asked on

Revise procedure to Search and replace .

Vb.Net 2003

What I have:
MyData.txt file

3 columns of data : seperted by a Pipe Delimiter

LAWSON |12324R5|DRILLBIT station.bit standard length
LAWSON |32DE45|DRILLBIT remote.bit long length
UNION BUTTERFIELD|54667| 1.2 A.2 inches in length ' <--- the code should leave this . alone because it has a numeric to left and/or right
etc......

=============================================
What I need:
To revise this procedure

I now need this procedure to look for a . <------ dot or period

If it finds a dot AND it is surronded by an alpha character to the left AND to the right.
DELETE the period/dot , If not leave the line alone
' current routine **********************************
'===== this routine here is looking for double quotes and replacing
' =====if it finds a numeric to the left it replaces the double quotes
'===== with inch
Dim fileName As String = "C:\Samples\ReplaceTest.txt"

Dim sr As New System.IO.StreamReader(fileName)
Dim lines() As String = Split(sr.ReadToEnd.Trim.TrimEnd(vbCr).TrimEnd(vbLf), vbCrLf)
sr.Close()

Dim sb As System.Text.StringBuilder
Dim fields() As String
For i As Integer = 0 To lines.GetUpperBound(0)
fields = lines(i).Split("|")
' chr(34) = double quotes
If fields.GetUpperBound(0) >= 2 Then
sb = New System.Text.StringBuilder(fields(2))
For x As Integer = 1 To sb.Length - 1
If sb.Chars(x) = Chr(34) Then
If Char.IsDigit(sb.Chars(x - 1)) Then
sb.Remove(x, 1)
sb.Insert(x, " inch")
End If
End If
Next

fields(2) = sb.ToString
End If

lines(i) = String.Join("|", fields)
Next

Dim sw As New System.IO.StreamWriter(fileName)
sw.WriteLine(String.Join(vbCrLf, lines))
sw.Close()

Thanks
fordraiders

Bob Learned

Would you like to use a regular expression?

Bob

Fordraiders

ASKER

I need a procedure..Like this one
I will be running these seperately later on..

TimCottee

Hi David,

Regular expressions is certainly the way to go with this, it will simplify it greatly and be significantly easier to modify in future.

Tim Cottee

Fordraiders

ASKER

ok..I will trust you guys judgement..

Bob Learned

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

' Look for one alpha character + period + alpha character.
Dim pattern As String = "[A-Za-z]\.[A-Za-z]"
Dim match As Match = Regex.Match(input, pattern)

If match.Success Then
' Remove the period
sb.Remove(match.Index + 1, 1)
End If

Bob

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

TimCottee

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Fordraiders

ASKER

Dim fileName As String = "C:\Samples\ReplaceTest.txt"

Dim sr As New System.IO.StreamReader(fileName)
Dim lines() As String = Split(sr.ReadToEnd.Trim.TrimEnd(vbCr).TrimEnd(vbLf), vbCrLf)
sr.Close()

Dim sb As System.Text.StringBuilder
Dim fields() As String
Dim pattern As String = "[A-Za-z]\.[A-Za-z]"

For i As Integer = 0 To lines.GetUpperBound(0)
fields = lines(i).Split("|")
' chr(34) = double quotes
If fields.GetUpperBound(0) >= 2 Then
sb = New System.Text.StringBuilder(fields(2))
For x As Integer = 1 To sb.Length - 1
Dim match As Match = Regex.Match(filename, pattern) ' <--- your code here ?
If match.Success Then
' Remove the period
sb.Remove(match.Index + 1, 1)
End If
End If
Next

fields(2) = sb.ToString
End If

lines(i) = String.Join("|", fields)
Next

Dim sw As New System.IO.StreamWriter(fileName)
sw.WriteLine(String.Join(vbCrLf, lines))
sw.Close()

'===================================================
Is this what you mean: I have to pass my "input" as Filename ?

Fordraiders

ASKER

sorry tim and learnedone....
I was doing some reading and just suggestions
Thanks, give me a min to soak in...

Fordraiders

ASKER

ok...so I can now get my expressions together and place them how I want them passing/looping my variables in one big swoop, by using these regular expressions?
I was looking at my msdn... where do I learn these expression values...?
"(?<N>\d)(?<Q>"")", "${N} inch") 'This replaces a " with inch

Thanks for all the help !

Fordraiders

ASKER

I think this is it ?

Regular Expression Language Elements

SOLUTION

Bob Learned

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TimCottee

David,

I use expresso (http://www.ultrapico.com/Expresso.htm) to build and test them before sticking it into visual studio. It will even build the code for you!

Tim

Fordraiders

ASKER

Wish I had more to split..
But that was super !

Fordraiders

ASKER

Tim, LearnedOne..
Why Would I need to totally delare this

Dim re As System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex = New System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex(System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Compiled Or System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.IgnoreCase Or System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexOptions.Multiline)

In the Assembly info I have:
Imports System
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Data.OleDb
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Thanks
fordraiders