How to Find Words With Regex Using Elixir?

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In Elixir, you can use the Regex.scan/3 function to find words matching a regular expression. This function takes in a string, a regular expression pattern, and options. It returns a list of all matches found in the string.


Here's an example of how you can use Regex.scan/3 to find words in a string:

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string = "Hello World"
pattern = ~r/\w+/
matches = Regex.scan(pattern, string)

IO.inspect(matches)


In this example, the regular expression pattern \w+ is used to match one or more word characters. The Regex.scan/3 function then scans the string "Hello World" for all words, returning a list of matches found.


You can customize the regular expression pattern to match different types of words or phrases based on your specific requirements.

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How to search for words with specific characters or digits using regex in Elixir?

In Elixir, you can use the Regex.scan/2 function to search for words with specific characters or digits using regex.


Here's an example of how you can search for words with specific characters or digits using regex in Elixir:

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text = "Hello 123 World"
regex = ~r/\w+\d+/u

words_with_digits = Regex.scan(regex, text)
IO.inspect(words_with_digits)


In this example, we have a text that contains words and digits. We define a regex pattern \w+\d+ to match words that contain at least one digit. We then use Regex.scan/2 function to search for words matching this pattern in the text.


When you run this code, it will output [["Hello123"]], as the word "Hello123" in the text matches the regex pattern \w+\d+ (a word followed by a digit).


How to debug regex errors and test patterns in Elixir?

To debug regex errors and test patterns in Elixir, you can use the Regex module provided by the Elixir standard library. Here are some steps you can follow:

  1. Import the Regex module at the top of your Elixir file: import Regex
  2. Use the =~ operator to test a regex pattern against a string:
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pattern = ~r/foo/
string = "foobar"
if String.match?(string, pattern) do
  IO.puts "Pattern matched!"
else
  IO.puts "Pattern did not match!"
end


  1. Use the Regex.match?/3 function to test a regex pattern against a string:
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pattern = ~r/foo/
string = "foobar"
if Regex.match?(string, pattern) do
  IO.puts "Pattern matched!"
else
  IO.puts "Pattern did not match!"
end


  1. Use the Regex.scan/2 function to extract matching parts from a string:
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pattern = ~r/\d+/
string = "123abc456def789"
matches = Regex.scan(pattern, string)
IO.inspect matches


  1. Use tools like Regex101 or RegExr, which provide a visual interface for testing regex patterns and debugging errors.


By following these steps and experimenting with different regex patterns and strings, you can effectively debug regex errors and test patterns in Elixir.


What is the process of creating custom regex patterns in Elixir?

In Elixir, you can create custom regex patterns using the Regex.compile/2 function. Here is the general process of creating custom regex patterns in Elixir:

  1. Define the regex pattern: First, you need to define the regex pattern that you want to create. This pattern should match the specific string or strings that you are looking for.
  2. Compile the regex pattern: Once you have defined the regex pattern, you can compile it using the Regex.compile/2 function. This function takes two arguments: the regex pattern as a string and any additional options that you want to pass.
  3. Use the compiled regex pattern: Once the regex pattern is compiled, you can use it to match strings using the Regex.match?/2 function. This function takes the compiled regex pattern and the string that you want to match as arguments, and returns true if the string matches the pattern, or false otherwise.


Here is an example of creating a custom regex pattern in Elixir:

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regex_pattern = "hello"
compiled_regex = Regex.compile(regex_pattern)
string_to_match = "hello world"

if Regex.match?(compiled_regex, string_to_match) do
  IO.puts "String matches custom regex pattern"
else
  IO.puts "String does not match custom regex pattern"
end


In this example, the regex pattern is defined as "hello" and compiled using the Regex.compile/2 function. The string "hello world" is then matched against the compiled regex pattern using the Regex.match?/2 function. If the string matches the pattern, the message "String matches custom regex pattern" is printed to the console.


How to use regex to perform global searches in a text document in Elixir?

To perform global searches in a text document using regex in Elixir, you can use the Regex.scan/3 function. Here's an example of how you can do this:

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text = "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."

regex = ~r/[a-z]+/

matches = Regex.scan(regex, text)

IO.inspect(matches)


In this example, the regex pattern [a-z]+ will match one or more lowercase letters in the text document. The Regex.scan/3 function will return a list of tuples, where each tuple contains the matched text and its position in the original text.


You can also use capture groups in your regex pattern to extract specific parts of the matched text. For example:

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text = "John Doe: 555-1234, Jane Smith: 555-5678"

regex = ~r/([A-Za-z ]+): (\d{3}-\d{4})/

matches = Regex.scan(regex, text)

IO.inspect(matches)


In this example, the regex pattern ([A-Za-z ]+): (\d{3}-\d{4}) will match names followed by phone numbers in the format Name: XXX-XXXX. The capture groups ([A-Za-z ]+) and (\d{3}-\d{4}) will extract the name and phone number respectively.


Remember to handle errors and edge cases, such as the text document being empty or the regex pattern not matching any text in the document.

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