With the help of a Regex, how to find "code" preceded by a "<" only if "code {" is absent between "<style" and "</style>" in the css section which is below ?

dr ramaanand

So, the “code” in this should be found:

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
</style>

…but not in this:-

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
code {
  font-family: &quot;verdana&quot;;
  font-size: 19px;
  color: black;
  font-weight: bold !important;
  line-height: 1 !important;
  }
}
</style>

dr ramaanand

I tried this Regular expression but it did not help: <code(?!(?:(?!<\/style>)(?s:.) )*<style>) - it matches both (I want it to skip finding the <code...... in example 2 since there is a “code” between “<style” and “</style>”)

dr ramaanand

(?s)<code.*?code\x20\{\s*font-family(*SKIP)(*F)|<code works but I would like an expert to confirm if it is the best method
@peterjones @alan-kilborn @guy038 or anyone else willing to help, if you have any alternative method also, I am willing to use it, since some of you dislike the (*SKIP)(*F) method

dr ramaanand

I have relied on the explanation of the (*SKIP)(*FAIL) method mentioned at https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/26812/generic-regex-how-to-use-the-couple-of-backtracking-control-verbs-skip-fail-or-skip-f-in-regexes/5

dr ramaanand

An alternative Regular expression can be to introduce a negative lookahead between .*? and the code just after it in this Regex: <code.*?code\x20\{\s*font-family

guy038

Hello, @dr-ramaanand and all,

If I assume that any line <style .....> always comes right after a line <code....>....</code>, a possible solution is :

(?s-i)<code(?:(?!</style>).)+?</code>(?=\R<style (?:(?!code ?{).)*?</style>)

Test it against this sample text :

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
code {
  font-family: &quot;verdana&quot;;
  font-size: 19px;
  color: black;
  font-weight: bold !important;
  line-height: 1 !important;
  }
}
</style>

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
</style>

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
code{
  font-family: &quot;verdana&quot;;
  font-size: 19px;
  color: black;
  font-weight: bold !important;
  line-height: 1 !important;
  }
}
</style>

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
</style>

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css"></style>

<code............>............</code>
<style type="text/css">
code {
  font-family: &quot;verdana&quot;;
  font-size: 19px;
  color: black;
  font-weight: bold !important;
  line-height: 1 !important;
  }
}
</style>

As you can see, it select only the line <code....>....</code> when the following section <style .....</style>, possibly multi-lines, does not contain any string code { or code{ !

Notes :

I do not use any Backtracking Control verb
In the section <code....</code>, it must not contain any string </style>
In the section <style ....</style>, it must not contain any string code { or code{

If you prefer to look for the string <code only and not all the zone <code....>....</code>, use the following regex :

(?s-i)<code(?=(?:(?!</style>).)+?</code>\R<style (?:(?!code ?{).)*?</style>)

Best Regards,

guy038

dr ramaanand

@guy038 There is a lot of text between the <code and <style and yes, I want to find just <code. I think you need to introduce a .*? somewhere in the middle of the Regex (to find what is between <code and code\x20\{\s*font-family). The \x20 is to match a single white space, the \ just before the { is to help escape it and help match the { and the \s* is to match more than one white space.