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Zoho Deluge - Some Useful Regular Expressions

Category: Zoho
Hits: 43928
What
A more comprehensive post on some other regex (regular expressions) to format values in Zoho.

How?
The following will remove any non-digits:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "<b>Hello World 123</b>";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("[^0-9]","");
// yields 123
  1.  v_MyString = "<b>Hello World 123</b>"; 
  2.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("[^0-9]",""); 
  3.  // yields 123 

The following is used in searches to escape special characters with a backslash:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "Joe's \"Amazing\" Skill &  Sidekick (1)";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([&'\"\%()])"),"\\$1",true);
// yields Joe\'s \"Amazing\" Skill \& \ Sidekick \(1\)

v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("%"),"\u0025",true);
  1.  v_MyString = "Joe's \"Amazing\" Skill &  Sidekick (1)"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([&'\"\%()])"),"\\$1",true); 
  3.  // yields Joe\'s \"Amazing\" Skill \& \ Sidekick \(1\) 
  4.   
  5.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("%"),"\u0025",true); 

The following will strip all HTML/XML tags:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "<b style='color:red'>Hello World 123</b>";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("<(.|\n)*?>","");
// yields Hello World 123
  1.  v_MyString = "<b style='color:red'>Hello World 123</b>"; 
  2.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("<(.|\n)*?>",""); 
  3.  // yields Hello World 123 

URL safe slug:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "Hello World 123";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.toLowerCase().replaceAll(" ","-");
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyFormattedString.replaceAll("[^a-z0-9-]+","");
// yields hello-world-123
  1.  v_MyString = "Hello World 123"; 
  2.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.toLowerCase().replaceAll(" ","-"); 
  3.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyFormattedString.replaceAll("[^a-z0-9-]+",""); 
  4.  // yields hello-world-123 

Email safe string:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "somewhere[]@beyondthesea_1.com";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.toLowerCase().trim();
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyFormattedString.replaceAll("[^a-z0-9@\-.]+","");
// yields This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  1.  v_MyString = "somewhere[]@beyondthesea_1.com"; 
  2.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.toLowerCase().trim(); 
  3.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyFormattedString.replaceAll("[^a-z0-9@\-.]+",""); 
  4.  // yields This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Replace any duplicates:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "Hello World Hello Joe";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("(\b\w+\b)(?=.*\b\1\b)","");
// yields World Hello Joe
  1.  v_MyString = "Hello World Hello Joe"; 
  2.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("(\b\w+\b)(?=.*\b\1\b)",""); 
  3.  // yields World Hello Joe 

Remove block comments:
copyraw 
v_MyRegEx = "(\/\*([^*]|(\*+[^*\/]))*\*+\/)";
v_MyString = "String to output: /* this is a comment */";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,"");
// yields String to output:
  1.  v_MyRegEx = "(\/\*([^*]|(\*+[^*\/]))*\*+\/)"; 
  2.  v_MyString = "String to output: /* this is a comment */"; 
  3.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,""); 
  4.  // yields String to output: 

Zoho Deluge Validation Checking by Regular Expression:

So I could do it the long way in Zoho Deluge. We match a pattern and replace everything out that conforms to the criteria so a true response will be an empty string:
copyraw 
v_MyRegEx = "^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+@[A-Za-z0-9._-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$";
v_MyString = "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,"");
b_Ok = if( v_MyFormattedString == "", true, false);
// yields true

v_MyString = "somewhere[]@beyondthesea_1.com";
v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,"");
b_Ok = if( v_MyFormattedString == "", true, false);
// yields false
  1.  v_MyRegEx = "^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+@[A-Za-z0-9._-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$"; 
  2.  v_MyString = "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it."; 
  3.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,""); 
  4.  b_Ok = if( v_MyFormattedString == "", true, false); 
  5.  // yields true 
  6.   
  7.  v_MyString = "somewhere[]@beyondthesea_1.com"; 
  8.  v_MyFormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,""); 
  9.  b_Ok = if( v_MyFormattedString == "", true, false); 
  10.  // yields false 

