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Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 12:48 pm**

I saw this posted on another forum and spent a few hours
trying to solve it. With my limited knowledge on RegExp's
I've come to the conclusion that it simply can't be done.
Pls prove me wrong!

Finding lines containing one word and not another:
I've been trying to get a regular expression that will find a line beginning
with the word "ROUTINE" but not containing the word "FROM" anywhere in
the line. In the example below, it would need to find Routines 1 and 2 but
not 3 or 4.
Code: Select all
ROUTINE Routine1 (arg1 : integer; arg2 : string)
ROUTINE Routine2 
ROUTINE Routine3 (arg1 : intger) FROM program
ROUTINE Routine4 FROM program

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:23 pm**

Try this (POSIX syntax):

Code: Select all

^ROUTINE [a-zA-Z0-9]+ *(\(.+\))? *$

Keith MacDonald
Helios Software Solutions

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:39 pm**

Awesome! Thx! Now I can spend the weekend "decrypting" it

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 3:55 pm**

Using sample lines with one more added for Case test:

ROUTINE Routine1 (arg1 : integer; arg2 : string)
ROUTINE Routine2
ROUTINE Routine3 (arg1 : intger) FROM program
ROUTINE Routine4 FROM program
ROUTINE Routine5 (arg1 : intger) from program

One solution proposed was:

^ROUTINE [a-zA-Z0-9]+ *($.+$)? *$

and is almost correct, but this does not find line 2 because it is looking for something on the line in addition to ROUTINE. This would not match your request, you wanted line 2 to be located also.
=========================
How about this:

Search, Clear all bookmarks
Search, Find, Regular Expression checked, No check to match case
Find:^ROUTINE.+\<FROM\>
Mark All, Close Find Window
Search, Invert all Bookmarks

If all lines begin with ROUTINE then this will work for you

Hope this was helpful..............good luck,
Bob

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:08 pm**

Bob, Keith's solution works with POSIX syntax.
Configure->Prefs->Editor->Use POSIX...
The expression ($.+$)? looks for zero or one
of the preceding.
I like your solution better since it uses the "user's requirement"
better, ie. line containing one word but not the other.
Here's my final version with invert bookmarks:

Code: Select all

^routine.+from

and the I do Search->Invert
Thx 4 your help!

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:21 pm**

Arrrrgh! You are right.

Sorry about that Keith.

I always have POSIX disabled and missed that part of his instructions, AT THE VERY BEGINNING!..What was I thinking?

So now we can do it with/without POSIX I guess, but Keith's version is much cleaner.

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:34 pm**

Sorry Keith, but your solution does work on the given 4 lines, but it is not a general solution for the given problem

Code: Select all

 find a line beginning
with the word "ROUTINE" but not containing the word "FROM" anywhere in
the line.

Let's add one more line to the lines given in the example:

Code: Select all

ROUTINE Routine1 (arg1 : integer; arg2 : string)
ROUTINE Routine2
ROUTINE Routine3 (arg1 : intger) FROM program
ROUTINE Routine4 FROM program
ROUTINE Routine5 TO program

Line 5 fits the description (it starts with "ROUTINE" and does NOT contain "FROM") but is not matched by your Regex.

I don't think there is a solution using a single Regex.

The problem is that the absence of a word (here "FROM") can not really be tested while at the same time the presence of another word (here "ROUTINE") is tested with Regexes...
[/code]

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2003 9:22 pm**

Ahem.....I think mine takes care of that......huh?

(Wish I didn't have to toggle bookmarks, but that's it for now. Could make a macro to do it in "one" step). Maybe a single line solution over the weekend.....

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RegExp problem

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