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Regex capturing groups within logical OR

I have a set of strings I need to parse and extract values from. They look like:
/apple/1212d3fe
/cat/23224a2f4
/auto/445478eefd
/somethingelse/1234fded
It should match only apple, cat and auto. The output I expect is:
1212, d3fe
23224, a2f4
445478, eefd
null
I need to come up with a regex capturing groups to do the same. I am able to extract the second part but not the first one. The closest I came up with is:
String r2 = "^/(apple/[0-9]{4}|cat/[0-9]{5}|auto/[0-9]{6})([a-f0-9]{4})$";
System.out.println(r2);
Pattern pattern2 = Pattern.compile(r2);
Matcher matcher2 = pattern2.matcher("/apple/2323efff");
if (matcher2.find()) {
System.out.println(matcher2.group(1));
System.out.println(matcher2.group(2));
}
UPDATED QUESTION:
I have a set of strings I need to parse and extract values from. They look like:
/apple/1212d3fe
/cat/23e24a2f4
/auto/df5478eefd
/somethingelse/1234fded
It should match only apple, cat and auto. The output I expect is the everything after the 2nd '/' split as follows: 4 characters if 'apple', 5 characters if 'cat' and 6 characters if 'auto' like:
1212, d3fe
23e24, a2f4
df5478, eefd
null
I need to come up with a regex capturing groups to do the same. I am able to extract the second part but not the first one. The closest I came up with is:
String r2 = "^/(apple/[0-9]{4}|cat/[0-9]{5}|auto/[0-9]{6})([a-f0-9]{4})$";
System.out.println(r2);
Pattern pattern2 = Pattern.compile(r2);
Matcher matcher2 = pattern2.matcher("/apple/2323efff");
if (matcher2.find()) {
System.out.println(matcher2.group(1));
System.out.println(matcher2.group(2));
}
I can do it without the regex OR(|) but it breaks when I include it. Any help with the right regex?

Updated Answer:
As per your updated question you can use this regex based on lookbehind assertions:
/((?<=apple/).{4}|(?<=cat/).{5}|(?<=auto/).{6})(.+)$
RegEx Demo
This regex uses 2 capture groups after matching /
In 1st group we have 3 lookbehind conditions with alternations.
(?<=apple/).{4} makes sure that we match 4 characters that have apple/ on left hand side. Likewise we match 5 and 6 character strings that have cat/ and /auto/.
In 2nd capture group we match remaining characters before end of line.

You could use the regex \/[apple|auto|cat]+\/(\d*)(.*), See here

If you want the last group to have exactly 4 digits you can use this regex:
/(apple|cat|auto)/([0-9a-f]+)([0-9a-f]{4})
Here is a working example:
List<String> strings = Arrays.asList("/apple/1212d3fe", "/cat/23224a2f4", "/auto/445478eefd");
Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("/(apple|cat|auto)/([0-9a-f]+)([0-9a-f]{4})");
for (String string : strings) {
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string);
if (matcher.find()) {
System.out.println(matcher.group(1));
System.out.println(matcher.group(2));
System.out.println(matcher.group(3));
}
}
If you want for digits after apple, 5 after cat and 6 after auto you can split your algorithm in 2 parts:
List<String> strings = Arrays.asList("/apple/1212d3fe", "/cat/23224a2f4", "/auto/445478eefd", "/some/445478eefd");
Pattern firstPattern = Pattern.compile("/(apple|cat|auto)/([0-9a-f]+)");
for (String string : strings) {
Matcher firstMatcher = firstPattern.matcher(string);
if (firstMatcher.find()) {
String first = firstMatcher.group(1);
System.out.println(first);
int length = getLength(first);
Pattern secondPattern = Pattern.compile("([0-9a-f]{" + length + "})([0-9a-f]{4})");
Matcher secondMatcher = secondPattern.matcher(string);
if (secondMatcher.find()) {
System.out.println(secondMatcher.group(1));
System.out.println(secondMatcher.group(2));
}
}
}
private static int getLength(String key) {
switch (key) {
case "apple":
return 4;
case "cat":
return 5;
case "auto":
return 6;
}
throw new IllegalArgumentException("key not allowed");
}

Split String at different lengths in Java

I want to split a string after a certain length.
Let's say we have a string of "message"
123456789
Split like this :
"12" "34" "567" "89"
I thought of splitting them into 2 first using
"(?<=\\G.{2})"
Regexp and then join the last two and again split into 3 but is there any way to do it on a single go using RegExp. Please help me out

Use ^(.{2})(.{2})(.{3})(.{2}).* (See it in action in regex101) to group the String to the specified length and grab the groups as separate Strings
String input = "123456789";
List<String> output = new ArrayList<>();
Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("^(.{2})(.{2})(.{3})(.{2}).*");
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(input);
if (matcher.matches()) {
for (int i = 1; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++) {
output.add(matcher.group(i));
}
}
System.out.println(output);
NOTE: Group capturing starts from 1 as the group 0 matches the whole String
And a Magnificent Sorcery from #YCF_L from comment
String pattern = "^(.{2})(.{2})(.{3})(.{2}).*";
String[] vals = "123456789".replaceAll(pattern, "$1-$2-$3-$4").split("-");
Whats the magic here is you can replace the captured group by replaceAll() method. Use $n (where n is a digit) to refer to captured subsequences. See this stackoverflow question for better explanation.
NOTE: here its assumed that no input string contains - in it.
if so, then find any other character that will not be in any of
your input strings so that it can be used as a delimiter.

