How to read string end with question mark in regular expression?

Question

Hello,

I'm facing problem when I read string which is ended by question mark.
I use in my code as the following.
\"?(?<myfield>[^\"]?.*[^\"?]?)\"?

If string is ended by question mark, it's not working.
Please help me to solve my problem.
Thanks.

Co Coe

Answer 1

Try to escape those question marks, put a backslash before them

Answer 2

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your reply. But the string I'm trying to capture is as the following.

"On a scale of 5, with 5 as “Best” and 1 as “Worst”, could your describe your rating? "

Currently I use the above expression to read it but fail to read.

Answer 3

Can you explain what you're trying to do ?

And also provide sample code - that would be helpful

Answer 4

I'm trying to read csv file columns value from C#.net program.
I use regular expression to read columns values regarding to escape from comma, double quote, question mark because sentences come in various forms.
I need to read the whole sentence. Here is my regular expression code.

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(sr.ReadLine());
Regex regEx = new Regex("(?<col1>.*),\"?(?<col2>[^\"]?.*[^\"]?)\"?,(?<col3>.*)", RegexOptions.RightToLeft);
if (regEx.Match(sb.ToString()).Success)
 {
                strcol1 = regEx.Replace(sb.ToString(), "${col1}");
                strcol2 = regEx.Replace(sb.ToString(), "${col2}");
                strcol3 = regEx.Replace(sb.ToString(), "${col3}");

}

Answer 5

OK,

I have 2 possibilities for a csv column - have not tested the new line chars

(1) any sequence of chars not including a comma
(2) Anything between " and "     including ""


What is the format if there are question marks involved ?

	//______________________________________________________________________
		static void Main()
		{

			string csvColumn =
		
				 @"(""(?<xxx>(([^""])|(""""))+)"")"	// with double double quotes
				+ @"|(?<xxx>[^,]+)"	// not enclosed
					;

			string pattern = "^" + csvColumn + "$";

			string[] test = {
								@"abc", 
								@"""de , f""",
								@""" a list with """" double """,
								@"""On a scale of 5, with 5 as “Best” and 1 as “Worst”, could your describe your rating? """,
								@"""On a scale of 5, with 5 as """"Best"""" and 1 as """"Worst"""", could your describe your rating? """

							};

			foreach ( string s in test )
			{
				Match match = Regex.Match(s, pattern);

				if ( !match.Success )
					Console.WriteLine("no match");
				else
					Console.WriteLine(match.Result("${xxx}")); 


			}

			Console.ReadLine();
		}
		//______________________________________________________________________

Output

abc
de , f
 a list with "" double
On a scale of 5, with 5 as "Best" and 1 as "Worst", could your describe your rating?
On a scale of 5, with 5 as ""Best"" and 1 as ""Worst"", could your describe your rating?

Answer 6

I'm not sure how your data is formated but according to sample you gave.  You can use the following expression to extract the question.

"On a scale of 5, with 5 as “Best” and 1 as “Worst”, could your describe your rating? "

Regex.Matches(yourInput, @"""(.*\?)\s*""");

Answer 7

Hi co coe,
it is a long time since the last reply, did you get useful information from above suggestions, or you still have any concern about this issue? Please let us know.

Thanks,
Eric

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