Regex - counting the number of colons in a string
New here so apologise if i miss out any critical information!
I've been using https://regex101.com/ to try and build some regex for the following -
I want to use some regex code to either return true if the number of colons in a text string is 3 and false if it is 4 or more, for example the following text string should return false -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
but this should return a match -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
Alternatively I had been looking at other methods to get a relevant response such as ddDddDddD i.e. if there is a letter straight after a digit return a true value but i'm really struggling trying to get it to work.
Any help on either option would be appreciated as either would flag what I need.
Many thanks!
regex count expression
add a comment |
New here so apologise if i miss out any critical information!
I've been using https://regex101.com/ to try and build some regex for the following -
I want to use some regex code to either return true if the number of colons in a text string is 3 and false if it is 4 or more, for example the following text string should return false -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
but this should return a match -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
Alternatively I had been looking at other methods to get a relevant response such as ddDddDddD i.e. if there is a letter straight after a digit return a true value but i'm really struggling trying to get it to work.
Any help on either option would be appreciated as either would flag what I need.
Many thanks!
regex count expression
Just count the colons. Using python as an examplelen("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1:
the length is 2.
– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
add a comment |
New here so apologise if i miss out any critical information!
I've been using https://regex101.com/ to try and build some regex for the following -
I want to use some regex code to either return true if the number of colons in a text string is 3 and false if it is 4 or more, for example the following text string should return false -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
but this should return a match -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
Alternatively I had been looking at other methods to get a relevant response such as ddDddDddD i.e. if there is a letter straight after a digit return a true value but i'm really struggling trying to get it to work.
Any help on either option would be appreciated as either would flag what I need.
Many thanks!
regex count expression
New here so apologise if i miss out any critical information!
I've been using https://regex101.com/ to try and build some regex for the following -
I want to use some regex code to either return true if the number of colons in a text string is 3 and false if it is 4 or more, for example the following text string should return false -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
but this should return a match -
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
Alternatively I had been looking at other methods to get a relevant response such as ddDddDddD i.e. if there is a letter straight after a digit return a true value but i'm really struggling trying to get it to work.
Any help on either option would be appreciated as either would flag what I need.
Many thanks!
regex count expression
regex count expression
asked Nov 13 '18 at 11:26
JamesJames
132
132
Just count the colons. Using python as an examplelen("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1:
the length is 2.
– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
add a comment |
Just count the colons. Using python as an examplelen("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1:
the length is 2.
– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
Just count the colons. Using python as an example
len("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
Just count the colons. Using python as an example
len("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1
:
the length is 2.– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1
:
the length is 2.– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
To match the format in your example data containing 3 times a colon, you might use:
^[^rn:]*:d{2}:d{2}:d{2}[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
That would match
^
Assert start of the string
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
(?::d{2}){3}
Match a colon followed by 2 digits and repeat that 3 times
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
$
Assert the end of the line
If the values to want to match are in 24h format, you might use this regex
^[^rn:]*:(?:2[0-3]|[01]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9])[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
add a comment |
A simple regex that matches strings containing 3 and only 3 colon:
^([^:]*:){3}[^:]*$
DEMO
add a comment |
Using Perl one liner
> cat colon.dat
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
> perl -ne ' { while(m/(:)/g){$x++} print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
or more elegantly
> perl -ne ' { $x++ while(m/(:)/g) ; print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
add a comment |
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
To match the format in your example data containing 3 times a colon, you might use:
^[^rn:]*:d{2}:d{2}:d{2}[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
That would match
^
Assert start of the string
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
(?::d{2}){3}
Match a colon followed by 2 digits and repeat that 3 times
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
$
Assert the end of the line
If the values to want to match are in 24h format, you might use this regex
^[^rn:]*:(?:2[0-3]|[01]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9])[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
add a comment |
To match the format in your example data containing 3 times a colon, you might use:
^[^rn:]*:d{2}:d{2}:d{2}[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
That would match
^
Assert start of the string
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
(?::d{2}){3}
Match a colon followed by 2 digits and repeat that 3 times
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
$
Assert the end of the line
If the values to want to match are in 24h format, you might use this regex
^[^rn:]*:(?:2[0-3]|[01]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9])[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
add a comment |
To match the format in your example data containing 3 times a colon, you might use:
^[^rn:]*:d{2}:d{2}:d{2}[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
That would match
^
Assert start of the string
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
(?::d{2}){3}
Match a colon followed by 2 digits and repeat that 3 times
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
$
Assert the end of the line
If the values to want to match are in 24h format, you might use this regex
^[^rn:]*:(?:2[0-3]|[01]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9])[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
To match the format in your example data containing 3 times a colon, you might use:
^[^rn:]*:d{2}:d{2}:d{2}[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
That would match
^
Assert start of the string
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
(?::d{2}){3}
Match a colon followed by 2 digits and repeat that 3 times
[^rn:]*
Negated character class to match not 0+ times a carriage return, newline or a colon
$
Assert the end of the line
If the values to want to match are in 24h format, you might use this regex
^[^rn:]*:(?:2[0-3]|[01]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9]):(?:[0-5]?[0-9])[^rn:]*$
Regex demo
edited Nov 13 '18 at 16:17
answered Nov 13 '18 at 14:57
The fourth birdThe fourth bird
21.6k81427
21.6k81427
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
add a comment |
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
1
1
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
That is great, just what I was after, thank you very much for your help.
– James
Nov 13 '18 at 16:16
add a comment |
A simple regex that matches strings containing 3 and only 3 colon:
^([^:]*:){3}[^:]*$
DEMO
add a comment |
A simple regex that matches strings containing 3 and only 3 colon:
^([^:]*:){3}[^:]*$
DEMO
add a comment |
A simple regex that matches strings containing 3 and only 3 colon:
^([^:]*:){3}[^:]*$
DEMO
A simple regex that matches strings containing 3 and only 3 colon:
^([^:]*:){3}[^:]*$
DEMO
answered Nov 13 '18 at 12:39
TotoToto
65.3k175698
65.3k175698
add a comment |
add a comment |
Using Perl one liner
> cat colon.dat
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
> perl -ne ' { while(m/(:)/g){$x++} print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
or more elegantly
> perl -ne ' { $x++ while(m/(:)/g) ; print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
add a comment |
Using Perl one liner
> cat colon.dat
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
> perl -ne ' { while(m/(:)/g){$x++} print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
or more elegantly
> perl -ne ' { $x++ while(m/(:)/g) ; print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
add a comment |
Using Perl one liner
> cat colon.dat
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
> perl -ne ' { while(m/(:)/g){$x++} print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
or more elegantly
> perl -ne ' { $x++ while(m/(:)/g) ; print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
Using Perl one liner
> cat colon.dat
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38Wrong Colour Bin at:12:43:17
Bin Not Out at:12:54:38
> perl -ne ' { while(m/(:)/g){$x++} print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
or more elegantly
> perl -ne ' { $x++ while(m/(:)/g) ; print $x==3 ? "truen":"falsen" ; $x=0 } ' colon.dat
false
true
>
answered Nov 13 '18 at 11:33
stack0114106stack0114106
2,8131417
2,8131417
add a comment |
add a comment |
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Just count the colons. Using python as an example
len("yourstring".split(":"))
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:30
What happens if you have one or two colons in the string?
– JGNI
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@FredrikPihl you will need a -1 on that. If you split on a string with 1
:
the length is 2.– Mark Baijens
Nov 13 '18 at 11:32
@MarkBaijens - True.
– Fredrik Pihl
Nov 13 '18 at 11:33