VB2010 Extract specific characters out of array string

Question

Is there a way to specify which characters I want to pull out of an array string? This is not, code below, the forum just didn't like it as text.

For example:  abc1234blahblah  and I want to point from the left, characters [4-7] 
Character 4 = "1"
Character 5 = "2"
Character 6 = "3"
Character 7 = "4"

Then I'd like to put those into a string: "1234"

True application I'm working on, a filepath has the first directory always start with the project number, so I want to pull the job number and put it into a textbox in VB 2010. Example: Q:\2456_customer_name....\file.xls I want to be able to again point to the numbers, but if I know that the main directory will always start with the job number, then I should be able to just point to characters [4-7] and put it in a string. I think I know the concept, but don't know VB well enough to put it together.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Andrew Morton · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-19 19:52:25Z

You can use the Substring function:

Dim a = "abc1234blahblah"
Dim b = a.Substring(3, 4) ' b now contains "1234"

Thinking about it more, could it be possible for the drive the file is on to be a UNC path like \\MyServer\SomeShare\9876_CustomerName\file.xls? If so, extracting the number would be a bit more tricky. I tried to account for all possible ways of specifying the file:

Module Module1

    Function GetCustomerNumber(filename As String) As String
        Dim abspath = IO.Path.GetFullPath(filename)
        Dim dir = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(abspath)
        Dim fileParentDirectory = dir.Split(IO.Path.DirectorySeparatorChar).Last
        Return fileParentDirectory.Substring(0, 4)
    End Function

    Sub Main()

        Dim a = "C:\5678_CustomerName\file.xls"
        Dim b = "\\se1234\Share001\5678_CustomerName\file.xls"
        Dim c = "\5678_CustomerName\file.xls"
        Dim d = ".\5678_CustomerName\file.xls"
        Dim e = "5678_CustomerName\file.xls"
        Console.WriteLine(GetCustomerNumber(a))
        Console.WriteLine(GetCustomerNumber(b))
        Console.WriteLine(GetCustomerNumber(c))
        Console.WriteLine(GetCustomerNumber(d))
        Console.WriteLine(GetCustomerNumber(e))

        Console.ReadLine()

    End Sub

End Module

Which outputs "5678" for all of the examples.

Ceres · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-19 17:39:24Z

0

A regular expression would work

Dim numRegex As New Regex("\d+")
Dim number As String = numRegex.Match("abc1234blahblah").Value

answered Oct 19, 2012 at 17:39

Ceres

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