test this regex in regex101 with 123456789 test string.
^(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{3})(\d{2})$
output :
Match 1
Full match 0-9 `123456789`
Group 1. 0-2 `12`
Group 2. 2-4 `34`
Group 3. 4-7 `567`
Group 4. 7-9 `89`

RegEx to extract command line arguments - Java

I know there is a lot out there.. But I couldn't figure out how to extract two parameters from Scanner(System.in);
commandline = scanner.readLine();
Two parameters are allowed:
First one can be one of AHG or the digits between 4 to 9.
The second parameters again between 4 to 9 OR any number.
It should handle all the scenarios:
" A 3 " //spaces before and after
"A 3" // spaces between the params
"A 7 6" // Unwanted 3rd parameter
" 6 " // Only one param with spaces.
So how to write Regex for this to extract the above?
I tried this one. \\w\\s. But this did not work. I am poor with RegEx.

Use this on the string returned by readLine():
String [] arguments = commandLine.split( "\\s+" );
The \\s+ stands for at least one whitespace character as separator.
Then check how many elements the array has.
Fimally check the formats of the two arguments
arguments[0].matches("\\s*[AHG4-9]");
arguments[1].matches("\\d");

Try:
public static ArrayList<String> parseArguments(String argument){
Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("^\\s*([AHG4-9])\\s*(\\d)?\\s*$",
Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE | Pattern.MULTILINE);
Matcher regexMatcher = regex.matcher(argument);
if (regexMatcher.find()) {
ArrayList<String> arguments = new ArrayList<String>();
arguments.add(regexMatcher.group(1));
if(regexMatcher.group(2) != null)
{
arguments.add(regexMatcher.group(2));
}
return arguments;
}
return null;
}
Depending on your input:
It will print:
[A,3]
Above regex also enforce argument rules. e.g as you mention first parameter can be A,H,G or number between 4 and 9. 2nd argument any number and can be optional

Regex - Match numbers & special cases

I'm trying to make a regex that would produce the following results :
for 7.0 + 5 - :asc + (8.256 - :b)^2 + :d/3 : 7.0, 5, :asc, 8.256, :b, 2, :d, 3
for -+*-/^^ )ç# : nothing
It's should first match numbers which can be float, so in my regex I have : [0-9]+(\\.[0-9])? but it should also mach special cases like :a or :Abc.
To be more precise, it should (if possible) match anything but mathematical operators /*+^- and parentheses.
So here is my final regex : ([0-9]+(\\.[0-9])?)|(:[a-zA-Z]+) but it's not working because matcher.groupCount() returns 3 for both of the examples I gave.

Groups are what you specifically group in the regex. Anything surrounded in parentheses is a group. (Hello) World has 1 group, Hello. What you need to be doing is finding all the matches.
In your code ([0-9]+(\\.[0-9])?)|(:[a-zA-Z]+), 3 sets of parentheses can be seen. This is why you will always be given 3 groups in every match.
Your code works fine as it is, here is an example:
String text = "7.0 + 5 - :asc + (8.256 - :b)^2 + :d/3";
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("([0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)?)|(:[a-zA-Z]+)");
Matcher m = p.matcher(text);
List<String> matches = new ArrayList<String>();
while (m.find()) matches.add(m.group());
for (String match : matches) System.out.println(match);
The ArrayList matches will contain all of the matches that your regex finds.
The only change I made was add a + after the second [0-9].
Here is the output:
7.0
5
:asc
8.256
:b
2
:d
3
Here is some more information about groups in java.
Does that help?

Your regex is correct, run the following code:
String input = "7.0 + 5 - :asc + (8.256 - :b)^2 + :d/3"; // your input
String regex = "(\\d+(\\.\\d+)?)|(:[a-z-A-Z]+)"; // exactly yours.
Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex);
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(input);
while (matcher.find()) {
System.out.println(matcher.group());
}
Your problem is the understanding of the method matcher.groupCount(). JavaDoc clearly says
Returns the number of capturing groups in this matcher's pattern.

([^\()+\-*\s])+ //put any mathematical operator inside square bracket

Parsing a value using regular expression in java

I am trying to read a line and parse a value using regular expression in java. The line that contains the value looks something like this,
...... TESTYY912345 .......
...... TESTXX967890 ........
Basically, it contains 4 letters, then any two ASCII values followed by numeric 9 then (any) digits. And, i want to get the value, 912345 and 967890.
This is what I have so far in regular expression,
... TEST[\x00-\xff]{2}[9]{1} ...
But, this skips the 9 and parse 12345 and 67890. (I want to include 9 as well).
Thanks for your help.

You are pretty close. Capture the entire group (9\\d*) after matching TEST\\p{ASCII}{2}. This way, you'll capture the 9 and the following digits:
String s = "...... TESTYY912345 ......";
Pattern p = Pattern.compile("TEST\\p{ASCII}{2}(9\\d+)");
Matcher m = p.matcher(s);
if (m.find()) {
System.out.println(m.group(1)); // 912345
}

See my comment for a working expression, "TEST.{2}(9\\d*)".
final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("TEST.{2}(9\\d*)");
for (final String str : Arrays.asList("...... TESTYY912345 .......",
"...... TESTXX967890 ........")) {
final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(str);
if (matcher.find()) {
final int value = Integer.valueOf(matcher.group(1));
System.out.println(value);
}
}
See the result on ideone:
912345
967890
This will match any two characters (except a line terminator) for what is XX and YY in your example, and will take any digits after the 9.