Notepad++ Function List: return class even if empty

Question

I'm trying to define a custom Function List (functionList.xml in %appdata%/Notepad++) in order to use that as a navigator for a long text-based file used as an input to a software.

I managed to make it work almost perfectly, though there is still one issue that bothers me: I'd like to return a Class even if it doesn't have a Function in it.

First, this is a sample of what my text file looks like (some of you might recognize an .inp file used for the eQuest energy modeling software, but that's irrelevant):

$ *********************************************************
$ **                                                     **
$ **              Electric & Fuel Meters                 **
$ **                                                     **
$ *********************************************************

$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$              Electric Meters
$ ---------------------------------------------------------

"EM1" = ELEC-METER      
   TYPE             = UTILITY
   ..


$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$              Fuel Meters
$ ---------------------------------------------------------



$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$              Master Meters
$ ---------------------------------------------------------

"MASTER-METERS 1" = MASTER-METERS   
   MSTR-ELEC-METER  = "EM1"
   MSTR-FUEL-METER  = "FM1"
   ..

$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$              Something else
$ ---------------------------------------------------------


"XXX" = blabla
    ..

Here is the current parser that I have:

<parser 
    id="equest_full" 
    displayName="eQuest Full Function List">

    <!-- Find The entire Class using a positive lookahead -->
    <classRange
        mainExpr="\$.*?\r\n\r\n.*?(?=\$)" 
        displayMode="node" >

        <!-- Here we return just the Class name -->
        <className>
            <!-- Find only the text, using a negative lookahead to exclude multiple white spaces -->
            <nameExpr expr='\w(\w|-|/| (?! ))+'/>
        </className>

        <!-- Here we find the "function" - here it's something that starts a line with "XXXX" = "blabla" -->
        <function
            mainExpr='^\".*?\" = [^ ]+' >
            <functionName>
                <!-- We already have exactly what we want with the above -->                    
                <funcNameExpr expr=".*"/>
            </functionName>
        </function>
    </classRange>
    <function 
        mainExpr="\$.*?\r\n\r\n">
        <!-- A poor attempt to display classes even if empty... doesn't work properly -->
        <functionName>
            <!-- Find only the text, using a negative lookahead to exclude multiple white spaces -->
            <nameExpr expr="\w(\w|-|/| (?! ))+"/>
        </functionName>
    </function>
</parser>

It will show the following in the Function List pane:

I would very much like if it could also display "Fuel Meters" in the list, even if it's empty. The reason behind it is that I'm going to use that as a navigation page and therefore I need anchors to empty sections so I can go there quickly and add stuff.

Is it possible in Notepad++? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Something I've been thinking: If I could write regular code in there, under the ClassRange > Function, I would do an IF statement. If "^\".*?\" = [^ ]+" is found, then proceed with the rest of the parsing. Else, return the position of the first line of the class. I don't know how to do that with a RegEx or if it's feasible.

---

Update: I think I found a way that could work, but I can't figure out the proper regex. Basically, I think the problem I have with my current parser is that when the class is empty it still returns as a class and therefore won't be picked up later by the function that is outside of the classrange. I need to find a way to modify this:

<classRange
                mainExpr="\$.*?\r\n\r\n.*?(?=\$)" 
                displayMode="node" >

It needs to NOT pick up the "Fuel Meters" class. Right now it does pick up this:

$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$              Fuel Meters
$ ---------------------------------------------------------

until the next $ sign.

How can I modify to above Regex to make sure there is at least one character that isn't \n \r or spaces?

Answer 1

Did you figure this one out? I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but using something like this:

\$\s-+\s+\$(?:\s+\w+)+

You get code that matches:

$ ---------------------------------------------------------
$ ANY ALPHANUMERIC SENTENCES HERE

But what exactly are you trying to capture?

Alternatively if you only want the class names, you could do it like this:

(?<=\$\s-+\s+\$\s+)\w+(?:\s+\w+)+