Yay Zoho has "matches". So this is the regex way to do it:
copyraw 
v_MyRegEx = "^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+@[A-Za-z0-9._-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$";
v_MyString = "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.";
b_Ok = if( v_MyString.matches( v_MyRegEx  ), true, false);
// yields true
  1.  v_MyRegEx = "^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+@[A-Za-z0-9._-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$"; 
  2.  v_MyString = "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it."; 
  3.  b_Ok = if( v_MyString.matches( v_MyRegEx  ), true, false); 
  4.  // yields true 

Some other validation checks:
copyraw 
// validate UK postcode
v_MyRegEx = "^((([A-PR-UWYZ])([0-9][0-9A-HJKS-UW]?))|(([A-PR-UWYZ][A-HK-Y])([0-9][0-9ABEHMNPRV-Y]?))\s{0,2}(([0-9])([ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z])([ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z])))|(((GI)(R))\s{0,2}((0)(A)(A)))$";
  1.  // validate UK postcode 
  2.  v_MyRegEx = "^((([A-PR-UWYZ])([0-9][0-9A-HJKS-UW]?))|(([A-PR-UWYZ][A-HK-Y])([0-9][0-9ABEHMNPRV-Y]?))\s{0,2}(([0-9])([ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z])([ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z])))|(((GI)(R))\s{0,2}((0)(A)(A)))$"; 

Some XML bits:
copyraw 
v_MyRegEx = "<!\[CDATA\[([^\]]*)\]\]>";
v_MyString = "<tag1><![CDATA[my_real_textual_data]]></tag1>";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,"$1",false);
// yields <tag1>my_real_textual_data</tag1>
  1.  v_MyRegEx = "<!\[CDATA\[([^\]]*)\]\]>"; 
  2.  v_MyString = "<tag1><![CDATA[my_real_textual_data]]></tag1>"; 
  3.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(v_MyRegEx,"$1",false); 
  4.  // yields <tag1>my_real_textual_data</tag1> 


Additional
Since writing this article I found a Zoho page with some other pretty useful regular expressions at https://zoholic.blogspot.com/2015/04/some-usefull-regex-in-zoho.html:

Convert a string of characters to a list:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "12345";
l_StringValues = v_MyString.replaceAll("(?)",",",false).removeFirstOccurence(",").removeLastOccurence(",").toList();
// yields list of [1,2,3,4,5]

// NB: "1mySep2mySep3mySep4mySep5".toList("mySep");
// yields list of [1,2,3,4,5]
  1.  v_MyString = "12345"; 
  2.  l_StringValues = v_MyString.replaceAll("(?)",",",false).removeFirstOccurence(",").removeLastOccurence(",").toList(); 
  3.  // yields list of [1,2,3,4,5] 
  4.   
  5.  // NB: "1mySep2mySep3mySep4mySep5".toList("mySep"); 
  6.  // yields list of [1,2,3,4,5] 

Replace any multiple spaces with a single space:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "Hello   World!";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("[ ]+"," ",false); 
// yields Hello World!
  1.  v_MyString = "Hello   World!"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("[ ]+"," ",false); 
  3.  // yields Hello World! 

Remove consecutive duplicate words:
copyraw 
// replace consecutive duplicates
v_MyString = "Hello Hello Joe";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([A-Za-z]+) \1"),"$1",false);
// yields Hello Joe

// NB: v_MyString = "Hello World Hello Joe"
// yields Hello World Hello Joe
  1.  // replace consecutive duplicates 
  2.  v_MyString = "Hello Hello Joe"; 
  3.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([A-Za-z]+) \1"),"$1",false); 
  4.  // yields Hello Joe 
  5.   
  6.  // NB: v_MyString = "Hello World Hello Joe" 
  7.  // yields Hello World Hello Joe 

