Regex replace multiple groups

I would like to use regular expressions to replace multiple groups with corresponding replacement string.

Replacement table:

• "&" -> "__amp"
• "#" -> "__hsh"
• "1" -> "5"
• "5" -> "6"

For example, for the following input string

"a1asda&fj#ahdk5adfls"

the corresponding output string is

"a5asda__ampfj__hshahdk6adfls"

Is there any way to do that?

Solution 1:

Given a dictionary that defines your replacements:

IDictionary<string, string> map = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
    {"&","__amp"},
    {"#","__hsh"},
    {"1","5"},
    {"5","6"},
};

You can use this both for constructing a Regular Expression, and to form a replacement for each match:

var str = "a1asda&fj#ahdk5adfls";
var regex = new Regex(String.Join("|",map.Keys));
var newStr = regex.Replace(str, m => map[m.Value]);
// newStr = a5asda__ampfj__hshahdk6adfls

Live example: http://rextester.com/rundotnet?code=ADDN57626

This uses a Regex.Replace overload which allows you to specify a lambda expression for the replacement.

It has been pointed out in the comments that a find pattern which has regex syntax in it will not work as expected. This could be overcome by using Regex.Escape and a minor change to the code above:

var str = "a1asda&fj#ahdk5adfls";
var regex = new Regex(String.Join("|",map.Keys.Select(k => Regex.Escape(k))));
var newStr = regex.Replace(str, m => map[m.Value]);
// newStr = a5asda__ampfj__hshahdk6adfls

Solution 2:

How about using string.Replace()?

string foo = "a1asda&fj#ahdk5adfls"; 

string bar = foo.Replace("&","__amp")
                .Replace("#","__hsh")
                .Replace("5", "6")
                .Replace("1", "5");