8.14. Match INI Name-Value Pairs
Problem
You want to match INI parameter name-value pairs (e.g., Item1=Value1
), separating each match into
two parts using capturing groups. Backreference 1 should contain the
parameter name (Item1
), and backreference 2 should
contain the value (Value1
).
Solution
Here’s the regular expression to get the job done (the second is shown with free-spacing mode):
^([^=;\r\n]+)=([^;\r\n]*)
Regex options: ^ and $ match at line breaks |
Regex flavors: .NET, Java, JavaScript, PCRE, Perl, Python, Ruby |
^ # Start of a line ( [^=;\r\n]+ ) # Capture the name to backreference 1 = # Name-value delimiter ( [^;\r\n]* ) # Capture the value to backreference 2
Regex options: ^ and $ match at line breaks, free-spacing |
Regex flavors: .NET, Java, PCRE, Perl, Python, Ruby |
Discussion
Like the other INI recipes in this chapter, we’re working with
pretty straightforward ingredients here. The regex starts with
‹^
›, to match the
position at the start of a line (make sure the “^ and $ match at line
breaks” option is enabled). This is important because without the
assurance that matches start at the beginning of a line, you could
match part of a commented-out line.
Next, the regex uses a capturing group that contains a negated
character class (‹[^=;\r\n]
›) followed by the one-or-more
quantifier (‹+
›) to
match the name of the parameter and remember it as backreference 1.
The negated class matches any character except the following four:
equals sign, semicolon, carriage return (‹\r
›), and line feed ...
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