Regex Help Python?

Question

I have this code:

import re
#TEST CASES
match_dict = ['hello(here)',
             'Hello   (Hi)',
             "'dfsfds Hello (Hi) fdfd' Hello (Yes)",
             "Hello ('hi)xx')",
             "Hello  ('Hi')"]
for s in match_dict:
    print "INPUT: %s" % s
    m = re.sub(r"(?<!\()'[^']+'", '', s, flags=re.M)
    paren_quotes = re.findall(r"Hello\s*\('([^']+)'\)", m, flags=re.M)
    output = paren_quotes if paren_quotes else []
    m = re.sub(r"Hello\s*\('[^']+'\)", '', m, flags=re.M)
    paren_matches = re.findall(r"Hello\s*\(([^)]+)\)", m, flags=re.M)
    if paren_matches:
        output.extend(paren_matches)
    print 'OUTPUT: %s\n' % output

This code is made to output everything in the parentheses after the word 'Hello',

Hello (Hi)  would give 'Hi'

My problem is that when I put in:

Hello('Hi')

...It still returns 'Hi' when I want it to return "'Hi'"

Does anyone know how could I fix this code?

Please use an appropriate title which shortly describes your problem. We know that you need help, otherwise you would not ask. We also know that your question is about regular expressions and Python because it is tagged as such. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented May 19, 2012 at 1:48
So... You're trying to capture the text between parentheses? — Joel Cornett
– Joel Cornett, Commented May 19, 2012 at 1:52
Am I wrong, or does this seem like an overcomplicated approach to the goal? — jdi
– jdi, Commented May 19, 2012 at 1:56
gskinner.com/RegExr is a great tool to mess around with RegEx — TankorSmash
– TankorSmash, Commented May 19, 2012 at 13:51

jdi · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-19 02:18:50Z

5

Just use non-greedy matching:

matches = re.search(r'^Hello\s*\((.*?)\)', text)

edited May 19, 2012 at 2:18

jdi

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answered May 19, 2012 at 1:56

Blender

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11 Comments

user1357159 Over a year ago

This test case shouldn't work: "'Hello (f) '" , there should be nothing returned because the Hello statement is in quotes

Blender Over a year ago

Why does it need to be so complicated?

jdi Over a year ago

@user1357159: I think that no matter what you suggest about the rules, Blender is just going to modify the regex to suit in less code than you were attempting.

user1357159 Over a year ago

You know the rules and so do I, ;;Ok, enough of that, this works pretty well.

jdi Over a year ago

@user1357159: you are doubling up * and +. Just replace it. I made an edit for Blender

|

Yang Yongli · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-19 02:03:47Z

2

>>> import re
>>> p = re.compile(r'Hello\s*\((.*?)\)', re.M)
>>> m = p.findall("Hello  ('Hi')")
>>> print m
["'Hi'"]
>>> m = p.findall("'dfsfds Hello (Hi) fdfd' Hello (Yes)")
>>> print m
['Hi', 'Yes']

answered May 19, 2012 at 2:03

Yang Yongli

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