JaeWebb
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Using Regular Expression to Extract XML Nodes w/Specified Name, Irrespective of Node's Elements
I am parsing a string before it is turned into XML. I need to find and delete all occurrences of XML nodes of a specific type, no matter what elements appear inside the XML tag. For example, the regular expression should evaluate all of these strings as 'true':
<Column />
<Column Type="1.0" />
<Column Type="1.0" Name="AZ-0" />
I have a little book that gives me the impression that I should be using this symbol ".+", however, I'm unsure of how to do it. I need an answer quickly! Thanks.
<Column />
<Column Type="1.0" />
<Column Type="1.0" Name="AZ-0" />
I have a little book that gives me the impression that I should be using this symbol ".+", however, I'm unsure of how to do it. I need an answer quickly! Thanks.
Last Comment
abel
]+/>
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Thank you - and thanks for the thorough explanation too.
The problems occur when elements are nested inside themselves . If that does not happen, then the following will work for you. The ".+?" means a non-greedy match of everything, looking for the shortest match possible. This is more likely to work correctly then ".+" (without question mark) because then the match would be greedy, trying to grab as much from the document as possible, in which case sibling elements may yield wrong results.
<Column[^>]+/>|<Column[^>]+>.+</Column>
> Thank you - and thanks for the thorough explanation too.
oh, you're welcome. LOL, I was still typing the full answer (which came in two parts). Well, you get those extra bits for free :-)
oh, you're welcome. LOL, I was still typing the full answer (which came in two parts). Well, you get those extra bits for free :-)
Note that the / in:
]+/>
can be left off of the pattern since / is already in [^>] character set.
]+/>
can be left off of the pattern since / is already in [^>] character set.
@ddrudik: that was on purpose. Because you either:
But, like I say in my comments, there are quite some prerequisites for an XML file to become parsable with such a simple regular expression.
- want to match an empty tag
- want to match an opening and a closing tag
But, like I say in my comments, there are quite some prerequisites for an XML file to become parsable with such a simple regular expression.
abel, I understand now, thanks.
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