Swift extract regex matches

Question

Even if the matchesInString() method takes a String as the first argument, it works internally with NSString, and the range parameter must be given using the NSString length and not as the Swift string length. Otherwise it will fail for "extended grapheme clusters" such as "flags".

As of Swift 4 (Xcode 9), the Swift standard library provides functions to convert between Range<String.Index> and NSRange.

func matches(for regex: String, in text: String) -> [String] {

    do {
        let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex)
        let results = regex.matches(in: text,
                                    range: NSRange(text.startIndex..., in: text))
        return results.map {
            String(text[Range($0.range, in: text)!])
        }
    } catch let error {
        print("invalid regex: \(error.localizedDescription)")
        return []
    }
}

Example:

let string = "🇩🇪€4€9"
let matched = matches(for: "[0-9]", in: string)
print(matched)
// ["4", "9"]

Note: The forced unwrap Range($0.range, in: text)! is safe because the NSRange refers to a substring of the given string text. However, if you want to avoid it then use

        return results.flatMap {
            Range($0.range, in: text).map { String(text[$0]) }
        }

instead.

---

(Older answer for Swift 3 and earlier:)

So you should convert the given Swift string to an NSString and then extract the ranges. The result will be converted to a Swift string array automatically.

(The code for Swift 1.2 can be found in the edit history.)

Swift 2 (Xcode 7.3.1) :

func matchesForRegexInText(regex: String, text: String) -> [String] {

    do {
        let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: [])
        let nsString = text as NSString
        let results = regex.matchesInString(text,
                                            options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
        return results.map { nsString.substringWithRange($0.range)}
    } catch let error as NSError {
        print("invalid regex: \(error.localizedDescription)")
        return []
    }
}

Example:

let string = "🇩🇪€4€9"
let matches = matchesForRegexInText("[0-9]", text: string)
print(matches)
// ["4", "9"]

---

Swift 3 (Xcode 8)

func matches(for regex: String, in text: String) -> [String] {

    do {
        let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex)
        let nsString = text as NSString
        let results = regex.matches(in: text, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: nsString.length))
        return results.map { nsString.substring(with: $0.range)}
    } catch let error {
        print("invalid regex: \(error.localizedDescription)")
        return []
    }
}

Example:

let string = "🇩🇪€4€9"
let matched = matches(for: "[0-9]", in: string)
print(matched)
// ["4", "9"]

My answer builds on top of given answers but makes regex matching more robust by adding additional support:

• Returns not only matches but returns also all capturing groups for each match (see examples below)
• Instead of returning an empty array, this solution supports optional matches
• Avoids do/catch by not printing to the console and makes use of the guard construct
• Adds matchingStrings as an extension to String

Swift 4.2

//: Playground - noun: a place where people can play

import Foundation

extension String {
    func matchingStrings(regex: String) -> [[String]] {
        guard let regex = try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: []) else { return [] }
        let nsString = self as NSString
        let results  = regex.matches(in: self, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
        return results.map { result in
            (0..<result.numberOfRanges).map {
                result.range(at: $0).location != NSNotFound
                    ? nsString.substring(with: result.range(at: $0))
                    : ""
            }
        }
    }
}

"prefix12 aaa3 prefix45".matchingStrings(regex: "fix([0-9])([0-9])")
// Prints: [["fix12", "1", "2"], ["fix45", "4", "5"]]

"prefix12".matchingStrings(regex: "(?:prefix)?([0-9]+)")
// Prints: [["prefix12", "12"]]

"12".matchingStrings(regex: "(?:prefix)?([0-9]+)")
// Prints: [["12", "12"]], other answers return an empty array here

// Safely accessing the capture of the first match (if any):
let number = "prefix12suffix".matchingStrings(regex: "fix([0-9]+)su").first?[1]
// Prints: Optional("12")

Swift 3

//: Playground - noun: a place where people can play

import Foundation

extension String {
    func matchingStrings(regex: String) -> [[String]] {
        guard let regex = try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: []) else { return [] }
        let nsString = self as NSString
        let results  = regex.matches(in: self, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
        return results.map { result in
            (0..<result.numberOfRanges).map {
                result.rangeAt($0).location != NSNotFound
                    ? nsString.substring(with: result.rangeAt($0))
                    : ""
            }
        }
    }
}

"prefix12 aaa3 prefix45".matchingStrings(regex: "fix([0-9])([0-9])")
// Prints: [["fix12", "1", "2"], ["fix45", "4", "5"]]

"prefix12".matchingStrings(regex: "(?:prefix)?([0-9]+)")
// Prints: [["prefix12", "12"]]

"12".matchingStrings(regex: "(?:prefix)?([0-9]+)")
// Prints: [["12", "12"]], other answers return an empty array here

// Safely accessing the capture of the first match (if any):
let number = "prefix12suffix".matchingStrings(regex: "fix([0-9]+)su").first?[1]
// Prints: Optional("12")

Swift 2

extension String {
    func matchingStrings(regex: String) -> [[String]] {
        guard let regex = try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: []) else { return [] }
        let nsString = self as NSString
        let results  = regex.matchesInString(self, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length))
        return results.map { result in
            (0..<result.numberOfRanges).map {
                result.rangeAtIndex($0).location != NSNotFound
                    ? nsString.substringWithRange(result.rangeAtIndex($0))
                    : ""
            }
        }
    }
}

The fastest way to return all matches and capture groups in Swift 5

extension String {
    func match(_ regex: String) -> [[String]] {
        let nsString = self as NSString
        return (try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: regex, options: []))?.matches(in: self, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, nsString.length)).map { match in
            (0..<match.numberOfRanges).map { match.range(at: $0).location == NSNotFound ? "" : nsString.substring(with: match.range(at: $0)) }
        } ?? []
    }
}

Returns a 2-dimentional array of strings:

"prefix12suffix fix1su".match("fix([0-9]+)su")

returns...

[["fix12su", "12"], ["fix1su", "1"]]

// First element of sub-array is the match
// All subsequent elements are the capture groups

If you want to extract substrings from a String, not just the position, (but the actual String including emojis). Then, the following maybe a simpler solution.

extension String {
  func regex (pattern: String) -> [String] {
    do {
      let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: pattern, options: NSRegularExpressionOptions(rawValue: 0))
      let nsstr = self as NSString
      let all = NSRange(location: 0, length: nsstr.length)
      var matches : [String] = [String]()
      regex.enumerateMatchesInString(self, options: NSMatchingOptions(rawValue: 0), range: all) {
        (result : NSTextCheckingResult?, _, _) in
        if let r = result {
          let result = nsstr.substringWithRange(r.range) as String
          matches.append(result)
        }
      }
      return matches
    } catch {
      return [String]()
    }
  }
} 

Example Usage:

"someText 👿🏅👿⚽️ pig".regex("👿⚽️")

Will return the following:

["👿⚽️"]

Note using "\w+" may produce an unexpected ""

"someText 👿🏅👿⚽️ pig".regex("\\w+")

Will return this String array

["someText", "️", "pig"]