how to construct a regex that works for multiple cases

Question

I have the following code which matches the string in comments variable,how do I construct the string that matches for both the comments shown below?I want to check for QSPR TEST RESULTS:\siggy.* and TEST RESULTS:.*

import re    
comments = "QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\QSPRLog\QCA\CST\2016\3\28\TestCaseLogs\N12345678-3_28_16_16_36_29_000_635947797916487681.html are the results"
#comments = "TEST RESULTS:BT ON\OFF LOOKS GOOD"

def matchcomments(comments, matchstring):
  matchobj = re.search(matchstring, str(comments))
  if matchobj:
    return True
  return False

def main ():
  try:
        string = r"QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\.*"
        match = matchcomments(comments, string)
        if match == True:
          tested_bit_flag = True
        else:
          #string = r"Included in BIT"  
          string = r"DONOT MATCH"                                    
          match = matchcomments(comments, string)
          if match == True:
            tested_bit_flag = True
          else:
            tested_bit_flag = False                                         
  except KeyError:
        tested_bit_flag = False 
        print "This gerrit does not have comments:"
  print tested_bit_flag



if __name__ == "__main__":
  main()

Is there a reason you can't just match "TEST RESULTS:"? (It would also match "QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\.*" The goal is not clear. — RootTwo, Mar 30 '16 at 04:59
@RootTwo - I want an exact match of QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\ and TEST RESULTS: — , Mar 30 '16 at 19:10

sgrg · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-30T21:09:48.257

comments = "QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\QSPRLog\QCA\CST\2016\3\28\TestCaseLogs\N12345678-3_28_16_16_36_29_000_635947797916487681.html are the results"
string = r"(?:QSPR)?\s?TEST\sRESULTS:\\siggy\\(.*)|(?:DONOT MATCH)"
matchobj = re.search(string, comments)
if matchobj:
    print True
    print matchobj.group(1) #Gives you the text you are interested in eg. QSPRLog\QCA\CST\2016\3\28\TestCaseLogs\N12345678-3_28_16_16_36_29_000_635947797916487681.html are the results
else:
    print False

Explanation:

(?:QSPR)? and (?:DONOT MATCH)

(?:) indicates a non-capturing group. The idea is to check presence or absence of the group (in this case QSPR or DONOT MATCH) without caring what the match is (since we already know what it is). A question mark at the end indicates that that group is optional.

\s?TEST\sRESULTS:\siggy\

This part just matches the text pretty much as given.

(.*)

Captures the text you are interested in in a group. Note that this is the only (capturing) group so when you call the match object's group attribute with parameter 1, you get the text you are interested in.

Also note that this regex would capture 0 or more characters. Replace with (.+) to capture 1 or more characters so as to ensure non-emptiness.

The | character indicates that either the expression on the left or the one on the right should match. In this particular case, since there are no groups in the expression on the right (?:DONOT MATCH), calling matchobj.group(1) when comments="DONOT MATCH" would return None. Make sure to check for this later in the code.

Sorry, I think I might be misunderstanding the question. Are you sure you need to be using regular expressions to do this? — sgrg, Mar 30 '16 at 19:28
I need an exact match of `QSPR TEST RESULTS: or TEST RESULTS:` — , Mar 30 '16 at 19:36
Understood now. See edit and please update the question to clarify. — sgrg, Mar 30 '16 at 20:04

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 30 '16 at 00:14

0

string = r"(QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\.*)|(DONOT MATCH)"

use this.

answered Mar 30 '16 at 00:14

Leviathan

32
5

what happens if the string is QSPRTES RESULTS:\\siggy\.* – Mar 30 '16 at 00:20
1

It won't match anything. – Leviathan Mar 30 '16 at 00:24
instead of .* ,what can be added to make sure that its not empty and there is some text (combination of letters/alphabets/special characters etc.,) – Mar 30 '16 at 19:14

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 30 '16 at 20:19

0

If I understood you correctly:

^(?:QSPR )?TEST RESULTS:.+$

This should match the text you are interested in.

Demo here

answered Mar 30 '16 at 20:19

James Buck

1,640
9
13

this doesnt match `QSPR TEST RESULTS:\\siggy\QSPRLog\QCA\CST\2016\3\29\TestCaseLogs\NA-3_29_16_8_40_33_000_635948376366719346.html` – Mar 30 '16 at 22:24

how to construct a regex that works for multiple cases

3 Answers3