Python regex, matching pattern over multiple lines.. why isn't this working?

I know that for parsing I should ideally remove all spaces and linebreaks but I was just doing this as a quick fix for something I was trying and I can't figure out why its not working.. I have wrapped different areas of text in my document with the wrappers like "####1" and am trying to parse based on this but its just not working no matter what I try, I think I am using multiline correctly.. any advice is appreciated

This returns no results at all:

string='

####1

ttteest

####1

ttttteeeestt



####2   



ttest

####2'



import re

pattern = '.*?####(.*?)####'

returnmatch = re.compile(pattern, re.MULTILINE).findall(string)

return returnmatch

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

1

It won't run period because you're not using multi-line string symbols ''' or """
– Nick T
Aug 20 '10 at 20:13

ok, I missed this concept completely then, i will dig through the re documentation to find where it mentions this.. thanks
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

3

Your assignment to string is a syntax error. Did you mean to use '''?
– msw
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

no I'm new to python so I didn't know about the mutline string delimiter
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:20

add a comment |

This returns no results at all:

string='

####1

ttteest

####1

ttttteeeestt



####2   



ttest

####2'



import re

pattern = '.*?####(.*?)####'

returnmatch = re.compile(pattern, re.MULTILINE).findall(string)

return returnmatch

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

1

It won't run period because you're not using multi-line string symbols ''' or """
– Nick T
Aug 20 '10 at 20:13

ok, I missed this concept completely then, i will dig through the re documentation to find where it mentions this.. thanks
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

3

Your assignment to string is a syntax error. Did you mean to use '''?
– msw
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

no I'm new to python so I didn't know about the mutline string delimiter
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:20

add a comment |

This returns no results at all:

string='

####1

ttteest

####1

ttttteeeestt



####2   



ttest

####2'



import re

pattern = '.*?####(.*?)####'

returnmatch = re.compile(pattern, re.MULTILINE).findall(string)

return returnmatch

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

This returns no results at all:

string='

####1

ttteest

####1

ttttteeeestt



####2   



ttest

####2'



import re

pattern = '.*?####(.*?)####'

returnmatch = re.compile(pattern, re.MULTILINE).findall(string)

return returnmatch

python regex parsing

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

asked Aug 20 '10 at 20:09

Rick

7,0133198158

1

It won't run period because you're not using multi-line string symbols ''' or """
– Nick T
Aug 20 '10 at 20:13

ok, I missed this concept completely then, i will dig through the re documentation to find where it mentions this.. thanks
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

3

Your assignment to string is a syntax error. Did you mean to use '''?
– msw
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

no I'm new to python so I didn't know about the mutline string delimiter
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:20

add a comment |

1

It won't run period because you're not using multi-line string symbols ''' or """
– Nick T
Aug 20 '10 at 20:13

ok, I missed this concept completely then, i will dig through the re documentation to find where it mentions this.. thanks
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

3

Your assignment to string is a syntax error. Did you mean to use '''?
– msw
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

no I'm new to python so I didn't know about the mutline string delimiter
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:20

It won't run period because you're not using multi-line string symbols ''' or """
– Nick T
Aug 20 '10 at 20:13

ok, I missed this concept completely then, i will dig through the re documentation to find where it mentions this.. thanks
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

Your assignment to string is a syntax error. Did you mean to use '''?
– msw
Aug 20 '10 at 20:15

no I'm new to python so I didn't know about the mutline string delimiter
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:20

add a comment |

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

Try re.findall(r"####(.*?)s(.*?)s####", string, re.DOTALL) (works with re.compile too, of course).

This regexp will return tuples containing the number of the section and the section content.

For your example, this will return [('1', 'ttteest'), ('2', ' nnttest')].

