Java - extract date from string using regex- failing

Question

I'm trying to extract 2 dates from a string using regex- and for some reason - the regex doesn't extract dates- this is my code:

private  String[] getDate(String desc) {
    int count=0;
    String[] allMatches = new String[2];
    Matcher m = Pattern.compile("(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[- /.](0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](19|20)\\d\\d(?:,)").matcher(desc);
    while (m.find()) {
        allMatches[count] = m.group();
    }
    return allMatches;
}

My string- desc is: "coming from the 11/25/2009 to the 11/30/2009" and I get back a null array...

Answer 1

Your regex matches day first and then month (DD/MM/YYYY), while your inputs start with month and then day (MM/DD/YYYY).

Moreover, your dates must be followed by a comma to be matched (the (?:,) part).

This one should suit your needs:

(0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[- /.](19|20)\d\d

Diagram by Debuggex.