Smarter Regex Replace
Given the following string:
SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE Description LIKE 'some text'
[^[][*'][^]]
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Add a capture group (i.e. parentheses):
Then use that group in your replace:
[^[]([*'])[^]]
Then use that group in your replace:
string result = Regex.Replace(source, "[^[]([*'])[^]]", "[$1]");
Worked like a charm. I often used parentheses in regex but never understood that they meant capture groups. This expands my usage greatly. Thanks!
Keep in mind that capture groups are numbered from left to right. So given the following:
...capture group 1 will contain "abc" and capture group 2 will contain "123". Capture groups can also be nested:
Numbering here is slightly trickier, but more or less the same. It's still left to right, but as you encounter a new opening paren, the numbering increases. In this case, "hello world" is capture group 1, just "hello" is in capture group 2, and "it's me" is in capture group 3.
When you want to access a capture group, then you use the syntax "\n" or "$n", where "n" is the number of the group. ("\0" and "$0" are special capture groups which represent the entire matched string, regardless of any other capture groups.) Which you use depends on where you are working. If you are trying to use the capture group within the pattern itself, then you use the slash version. If you are working within the replacement, then you use the dollar version.
(abc)(123)
...capture group 1 will contain "abc" and capture group 2 will contain "123". Capture groups can also be nested:
((hello) world), (it's me)
Numbering here is slightly trickier, but more or less the same. It's still left to right, but as you encounter a new opening paren, the numbering increases. In this case, "hello world" is capture group 1, just "hello" is in capture group 2, and "it's me" is in capture group 3.
When you want to access a capture group, then you use the syntax "\n" or "$n", where "n" is the number of the group. ("\0" and "$0" are special capture groups which represent the entire matched string, regardless of any other capture groups.) Which you use depends on where you are working. If you are trying to use the capture group within the pattern itself, then you use the slash version. If you are working within the replacement, then you use the dollar version.
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