[HELP] string.match and regular expressions

[smurfier]

I'm really bad with regular expressions so I need to ask for help.

I'm retrieving lines from a text file and some of the lines include the following values.

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FirstSun, SecondSun, ThirdSun, FourthSun, LastSun
FirstMon, SecondMon, ThirdMon, FourthMon, LastMon
FirstTue, SecondTue, ThirdTue, FourthTue, LastTue
FirstWed, SecondWed, ThirdWed, FourthWed, LastWed
FirstThu, SecondThu, ThirdThu, FourthThu, LastThu
FirstFri, SecondFri, ThirdFri, FourthFri, LastFri
FirstSat, SecondSat, ThirdSat, FourthSat, LastSat

What I need to do is take lets say FirstSun and separate the First from the Sun and save them both to separate variables.

[donutmtoazt]

I think you need something like this:

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var1, var2 = string.match("FirstSun", "(.*)(...)")

This should work on all of your strings you listed, and it assigns the strings to the variables respectively. And basically, (.*) captures all of the letters before (...), which captures the last three letters.

[donutmtoazt]

Unless your full string is this:

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FirstSun, SecondSun, ThirdSun, FourthSun, LastSun

in which case, the code isn't too different:

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varfirst, varsecond, varthird, varfourth, varlast, varsun = string.match(stringvariable, "(.*)..., (.*)..., (.*)..., (.*)..., (.*)(...)")

That will give you the strings "First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", "Last", and "Sun" respectively. I figured you wouldn't need five "Sun"'s.

[Yggdrasil]

I suggest this:

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local var1,var2,var3,var4,var5 = line:match("^(%a),%s(%a),%s(%a),%s(%a),%s(%a)$")

%a represents the letters, so it's the same as [a-zA-Z]. As the lines have the same format, it's the best way. ^ means that Lua must start the searching from the begin of the line, and $ marks the end of the line. %s is one space character, the comma represents itself. You should always use the most punctual pattern you can write, it makes Lua faster.
Now var1 is FirstSun in the first line. If you want to separate the two word, use this:

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local num,day = var1:match("^(%u%l+)(%u%l%l)$")

%u represents the uppercase letters (thus, [A-Z]), and %l is the lowercase letters ([a-z]).
%u%l+%u%l%l means: one uppercase, one or more lowercase letter, until it finds an uppercase and two lowercase letters.

[donutmtoazt]

Good point. I just recently started learning Lua, so my code is usually a bit rough anyways. I'll remember that.

Thanks!

[smurfier]

I think you need something like this:

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var1, var2 = string.match("FirstSun", "(.*)(...)")

This should work on all of your strings you listed, and it assigns the strings to the variables respectively. And basically, (.*) captures all of the letters before (...), which captures the last three letters.

This is exactly what I need. Thank you very much. One day I may actually learn how to use regular expressions so I don't have to ask for help every time I want to use one.

[donutmtoazt]

Well, if we're getting technical, Lua doesn't use Regular Expressions. It uses "Patterns".

I dunno, I read that somewhere and I thought it was hilarious that Lua has to specify that difference, though the two are so similar. Eh, bad jokes for the win. It would've worked too if there was a sarcasm font...