Parse html NSString

Question

I have HTML with a lot of strings in this format :

<li><a href="#track_info_page?artist=text&title=text">

And I want to get an array of this string with this Regex :

NSString *regex = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"<li><a href=\"#track_info_page?(.*?)\">"];

NSArray * arr = [html componentsMatchedByRegex:regex capture:1L];

But the NSArray is always empty. Any idea what can be the problem ?

That first `?` needs to be escaped and I think the second should be outside of the `()` group. — trojanfoe, Jan 20 '14 at 08:36

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

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Try with this regex:

NSString *regex = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"<li><a href=\"#track_info_page\\?(.*?)\">"];

The first ? shall be escaped; page? will match pag and page but not page?.

Also keep in mind that regexs are not a suitable means to full html parsing, so if you plan to do complex things, at some point you will stumble in some blocking point.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Community

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answered Jan 20 '14 at 08:39

sergio

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@downvoter why? I mean.. I also wouldn't use regex but it will work – Daij-Djan Jan 20 '14 at 08:41
I tried your code and i get array but in every string i get this error: `) [0] = ` . Any idea why? – YosiFZ Jan 20 '14 at 08:44
@MTA: could you fix the problem? The regex is working for me... – sergio Jan 20 '14 at 08:55
Yep the debugger is not showing the array but in the log is saw it. Thanks!! – YosiFZ Jan 20 '14 at 09:11
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The `?` in `(.*?)` is required to make the pattern *non-greedy*. Otherwise it would match everything up to the last `">` found in the input string. – Martin R Jan 20 '14 at 09:12
@MartinR: thanks, you are right. I had completely missed that, although it's a must. Edited my answer... – sergio Jan 20 '14 at 09:24

Parse html NSString

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