Repeated pattern in python regex

Question

New to python regex and would like to write something that matches this

<name>.name.<age>.age@<place>

I can do this but would like the pattern to have and check name and age.

pat = re.compile("""
       ^(?P<name>.*)
        \.
        (?P<name>.*)
        \.
        (?P<age>.*)
        \.
        (?P<age>.*?)
        \@
        (?P<place>.*?)
        $""", re.X)

I then match and extract the values. res = pat.match('alan.name.65.age@jamaica')

Would like to know the best practice to do this?

I've edited it. The argument to match is my requirement. Its a pattern with name and age being always present, hence would like to check it. @Tomalak — druuu
– druuu, Commented Oct 28, 2019 at 13:22

Tomalak · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-28 13:44:33Z

3

Match .name and .age literally. You don't need new groups for that.

pat = re.compile("""
       ^(?P<name>[^.]*)\.name
        \.
        (?P<age>[^.]*)\.age
        \@
        (?P<place>.*)
        $""", re.X)

Notes

I've replaced .* ("anything") by [^.]* ("anything except a dot"), because the dot cannot really be part of the name in the pattern you show.
Think whether you mean * (0-unlimited occurrences) or rather + (1-unlimited occurrences).

edited Oct 28, 2019 at 13:44

answered Oct 28, 2019 at 13:28

Tomalak

339k68 gold badges547 silver badges635 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Booboo · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-28 13:36:04Z

2

No reason not to allow . in names, e.g. John Q. Public.

import re

pat = re.compile(r"""(?P<name>.*?)\.name
                 \.(?P<age>\d+)\.age
                 @(?P<place>.*$)""",
                 flags=re.X)
m = pat.match('alan.name.65.age@jamaica')
print(m.group('name'))
print(m.group('age'))
print(m.group('place'))

Prints:

alan
65
jamaica

answered Oct 28, 2019 at 13:36

Booboo

45.6k4 gold badges46 silver badges74 bronze badges

Comments

user6399774 · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-28 14:22:01Z

0

You dont need the groups if you use re.split :

re.split('\.name\.|\.age', "alan.name.65.age@jamaica")

This will return name and age as first two elements of the list.

answered Oct 28, 2019 at 14:22

user6399774

1166 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Repeated pattern in python regex

3 Answers 3

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related