Find certain character and substring in Objective-C - objective-c

I have a string..
NSString* string = #"%B999999^PDVS123456789012^PADILLA L. ^0X0000399 ?*;999999554749123456789012=00X990300000?*
What I want is to get the name PADILLA L. and 999999554749123456789012=00X990300000?*

Use NSString componentsSeparatedByString: to split the string up. First use #"^". The name will be at index 2. Then split the substring at index 3 using #";". The string at index 1 will give you the 2nd piece you want.
NSArray *substrings = [string componentsSeparatedByString:#"^"];
NSString *name = substrings[2];
name = [name stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceCharacterSet]];
NSString *lastpart = substrings[3];
NSArray *moresubstrings = [lastpart componentsSeparatedByString:#";"];
NSString *secondPiece = moresubstrings[1];

Without more specifics here is a brute force way:
NSString* string = #"%B999999^PDVS123456789012^PADILLA L. ^0X0000399 ?*;999999554749123456789012=00X990300000?*";
NSRange nameRange = {26, 10};
NSString *name = [string substringWithRange:nameRange];
NSRange numRange = {80, 39};
NSString *num = [string substringWithRange:numRange];
The documentation is your friend: NSString Class Reference

Without knowing what the exact input pattern is (we have your n-of-1 example only), it's going to hard to say exactly how you might parse this properly; but NSRegularExpression offers what you need (in addition to other suggested approaches):
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
NSString *sampleText = #"%B999999^PDVS123456789012^PADILLA L. ^0X0000399 ?*;999999554749123456789012=00X990300000?*";
NSError *regexError = nil;
NSRegularExpressionOptions options = 0;
NSString *pattern = #"^%\\w+\\^\\w+\\^([A-Za-z\\s]+\\.).+\\?\\*\\;(.+)\\?\\*$";
NSRegularExpression *expression = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:pattern options:options error:&regexError];
NSTextCheckingResult *match = [expression firstMatchInString:sampleText options:0 range:range];
if( match ) {
NSRange nameRange = [match rangeAtIndex:1];
NSRange numberRange = [match rangeAtIndex:2];
printf("name = %s ",[[sampleText substringWithRange:nameRange] UTF8String]);
printf("number = %s\n",[[sampleText substringWithRange:numberRange] UTF8String]);
}
}
}
This little Foundation application prints the following to the console:
name = PADILLA L. number = 999999554749123456789012=00X990300000
The regex used to analyze the input string may need to be tweaked depending on how the input string varies. Right now it is (unescaped):
^%\w+\^\w+\^([A-Za-z\s]+\.).+\?\*\;(.+)\?\*$

Related

How to parse a string format like [***]***?

I need to parse a string like [abc]000, and what I want to get is an array containing abc and 000. Is there an easy way to do it?
I'm using code like this:
NSString *sampleString = #"[abc]000";
NSArray *sampleParts = [sampleString componentsSeparatedByString:#"]"];
NSString *firstPart = [[[sampleParts objectAtIndex:0] componentsSeparatedByString:#"["] lastObject];
NSString *lastPart = [sampleParts lastObject];
But it's inefficient and didn't check whether the string is in a format like [**]**.
For this simple pattern, can just parse yourself like:
NSString *s = #"[abc]000";
NSString *firstPart = nil;
NSString *lastPart = nil;
if ([s characterAtIndex: 0] == '[') {
NSUInteger i = [s rangeOfString:#"]"].location;
if (i != NSNotFound) {
firstPart = [s substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(1, i - 1)];
lastPart = [s substringFromIndex:i + 1];
}
}
Or you could learn to use the NSScanner class.
As always, there are lots of ways to do this.
OPTION 1
If these are fixed length strings (each part is always three characters) then you can simply get the substrings directly:
NSString *sampleString = #"[abc]000";
NSString *left = [sampleString substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(1, 3)];
NSString *right = [sampleString substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(5, 3)];
NSArray *parts = #[ left, right ];
NSLog(#"%#", parts);
OPTION 1 (shortened)
NSArray *parts = #[ [sampleString substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(1, 3)],
[sampleString substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(5, 3)] ];
NSLog(#"%#", parts);
OPTION 2
If they aren't always three characters, then you can use NSScanner:
NSString *sampleString = #"[abc]000";
NSScanner *scanner = [NSScanner scannerWithString:sampleString];
// Skip the first character if we know that it will always start with the '['.
// If we can not make this assumption, then we would scan for the bracket instead.
scanner.scanLocation = 1;
NSString *left, *right;
// Save the characters until the right bracket into a string which we store in left.
[scanner scanUpToString:#"]" intoString:&left];
// Skip the right bracket
scanner.scanLocation++;
// Scan to the end (You can use any string for the scanUpToString that doesn't actually exist...
[scanner scanUpToString:#"\0" intoString:&right];
NSArray *parts = #[ left, right ];
NSLog(#"%#", parts);
RESULTS (for all options)
2013-05-10 00:25:02.031 Testing App[41906:11f03] (
abc,
000
)
NOTE
All of these assume well-formed strings, so you should include your own error checking.
try like this ,
NSString *sampleString = #"[abc]000";
NSString *pNRegex = #"\\[[a-z]{3}\\][0-9]{3}";
NSPredicate *PNTest = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"SELF MATCHES %#", pNRegex];
BOOL check=[PNTest evaluateWithObject:sampleString ];
NSLog(#"success:%i",check);
if success comes as 1 then you can perform the action for separating string into array.