Escape/Backslash some special characters:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "Joe's \"Amazing\" Skill & <His> Grunt";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([&'\"<>])"),"\\$1",false);
// yields Joe\'s \"Amazing\" Skill \& \<His\> Grunt
  1.  v_MyString = "Joe's \"Amazing\" Skill & <His> Grunt"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([&'\"<>])"),"\\$1",false); 
  3.  // yields Joe\'s \"Amazing\" Skill \& \<His\> Grunt 

Replace new lines in returned JSON (invalid in Zoho):
copyraw 
v_MyString = "{"MyKey":"MyValue
"}";

// the long way (and cos the regex for this isn't working)
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\r","",false);  // carriage returns
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\n","",false);  // line feeds
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\f","",false);  // form feeds

// a regex that should work but doesn't
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([\n\r])"),"",false);
  1.  v_MyString = "{"MyKey":"MyValue 
  2.  "}"; 
  3.   
  4.  // the long way (and cos the regex for this isn't working) 
  5.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\r","",false);  // carriage returns 
  6.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\n","",false);  // line feeds 
  7.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\f","",false);  // form feeds 
  8.   
  9.  // a regex that should work but doesn't 
  10.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll(("([\n\r])"),"",false); 

Split a string by a word:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "PoshDavid Beckham";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\b(Posh)([^ ]*)","$1 and $2",false);
// yields Posh and David Beckham
  1.  v_MyString = "PoshDavid Beckham"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("\b(Posh)([^ ]*)","$1 and $2",false); 
  3.  // yields Posh and David Beckham 

UK/US Decimal Separator and Commas:
copyraw 
v_MyString = 1234.567;
v_FormattedString = (v_MyString.round(2)).toString().replaceAll(("(?<!\.\d)(?<=\d)(?=(?:\d\d\d)+\b)"),",");
// yields 1,234.57
  1.  v_MyString = 1234.567; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = (v_MyString.round(2)).toString().replaceAll(("(?<!\.\d)(?<=\d)(?=(?:\d\d\d)+\b)"),","); 
  3.  // yields 1,234.57 

European Decimal Separator and Commas:
copyraw 
v_MyString = 1234.567;
v_FormattedString = (v_MyString.round(2)).toString().replaceAll("\.",",").replaceAll(("(?<!,\d)(?<=\d)(?=(?:\d\d\d)+\b)"),".");
// yields 1.234,57
  1.  v_MyString = 1234.567; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = (v_MyString.round(2)).toString().replaceAll("\.",",").replaceAll(("(?<!,\d)(?<=\d)(?=(?:\d\d\d)+\b)"),"."); 
  3.  // yields 1.234,57 

Extract URL from a link:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "<a href=\"https://www.google.com?searchword=Joe\">Link</a>";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("^.*href\s*=\s*\"([^\"]*)\".*$","$1");
// yields https://www.google.com?searchword=Joe
  1.  v_MyString = "<a href=\"https://www.google.com?searchword=Joe\">Link</a>"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("^.*href\s*=\s*\"([^\"]*)\".*$","$1"); 
  3.  // yields https://www.google.com?searchword=Joe 

Get first 3 words:
copyraw 
v_MyString = "I am Joe the Awesomest";
v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("^((?:\S+\s+){2}\S+).*","$1",false);
// yields I am Joe
  1.  v_MyString = "I am Joe the Awesomest"; 
  2.  v_FormattedString = v_MyString.replaceAll("^((?:\S+\s+){2}\S+).*","$1",false); 
  3.  // yields I am Joe 

Not a regular expression but something I use to pad months and dates in a date format:
copyraw 
v_MyString = 2;  // February
v_FormattedString = leftpad(toString(v_MyString), 2).replaceAll(" ", "0");
// yields "02"
  1.  v_MyString = 2;  // February 
  2.  v_FormattedString = leftpad(toString(v_MyString), 2).replaceAll(" ", "0"); 
  3.  // yields "02" 
Category: Zoho :: Article: 681

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