Split String Except When Delimiter In Other Delimiter

Question

UPDATED QUESTION:

My previous attempt to ask this question was weak and based on the comments I've decided to rewrite it.

I am trying to split a string, but ignore the delimiter in two scenarios... and so far I can only achieve one scenario.

Given this line:

string line = "id:2,width:0,bounds{x:1,y:1},screens:[{@subclass:hmm,bounds{x:2,y:2},no:yes}],more:less,less:more";

With this expression:

Regex.Split(line, @",(?![^{]*})|(?![^[]*})");

Will result in

id:2
width:0
bounds{x:1,y:1}
screens:[{@subclass:hmm
bounds{x:2,y:2},no:yes}]
more:less
less:more

I placed an or operator so that I can grab the character [ but bounds goes to the next line but still keeps no:yes with it which is correct.

I'm unsure as to why screens and bounds is split given the expression above.

So, what's wrong with your current approach? You have some error or unexpected results? — Sergey Berezovskiy, Jun 11 '14 at 21:06
@SergeyBerezovskiy I think the main problem is that even given line wouldn't compile :) — Ulugbek Umirov, Jun 11 '14 at 21:11
`string[] output = Regex.Split("this, is, a, {hmm, not, sure, about, this}, test", ",(?![^{]*})");` — Ulugbek Umirov, Jun 11 '14 at 21:14
Sounds like a job for [balancing groups](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17003799/what-are-regular-expression-balancing-groups) :D — Rawling, Jun 13 '14 at 14:54

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 13 '14 at 17:51

0

If anyone ever needs to filter out multiple scenario's in a split expression that has nested characters not to be split, this is the solution:

Regex.Split(line, ",(?!([^{]*}|[^[]*]))");

answered Jun 13 '14 at 17:51

bl4kh4k

1 Answers1