How Can C# Regex Solve String Splitting with Commas as Delimiters, Except Within Quotes?

Mastering String Splitting in C# with Complex Patterns Using Regular Expressions

This article tackles a common programming challenge: splitting a string using commas as delimiters, but only when those commas aren't enclosed within quotation marks. Standard string splitting methods fall short when dealing with such irregular data structures.

The Regex Solution

The solution lies in the power of regular expressions. The following regex pattern effectively identifies and isolates commas outside of quoted sections:

",(?=(?:[^']*'[^']*')*[^']*$)"

This pattern cleverly searches for commas followed by an even number of single quotes in the remaining string. This ensures that commas within quoted sections are ignored.

Applying this pattern to split the string is straightforward:

var result = Regex.Split(inputString, ",(?=(?:[^']*'[^']*')*[^']*$)");

The result array will then accurately contain the desired elements:

• 'ABCDEFG'
• 123542
• 'XYZ 99,9'

In Summary

Regular expressions offer a robust and flexible solution for string manipulation tasks involving complex patterns. This method provides precise control, enabling accurate splitting and extraction of elements from even the most unconventional string formats. This technique is invaluable for handling data with irregular delimiters.

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