Replace specific words in NSString

what is the best way to get and replace specific words in string ?
for example I have
NSString * currentString = #"one {two}, thing {thing} good";
now I need find each {currentWord}
and apply function for it
[self replaceWord:currentWord]
then replace currentWord with result from function
-(NSString*)replaceWord:(NSString*)currentWord;
The following example shows how you can use NSRegularExpression and enumerateMatchesInString to accomplish the task. I have just used uppercaseString as function that replaces a word, but you can use your replaceWord method as well:
EDIT: The first version of my answer did not work correctly if the replaced words are
shorter or longer as the original words (thanks to Fabian Kreiser for noting that!) .
Now it should work correctly in all cases.
NSString *currentString = #"one {two}, thing {thing} good";
// Regular expression to find "word characters" enclosed by {...}:
NSRegularExpression *regex;
regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:#"\\{(\\w+)\\}"
options:0
error:NULL];
NSMutableString *modifiedString = [currentString mutableCopy];
__block int offset = 0;
[regex enumerateMatchesInString:currentString
options:0
range:NSMakeRange(0, [currentString length])
usingBlock:^(NSTextCheckingResult *result, NSMatchingFlags flags, BOOL *stop) {
// range = location of the regex capture group "(\\w+)" in currentString:
NSRange range = [result rangeAtIndex:1];
// Adjust location for modifiedString:
range.location += offset;
// Get old word:
NSString *oldWord = [modifiedString substringWithRange:range];
// Compute new word:
// In your case, that would be
// NSString *newWord = [self replaceWord:oldWord];
NSString *newWord = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"--- %# ---", [oldWord uppercaseString] ];
// Replace new word in modifiedString:
[modifiedString replaceCharactersInRange:range withString:newWord];
// Update offset:
offset += [newWord length] - [oldWord length];
}
];
NSLog(#"%#", modifiedString);
Output:
one {--- TWO ---}, thing {--- THING ---} good

Remove Special Characters in NSString

i am convert paragraph into words it contains many special characters like
" , " . `
how to remove this characters in nsstring and get only alphabets in nsstring
ex
"new" to new //the special characters are change
NSString *unfilteredString = #"!##$%^&*()_+|abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890";
NSCharacterSet *notAllowedChars = [[NSCharacterSet characterSetWithCharactersInString:#"abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"] invertedSet];
NSString *resultString = [[unfilteredString componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet:notAllowedChars] componentsJoinedByString:#""];
NSLog (#"Result: %#", resultString);
TRY THIS IT MAY HELPS YOU
There are numerous ways of dealing with this. As an example, here's a solution using regular expressions. This is just an example. We don't know the entire range of special characters that you want to remove.
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
#autoreleasepool {
NSRegularExpression *expression = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:#"[,\\.`\"]"
options:0
error:NULL];
NSString *sampleString = #"The \"new\" quick brown fox, who jumped over the lazy dog.";
NSString *cleanedString = [expression stringByReplacingMatchesInString:sampleString
options:0
range:NSMakeRange(0, sampleString.length)
withTemplate:#""];
printf("cleaned = %s",[cleanedString UTF8String] );
}
return 0;
}
Per comment of #Rostyslav Druzhchenko from on the selected answer of #MadhuP:
NSString *unfilteredString = #"!##$%^&*()_+|abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890";
NSCharacterSet *notAllowedChars = [[NSCharacterSet alphanumericCharacterSet] invertedSet];
NSString *escapedString = [[unfilteredString componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet:notAllowedChars] componentsJoinedByString:#""];
NSLog (#"Result: %#", escapedString);
This is the answer that will use alphanumericCharacterSet to handle multiple countries character set.
Accepted answer in SWIFT (but not SWIFTY way):
let notAllowedCharactersSet = NSCharacterSet(charactersInString: "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ").invertedSet
let filtered = (stringToFilter.componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet(notAllowedCharactersSet) as NSArray).componentsJoinedByString("")
I'm sure there's a more elegant solution, but for anyone trying to do this in Swift, here's what I did to make sure there were no special characters in my users' phone numbers.
var phone = "+1 (555) 555 - 5555"
var removeChars: NSCharacterSet = NSCharacterSet(charactersInString: "1234567890").invertedSet
var charArray = phone.componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet(removeChars)
var placeholderString = ""
var formattedPhoneNumber: String = placeholderString.join(charArray).stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet(NSCharacterSet.whitespaceCharacterSet())
The stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet might not be necessary.

