Search through NSString using Regular Expression
How might I go about searching/enumerating through an NSString
using a regular expression?
A regular expression such as: /(NS|UI)+(\w+)/g
.
You need to use NSRegularExpression
class.
Example inspired in the documentation:
NSString *yourString = @"";
NSError *error = NULL;
NSRegularExpression *regex = [NSRegularExpression
regularExpressionWithPattern:@"(NS|UI)+(\\w+)"
options:NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive
error:&error];
[regex enumerateMatchesInString:yourString options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0, [yourString length]) usingBlock:^(NSTextCheckingResult *match, NSMatchingFlags flags, BOOL *stop){
// your code to handle matches here
}];
If you just want to match some pattern in string, there is a simple way to test Regular Expression with NSString
:
NSString *string = @"Telecommunication";
if ([string rangeOfString:@"comm" options:NSRegularExpressionSearch].location != NSNotFound)
NSLog(@"Got it");
else
NSLog(@"No luck");
Note, often you'll want ...
if ([string rangeOfString:@"cOMm"
options:NSRegularExpressionSearch|NSCaseInsensitiveSearch].location
!= NSNotFound)
NSLog(@"yes match");
In Swift you may write code like this ...
Swift 2
let string = "Telecommunication"
if string.rangeOfString("cOMm", options: (NSStringCompareOptions.RegularExpressionSearch | NSStringCompareOptions.CaseInsensitiveSearch)) != nil {
print("Got it")
} else {
print("No luck")
}
Swift 4
let string = "Telecommunication"
if string.range(of: "cOMm", options: [.regularExpression, caseInsensitive]) != nil {
print("Got it")
} else {
print("No luck")
}
Please take note that Swift 2's rangeOfString(_:,options:)
and Swift 4's range(of:options:)
return Range<String.Index>?
that returns nil if search failed