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Python Regular Expressions in Python Introduction to Regular Expressions Groups

Posted by Ewerton Luna
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Ewerton Luna
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 24,031 Points

Can anyone tell me what am I missing? "Same" code written in different way not working.

I was just practicing and messing around with regex tools when I tried to use groups to match only the FIRST LINE of the data.

First I tried this and it worked:

print(re.search(r'''(\w+, \w+)\t(\w+@\w+.\w+)\t(\(\d{3}\)\s\d{3}-\d{4})\t(\w+,\s\w+)\t(@\w+)''', data))

# OUTPUT: got back a Match Object containing the entire first line of the string, witch belongs to all Kenneth's infos.

Then, I tried to make this more readable by using this exact same code, only written in multiple lines as re.VERBOSE allows me to do that. So the code turned into this:

print(re.search(r'''
    (\w+, \w+)\t
    (\w+@\w+.\w+)\t
    (\(\d{3}\)\s\d{3}-\d{4})\t
    (\w+,\s\w+)\t
    (@\w+)\t
''', data, re.X))

# OUTPUT: None

Why am I getting no match? I thought it was supposed to work the same way as my first try did. I would really appreciate some help! It's bugging me a lot.

Thanks!

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,457 Points
Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,457 Points

Again with the challenging questions! When using the re.X switch all regular spaces are ignored. In your first group, there is a blank space after the comma that should be replaced with \s. With this change the regex works fine.

Ewerton Luna
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Ewerton Luna
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 24,031 Points

Wow! Chris Freeman as always being a LIFE SAVER! Thank you so much!!!