asked on

ASP.NET/VB/REGEX: Decive content in half by lines

Using ASP.NET/VB and Regular Expressions, how can I turn this:

1
2
3
4
5
a
b
c
d
e

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Into this:

<span class="cols">
<span class="col1">
1
2
3
4
5
</span>
<span class="col2">
a
b
c
d
e
</span>
</span>

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I want the content to be devided in exactly half.

input = RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(input, ???, "<span class=""cols""><span class=""col1"">$1</span><span class=""col2"">$2</span></span>")

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Derek Jensen

Not sure of the translation to VB, but this regex worked for me in PHP:

/^(([0-9]|\r|\n)+?)(?<!\w)(([a-z]|\r|\n)+?)$/s

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See it in action

hankknight

ASKER

Thanks, I should have made my example better reflect my need. The first half of lines should go in the first group and the second half of lines should go in the second group. In the wild this will be more complicated than just numbers and letters.

This should be in the first group.
1st group is where this line should be.
"Line 3" should be in the first group
Line 4 belongs in the second group
This line should be in group 2
This last line goes in group two.

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should become:

<span class="cols">
<span class="col1">
This should be in the first group.
1st group is where this line should be.
"Line 3" should be in the first group
</span>
<span class="col2">
Line 4 belongs in the second group
This line should be in group 2
This last line goes in group two.
</span>
</span>

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Derek Jensen

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