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Python

Posted by Zach Hudson
Zach Hudson
7,702 Points

Error Message: Don't get a regex search object

I keep getting the "Don't get a regex search object" error message. I have tried tweaking the below code a few different ways and still get the error. Any input would be appreciated...

import re

string = '''Love, Kenneth, kenneth+challenge@teamtreehouse.com, 555-555-5555, @kennethlove
Chalkley, Andrew, andrew@teamtreehouse.co.uk, 555-555-5556, @chalkers
McFarland, Dave, dave.mcfarland@teamtreehouse.com, 555-555-5557, @davemcfarland
Kesten, Joy, joy@teamtreehouse.com, 555-555-5558, @joykesten'''

contacts = re.search(r'''
    (?P<email>[\w\d\W]+@[\w\W]+),
    (?P<phone>[\d{3}]-[\d{3}]-[\d{4}])
    ''', string, re.X|re.M)
john larson
john larson
16,594 Points

Maybe it would, but it looked like it would cancel out \w. I'm not claiming to have a clear thought process on this. I remember doing the same thing as you on the phone with the brackets. It just seemed like the thing to do. But it doesn't work that way. regular expressions was kinda hard for me. I first ran into it in w3Schools as part of JavaScript. I remember thinking "I hope i never need this".

2 Answers

john larson
john larson
16,594 Points 
# email # [added  - got rid of \W, added . and +]+@[added -\d.] 
# ,\s  looks like you just missed a space
#  phone # got rid of []
contacts = re.search(r"""
(?P<email>[-\w\d.+]+@[-\w\d.]+) 
,\s 
(?P<phone>\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}) # got rid of []
""", string, re.X|re.M)
Zach Hudson
Zach Hudson
7,702 Points

John, won't '\W 'include the dash (-), dot (.), and plus (+)? How is this different?

Thanks for your input by the way.

john larson
john larson
16,594 Points
john larson
john larson
16,594 Points

Someone else will probably get to it before me, but when you have trouble with a challenge..if you use the help button FOR that challenge...it will put a link for others to view the challenge. For me, I like to go through the challenge from beginning to end. It's cathartic and reinforces my learning (and things I forgot)