Regex for 23:46

Regex for 23:46

• Bob Alston

  I don't know if this is precise enough for you, but here is how you get started:
  
  using System;
  using System.Collections.Generic;
  using System.Text;
  using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
  namespace RegExTest
  {
  class Program
  {
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
  Match M;
  String timePattern = @"(\d)(\d):(\d)(\d)"; // our pattern ##:##
  
  
  String seeIfThisMatches = "23:46";
  String seeIfThisMatches2 = "254:2";
  
  // test the first string
  M = Regex.Match(seeIfThisMatches, timePattern);
  
  // see what our outcome was
  if (M.Success)
  Console.WriteLine("First Expression matches.");
  else
  Console.WriteLine("First Expression does NOT match");
  
  
  
  // test the second string
  M = Regex.Match(seeIfThisMatches2, timePattern);
  
  if (M.Success)
  Console.WriteLine("Second Expression matches.");
  else
  Console.WriteLine("Second Expression does NOT match");
  
  }
  }
  }
  
  
  The output is:
  
  First Expression matches.
  Second Expression does NOT match
  Press any key to continue . . .
  
  
  Rob K
  
  
  

• SivaS

  Actually when I think about this, you better compare for both cases, and if you find a match, use the MatchCollection to finally pull out your string. ... but I think you are going to need to use 2 different pattern matches (1 for time with single : and another for the expression with 2 :'s... there's probably a clever way to merge them into one regular expression and if there is, it might be kinda tuff to read or change later).
  
  Rob K
  
  
  
  

• DragonsBlade

  Great, thanks a lot..There is one small thing though...

  Say if,

  String seeIfThisMatches = "2/2/1900 3:00:00 AM";

  String seeIfThisMatches2 = "25:42";
  

  and I want to extract @"(\d)(\d):(\d)(\d" part from both using a single regular expression, how would I be able to do that

  Thanks,

  
  

• Visagar

  I changed the match string to include 1 space in front and back of the expression... it should be a little more precise:
  
  Match M;
  String timePattern = @"(\s)(\d)(\d):(\d)(\d)(\s)"; // our pattern ##:##
  
  MatchCollection extracted = Regex.Matches(seeIfThisMatches, timePattern);
  Console.WriteLine("Extracted time from 1st string: " + extracted[0]); // notice that extracted is like an array
  
  I like to use this as a reference document for regular expressions:
  http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/oreilly/windows/news/csharp_0101.html
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Rob K
  
  
• Regex for 23:46