need of explanation of find and replace with option regex

guy038

Hello, @andrea-seyfarth, @peterjones and All

Here are two regexes :

Regex A : (?s)^\h*II\x20.+?\R\h*VI\x20(?-s).+\R?

Regex B : (?s)^\h*II\x20((?!Header).)+?Steuerklasse\x20VI(\R|\z)

that I tested against the text below :

111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  Steuerklasse VI
    VII     777.77  Steuerklasse VII
    VIII    888.88  Steuerklasse VIII
111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  ----- NO MATCH 1 ----- VI
    VII     777.77  Steuerklasse VII
    VIII    888.88  Steuerklasse VIII
111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  Steuerklasse VI
    VII     777.77  Steuerklasse VII
    VIII    888.88  Steuerklasse VIII
111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  ----- NO MATCH 2 ----- VI
    VII     777.77  Steuerklasse VII
    VIII    888.88  Steuerklasse VIII
111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  ----- NO MATCH 3 ----- VI
    VII     777.77  Steuerklasse VII
    VIII    888.88  Steuerklasse VIII
111,11I Header
    I       000.00
    II      222,22
    III     333.33
    IV      444.44
    V       555.55  Steuerklassen V und IV
    VI      666.66  Steuerklasse VI

The regex A catches the entire FIVE lines, beginning with Roman number II and beginning with Roman number VI ( with possible horizontal blank characters before ), whatever their contents

And the regex B catches the entire FIVE lines, beginning with Roman number II ( with possible horizontal blank characters before ) and ending with the string Steuerklasse VI, ONLY IF the string Header cannot be found, at any position, of the smallest multi-lines sequence of characters, after the regex \h*II\x20 till the regex Steuerklasse\x20VI !

So, Peter, as you can see, I used the negative look-ahead (?!Header), which is tested at any position of the . => the syntax ((?!Header).)+?. Note also, by I preferred to get the entire lines, with their End of Line chars ! So, when the replacement zone is empty, it does not remain any blank line, afterwards :-))

I also, used the alternative (\R|\z), just in case the very last line would be a line VI 666.66 Steuerklasse VI, without any line-break !

Best Regards,

guy038

PeterJones

The word “Header” was my invention, and not in any of @Andrea-Seyfarth’s examples, so that shouldn’t be used for a regex we suggest to her. Sorry for muddying the waters with my example file.

I like your cleaner \h for the horizontal space (that escape sequence hadn’t yet stored in my long-term regex memory; some day, maybe even today, it will).

Thanks for continually sharing your regex expertise with us. I’m always amazed by your expressions, and the quality of your explanations.

Hopefully, we’ve helped Andrea in the process. :-)