/or diagnose regular expressions.
        System.out.println(sb.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    // Examine the matches:
    System.out.println(json.emit());

    // 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:

    json.put_I(json.IntOf("named.first"));
    System.out.println("first: " + json.stringOf("match[0].group[i].cap"));

    json.put_I(json.IntOf("named.last"));
    System.out.println("last: " + json.stringOf("match[0].group[i].cap"));

    // Output is: 

    // first: John
    // last: Smith
  }
}