VB.NET Split and Match Methods
In this article I will explain you about the Split and Match Methods in VB.NET.
There are a few significant RegEx methods:
The RegEx.Split method splits an input string into an array of substrings at the positions defined by a regular expression match.
The RegEx.Replace method replaces all occurrences of a character pattern defined by a regular expression with a specified replacement character string.
The RegEx.Matches method searches an input string for all occurrences of a regular expression and returns all the successful matches as if Match were called numerous times.
There is also a MatchCollection class that represents the set of successful matches found by iteratively applying a regular expression pattern to the input string.
The example below is shows the Split and Matches methods and the MatchCollection class.
Example of Split and Match
Imports System
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Public Class RegExpSplit
Public Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
Console.WriteLine("Enter a split delimeter ( default is [0-9 a-z A-Z]* ) : ")
metaExp = Console.ReadLine()
Console.WriteLine("Enter a meta string: ")
Dim rets As String() = ParseExtnSplit(Console.ReadLine())
If rets Is Nothing Then
Console.WriteLine("Sorry no match")
Else
Console.WriteLine(rets.Length)
For Each x As String In rets
Console.WriteLine(x)
Next
End If
Console.WriteLine("Enter a match pattern ( default is [0-9 a-z A-Z]* ) : ")
metaExp = Console.ReadLine()
Console.WriteLine("Enter a meta string: ")
rets = ParseExtnMatch(Console.ReadLine())
If rets Is Nothing Then
Console.WriteLine("Sorry no match")
Else
Console.WriteLine(rets.Length)
For Each x As String In rets
Console.WriteLine(x)
Next
End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
Public Shared Function ParseExtnSplit(ByVal ext As [String]) As String()
Dim rx As New Regex(metaExp)
Return rx.Split(ext)
End Function
Public Shared Function ParseExtnMatch(ByVal ext As [String]) As String()
' case insensitive match
Dim rx As New Regex(metaExp, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)
Dim rez As MatchCollection = rx.Matches(ext)
Dim ret As String() = Nothing
If rez.Count > 0 Then
ret = New String(rez.Count) {}
Dim i As Integer = 0
While i < rez.Count
ret(i) = rez(i).ToString()
System.Math.Max(System.Threading.Interlocked.Increment(i), i - 1)
End While
End If
Return ret
End Function
Private Shared metaExp As String = "[0-9 a-z A-Z]*"
End Class
Output
Conclusion
Hope this article would have helped you in understanding the Split and Match Methods in VB.NET.