Menu
I want to parse strings similar to the following into separate variables using regular expressions from within Bash:
Category: entity;scheme="http://schemas.ogf.org/occi/core#";class="kind";title="Entity";attributes="occi.core.id occi.core.title";
or
Category: resource;scheme="http://schemas.ogf.org/occi/core#";class="kind";title="Resource";rel="http://schemas.ogf.org/occi/core#entity";attributes="occi.core.summary";
The first part before "title" is common to all strings, the parts title and attributes are optional.
I managed to extract the mandatory parameters common to all strings, but I have trouble with optional parameters not necessarily present for all strings. As far as I found out, Bash doesn't support Non-capturing parentheses which I would use for this purpose.
Here is what I achieved thus far:
CATEGORY_REGEX='Category:\s*([^;]*);scheme="([^"]*)";class="([^"]*)";'
category_string='Category: entity;scheme="http://schemas.ogf.org/occi/core#";class="kind";title="Entity";attributes="occi.core.id occi.core.title";'
[[ $category_string =~ $CATEGORY_REGEX ]]
echo ${BASH_REMATCH[0]}
echo ${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
echo ${BASH_REMATCH[2]}
echo ${BASH_REMATCH[3]}
The regular expression I would like to use (and which is working for me in Ruby) would be:
CATEGORY_REGEX='Category:\s*([^;]*);\s*scheme="([^"]*)";\s*class="([^"]*)";\s*(?:title="([^"]*)";)?\s*(?:rel="([^"]*)";)?\s*(?:location="([^"]*)";)?\s*(?:attributes="([^"]*)";)?\s*(?:actions="([^"]*)";)?'
Is there any other solution to parse the string with command line tools without having to fall back on perl, python or ruby?
817
Non-capturing parentheses group the regex so you can apply regex operators, but do not capture anything. (?:abc){3} matches abcabcabc. No groups. Substituted with the text matched between the 1st through 9th numbered capturing group.
Non-capturing groups are important constructs within Java Regular Expressions. They create a sub-pattern that functions as a single unit but does not save the matched character sequence. In this tutorial, we'll explore how to use non-capturing groups in Java Regular Expressions.
Capturing group. (regex) Parentheses group the regex between them. They capture the text matched by the regex inside them into a numbered group that can be reused with a numbered backreference. They allow you to apply regex operators to the entire grouped regex. (abc){3} matches abcabcabc. First group matches abc.
This article is for advanced users, who are already familiar with basic regular expressions in Bash. For an introduction to Bash regular expressions, see our Bash regular expressions for beginners with examples article instead. Another article which you may find interesting is Regular Expressions in Python. Ready to get started?
I don't think non-capturing groups exist in bash regex, so your options are to use a scripting language or to remove the ?: from all of the (?:...) groups and just be careful about which groups you reference, for example:
CATEGORY_REGEX='Category:\s*([^;]*);\s*scheme="([^"]*)";\s*class="([^"]*)";\s*(title="([^"]*)";)?\s*(rel="([^"]*)";)?\s*(location="([^"]*)";)?\s*(attributes="([^"]*)";)?\s*(actions="([^"]*)";)?'
category_string='Category: entity;scheme="http://schemas.ogf.org/occi/core#";class="kind";title="Entity";attributes="occi.core.id occi.core.title";'
[[ $category_string =~ $CATEGORY_REGEX ]]
echo "full: ${BASH_REMATCH[0]}"
echo "category: ${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
echo "scheme: ${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
echo "class: ${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
echo "title: ${BASH_REMATCH[5]}"
echo "rel: ${BASH_REMATCH[7]}"
echo "location: ${BASH_REMATCH[9]}"
echo "attributes: ${BASH_REMATCH[11]}"
echo "actions: ${BASH_REMATCH[13]}"
Note that starting with the optional parameters we need to skip a group each time, because the even numbered groups from 4 on contain the parameter name as well as the value (if the parameter is present).
88
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
