Re: grep is really pathetic sometimes

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

2003


It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 51318
interpreted = N
texte = Hi John, I tried that same code: >> code: [Text show=T]SKU=TROUTPRINT.JPG[/Text]

[grep search=^([A-Z0-9][0-9A-Z])([0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z])&replace=\1/\2/][getchar s start=1&end=5][SKU][/getchars][/grep] >> output: TROUTPRINT.JPG TR/OUT/ Raj ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Peacock" To: "WebDNA Talk" Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 2:10 AM Subject: RFE: grep is really pathetic sometimes > > I love using regular expressions to process my text (which is why I spend most > of my time using Perl these days). However, one of my other developers came to > me to ask why a particular grep was working the way it was. > > The code is as follows: > > [grep > search=^([A-Z0-9][0-9A-Z])([0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z])&replace=\1/\2/][getchar s > start=1&end=5][SKU][/getchars][/grep] > > That *should* match the first two characters (as \1) and the next three (as \2). > It always seemed to work when we were only looking at numbers, but we had to > extend it to work with characters as well as and it suddenly started matching > twice for one item. > > For SKU=TROUTPRINT.JPG, we expected it to return "TR/OUT/", but it would return > "TR/OUT/PR/INT" instead. It turns out that [grep] doesn't understand the > beginning of line (BOL) anchor "^" character. Consequently, the pattern was > matching twice (because this item had a longer SKU than the other items). This > is very annoying and vastly reduces the usabililty of [grep] for me. > > Why couldn't WebCat provide a real regex engine like Perl Compatible Regular > Expressions: > > http://www.pcre.org/ > > instead of whatever hodgepodge of code it currently has? At the very least, > WebCat should have thrown some sort of an error for the "^" which it doesn't > understand. > > > John > > -- > John Peacock > Director of Information Research and Technology > Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group > 4501 Forbes Boulevard > Suite H > Lanham, MD 20706 > 301-459-3366 x.5010 > fax 301-429-5748 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . > To unsubscribe, E-mail to: > To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to > Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

    
  1. Re: grep is really pathetic sometimes ( John Peacock 2003)
  2. Re: grep is really pathetic sometimes ( "Rajeev Kumar" 2003)
  3. Re: grep is really pathetic sometimes ( John Peacock 2003)
  4. Re: grep is really pathetic sometimes ( "Rajeev Kumar" 2003)
  5. RFE: grep is really pathetic sometimes ( John Peacock 2003)
Hi John, I tried that same code: >> code: [Text show=T]SKU=TROUTPRINT.JPG[/Text]

[grep search=^([A-Z0-9][0-9A-Z])([0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z])&replace=\1/\2/][getchar s start=1&end=5][SKU][/getchars][/grep] >> output: TROUTPRINT.JPG TR/OUT/ Raj ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Peacock" To: "WebDNA Talk" Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 2:10 AM Subject: RFE: grep is really pathetic sometimes > > I love using regular expressions to process my text (which is why I spend most > of my time using Perl these days). However, one of my other developers came to > me to ask why a particular grep was working the way it was. > > The code is as follows: > > [grep > search=^([A-Z0-9][0-9A-Z])([0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z][0-9A-Z])&replace=\1/\2/][getchar s > start=1&end=5][SKU][/getchars][/grep] > > That *should* match the first two characters (as \1) and the next three (as \2). > It always seemed to work when we were only looking at numbers, but we had to > extend it to work with characters as well as and it suddenly started matching > twice for one item. > > For SKU=TROUTPRINT.JPG, we expected it to return "TR/OUT/", but it would return > "TR/OUT/PR/INT" instead. It turns out that [grep] doesn't understand the > beginning of line (BOL) anchor "^" character. Consequently, the pattern was > matching twice (because this item had a longer SKU than the other items). This > is very annoying and vastly reduces the usabililty of [grep] for me. > > Why couldn't WebCat provide a real regex engine like Perl Compatible Regular > Expressions: > > http://www.pcre.org/ > > instead of whatever hodgepodge of code it currently has? At the very least, > WebCat should have thrown some sort of an error for the "^" which it doesn't > understand. > > > John > > -- > John Peacock > Director of Information Research and Technology > Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group > 4501 Forbes Boulevard > Suite H > Lanham, MD 20706 > 301-459-3366 x.5010 > fax 301-429-5748 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . > To unsubscribe, E-mail to: > To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to > Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ "Rajeev Kumar"

DOWNLOAD WEBDNA NOW!

Top Articles:

Talk List

The WebDNA community talk-list is the best place to get some help: several hundred extremely proficient programmers with an excellent knowledge of WebDNA and an excellent spirit will deliver all the tips and tricks you can imagine...

Related Readings:

[username][password] not showing up! HELP! (1999) Comments in db? (1997) Counting records (2000) Summary layout (1997) carriage returns in data (1997) WebCat2b13 Command Reference Doc error (1997) Thanks and Big News!!! (1997) Location of Browser Info.txt file (1997) Server crash (1997) WebCat2b12 CGI Mac - [shownext] problem (1997) WC2b15 File Corruption (1997) text size limitation (1997) RE: [WebDNA] [AddFields] Restrictions (2012) PSC recommends what date format yr 2000??? (1997) syntax question, not in online refernce (1997) Authenticate (1997) [WebDNA] encoding with webdna/JS, in context of various file encodings/charsets (2010) Robert Minor duplicate mail (1997) French characters in variables (2001) WYSIWYG HTML editor for use in browser (2001)