How to I update a certain part of a long string using a tag within that string

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VS2012

To further clarify my question I have this very long string that looks like this:

[fied1:"contents of field1 that can contain any kinds of characters with no length limit",field2:"field2 contents",field3:"field3contents and so on", field4:null]

as you can see there are these field name that i called "tag" in my question for easy searching,the values are enclosed in a quotation mark and each field is separated by a comma, now the question is how can i update a certain field on the string without touching the other fields, in this example say i'd like to update the value of field2. What's the best course of action I should take?

thanks

Posted 27-Apr-14 1:33am

phyxian

Updated 27-Apr-14 1:52am

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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter 27-Apr-14 7:42am

There is any particular reason to use this format for your string?

phyxian 27-Apr-14 7:52am

well its a string format produced by an application im using, but that application does not support an update feature so im trying to make one

Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter 27-Apr-14 8:03am

Why not to break it up to a key-value pair list (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/5tbh8a42(v=vs.110).aspx), that play with it as you wish and create the required string format from that list...

phyxian 27-Apr-14 8:16am

would it still produce the same format as my example? as i said that string format is created by an application so if i update that string it should still be readable by the application that produced it

BillWoodruff 27-Apr-14 9:42am

You can be sure if you get an answer from OriginalGriff it is a valid answer, and the best answer ! For learning purposes, if you want to see an example of doing this without using RegEx, just ask here.

OriginalGriff 28-Apr-14 3:05am

:blush:

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-27T01:58:00

Solution 2

I would probably use a regex:

C#

public static Regex replaceField2 = new Regex(
      "(?<=field2:\").*?(?=\")",
    RegexOptions.IgnoreCase
    | RegexOptions.CultureInvariant
    | RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace
    | RegexOptions.Compiled
    );

// Replace the matched text in the InputText using the replacement pattern
string result = replaceField2.Replace(InputText,"new value for field2");

Posted 27-Apr-14 1:58am

OriginalGriff

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phyxian 27-Apr-14 8:05am

thanks for that quick answer though i'll try your solution in a little while, since i got something else i need to finish first. :)

gggustafson 27-Apr-14 13:13pm

+5 as usual

phyxian 27-Apr-14 20:43pm

@OriginalGriff, I am now currently trying your solution though I can't seem to make it work, is there suppose to be a reference that I should add to my project for it work? thanks again

phyxian 27-Apr-14 21:09pm

i was now able to make it work, thank you so much. :)

OriginalGriff 28-Apr-14 3:04am

You're welcome!

phyxian 30-Apr-14 1:01am

i know this question has been answered already though i encountered some minor problem, i have a field name that looks like this ftno and preftno when i update ftno field the preftno field is also updated, how will i get around this?

OriginalGriff 30-Apr-14 3:31am

Try changing the prefix: include '[' or ',' as part of the field name.

phyxian 30-Apr-14 4:22am

your so great! the ',' solved it, thank you so much again :)

OriginalGriff 30-Apr-14 4:38am

No - you probably want "OR": '[' or ','
(\[|,)ftno
or it will miss it if it's the first in your list.
Get a copy of Expresso
http://www.ultrapico.com/Expresso.htm
It's free, and it examines and generates Regular expressions. You'll see what I mean!

How to I update a certain part of a long string using a tag within that string

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How to I update a certain part of a long string using a tag within that string

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