(BTW: your example won't run, for multiline strings, use ''' or """)

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

add a comment |

Multiline doesn't mean . will match line return, it means that ^ and $ are limited to lines only

re.M
re.MULTILINE

When specified, the pattern character '^' matches at the beginning of the string and at the >beginning of each line (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character '$' >matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately preceding each >newline). By default, '^' matches only at the beginning of the string, and '$' only at the >end of the string and immediately before the newline (if any) at the end of the string.

re.S or re.DOTALL makes . match even new lines.

Source

http://docs.python.org/

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

add a comment |

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

Try re.findall(r"####(.*?)s(.*?)s####", string, re.DOTALL) (works with re.compile too, of course).

This regexp will return tuples containing the number of the section and the section content.

For your example, this will return [('1', 'ttteest'), ('2', ' nnttest')].

(BTW: your example won't run, for multiline strings, use ''' or """)

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

add a comment |

Try re.findall(r"####(.*?)s(.*?)s####", string, re.DOTALL) (works with re.compile too, of course).

This regexp will return tuples containing the number of the section and the section content.

For your example, this will return [('1', 'ttteest'), ('2', ' nnttest')].

(BTW: your example won't run, for multiline strings, use ''' or """)

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

add a comment |

Try re.findall(r"####(.*?)s(.*?)s####", string, re.DOTALL) (works with re.compile too, of course).

This regexp will return tuples containing the number of the section and the section content.

For your example, this will return [('1', 'ttteest'), ('2', ' nnttest')].

(BTW: your example won't run, for multiline strings, use ''' or """)

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

Try re.findall(r"####(.*?)s(.*?)s####", string, re.DOTALL) (works with re.compile too, of course).

This regexp will return tuples containing the number of the section and the section content.

For your example, this will return [('1', 'ttteest'), ('2', ' nnttest')].

(BTW: your example won't run, for multiline strings, use ''' or """)

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

leoluk

8,98343445

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

add a comment |

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

thanks, this works
– Rick
Aug 20 '10 at 20:21

add a comment |

Multiline doesn't mean . will match line return, it means that ^ and $ are limited to lines only

re.M
re.MULTILINE

When specified, the pattern character '^' matches at the beginning of the string and at the >beginning of each line (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character '$' >matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately preceding each >newline). By default, '^' matches only at the beginning of the string, and '$' only at the >end of the string and immediately before the newline (if any) at the end of the string.

re.S or re.DOTALL makes . match even new lines.

Source

http://docs.python.org/

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

add a comment |

Multiline doesn't mean . will match line return, it means that ^ and $ are limited to lines only

re.M
re.MULTILINE

When specified, the pattern character '^' matches at the beginning of the string and at the >beginning of each line (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character '$' >matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately preceding each >newline). By default, '^' matches only at the beginning of the string, and '$' only at the >end of the string and immediately before the newline (if any) at the end of the string.

re.S or re.DOTALL makes . match even new lines.

Source

http://docs.python.org/

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

add a comment |

Multiline doesn't mean . will match line return, it means that ^ and $ are limited to lines only

re.M
re.MULTILINE

When specified, the pattern character '^' matches at the beginning of the string and at the >beginning of each line (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character '$' >matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately preceding each >newline). By default, '^' matches only at the beginning of the string, and '$' only at the >end of the string and immediately before the newline (if any) at the end of the string.

re.S or re.DOTALL makes . match even new lines.

Source

http://docs.python.org/

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

Multiline doesn't mean . will match line return, it means that ^ and $ are limited to lines only

re.M
re.MULTILINE

When specified, the pattern character '^' matches at the beginning of the string and at the >beginning of each line (immediately following each newline); and the pattern character '$' >matches at the end of the string and at the end of each line (immediately preceding each >newline). By default, '^' matches only at the beginning of the string, and '$' only at the >end of the string and immediately before the newline (if any) at the end of the string.

re.S or re.DOTALL makes . match even new lines.

Source

http://docs.python.org/

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

answered Aug 20 '10 at 20:16

Colin Hebert

74.5k11134136

add a comment |

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