regex match character but not within regex

Question

STOPATDESK YES;
:: TXT "LCLLMT:29.4700";
:: TXT "LCLCURR;NON-USD";
:: TXT "CALLBK:3";
:: TXT "FFTRL:EUR-LIM;-TAP-5";

STOPATDESK YES; :: TXT "LCLLMT:29.4700"; :: TXT "LCLCURR;NON-USD"; :: TXT "CALLBK:3"; :: TXT "FFTRL:EUR-LIM;-TAP-5";

Could you please provide regex that will match semicolons but not within TXT "..."?

There were several useful questions on StackOverflow but I failed to compile working solution for my case
Regex for matching a character, but not when it's enclosed in square bracket
Regex for matching a character, but not when it's enclosed in quotes

there were several usefull questions on StackOverflow but I failed to compile working solution for my case — Mike, Sep 09 '15 at 13:23
Just match? Easy: `"TEXT\\s*\"[^\"]*\"|(;)"` and grab `.group(1)`. — Wiktor Stribiżew, Sep 09 '15 at 13:33
I could not understand. Do you want to match the semicolons at the end of the lines? — stann1, Sep 09 '15 at 13:21
yes, I want to match semicollons but they may not be at the end of the lines — Mike, Sep 09 '15 at 13:27
look at Max;s answer. In case your semicolons can be found anywhere, it will be very difficult to match them with regex. Have a look at this regex tutorial if you need a more complex pattern: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/9099/The-30-Minute-Regex-Tutorial — stann1, Sep 09 '15 at 13:39

Tobías · Answer 1 · 2015-09-09T15:23:59.520

You need a regex that matches any semicolon that is not followed by an odd number of quotes.

;(?![^"]*(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*"[^"]*$)

The tricky part is to find the negative lookahead (?![^"]*(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*"[^"]*$):

[^"]* match any text before the first " after ;
(([^"]*"[^"]*"){2})* match any even number of quotes with text inside
[^"]*"[^"]*$ match the last quote

If all the above conditions are matched, then an odd number of " is found after ;. That implies that the ; is inside two " and therefore it's not a valid ;.

Regex: https://regex101.com/r/dG6cC1/1

Java demo: https://ideone.com/OuAaA5

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 09 '15 at 16:51

You can also try with:

"[^"]*"|(;)

DEMO

which will match quotes or separate semicolons, then get separate semicolons with group(1). However the unbalanced quoting sings would couse a problem. Or, if whole file is formated as your example (semicolons in quotation are preceded and followed by another character, not whitespace), you can try with:

;(?=\s|$)

DEMO

It works with example above.

regex match character but not within regex

2 Answers2