Replace characters in NSString

I am trying to replace all characters except last 4 in a String with *'s.
In objective-c there is a method in NSString class replaceStringWithCharactersInRange: withString: where I would give it range (0,[string length]-4) ) with string #"*". This is what it does: 123456789ABCD is modified to *ABCD while I am looking to make ********ABCD.
I understand that it replaced range I specified with string object. How to accomplish this ?
NSError *error;
NSRegularExpression *regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:#"\\d" options:NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive error:&error];
NSString *newString = [regex stringByReplacingMatchesInString:string options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0, [string length]) withTemplate:#"*"];
This looks like a simple problem... get the first part string and return it with the last four characters appended to it.
Here is a function that returns the needed string :
-(NSString *)neededStringWithString:(NSString *)aString {
// if the string has less than or 4 characters, return nil
if([aString length] <= 4) {
return nil;
}
NSUInteger countOfCharToReplace = [aString length] - 4;
NSString *firstPart = #"*";
while(--countOfCharToReplace) {
firstPart = [firstPart stringByAppendingString:#"*"];
}
// range for the last four
NSRange lastFourRange = NSMakeRange([aString length] - 4, 4);
// return the combined string
return [firstPart stringByAppendingString:
[aString substringWithRange:lastFourRange]];
}
The most unintuitive part in Cocoa is creating the repeating stars without some kind of awkward looping. stringByPaddingToLength:withString:startingAtIndex: allows you to create a repeating string of any length you like, so once you have that, here's a simple solution:
NSInteger starUpTo = [string length] - 4;
if (starUpTo > 0) {
NSString *stars = [#"" stringByPaddingToLength:starUpTo withString:#"*" startingAtIndex:0];
return [string stringByReplacingCharactersInRange:NSMakeRange(0, starUpTo) withString:stars];
} else {
return string;
}
I'm not sure why the accepted answer was accepted, since it only works if everything but last 4 is a digit. Here's a simple way:
NSMutableString * str1 = [[NSMutableString alloc]initWithString:#"1234567890ABCD"];
NSRange r = NSMakeRange(0, [str1 length] - 4);
[str1 replaceCharactersInRange:r withString:[[NSString string] stringByPaddingToLength:r.length withString:#"*" startingAtIndex:0]];
NSLog(#"%#",str1);
You could use [theString substringToIndex:[theString length]-4] to get the first part of the string and then combine [theString length]-4 *'s with the second part. Perhaps their is an easier way to do this..
NSMutableString * str1 = [[NSMutableString alloc]initWithString:#"1234567890ABCD"];
[str1 replaceCharactersInRange:NSMakeRange(0, [str1 length] - 4) withString:#"*"];
NSLog(#"%#",str1);
it works
The regexp didn't work on iOS7, but perhaps this helps:
- (NSString *)encryptString:(NSString *)pass {
NSMutableString *secret = [NSMutableString new];
for (int i=0; i<[pass length]; i++) {
[secret appendString:#"*"];
}
return secret;
}
In your case you should stop replacing the last 4 characters. Bit crude, but gets the job done

How to get substring of NSString?

If I want to get a value from the NSString #"value:hello World:value", what should I use?
The return value I want is #"hello World".
Option 1:
NSString *haystack = #"value:hello World:value";
NSString *haystackPrefix = #"value:";
NSString *haystackSuffix = #":value";
NSRange needleRange = NSMakeRange(haystackPrefix.length,
haystack.length - haystackPrefix.length - haystackSuffix.length);
NSString *needle = [haystack substringWithRange:needleRange];
NSLog(#"needle: %#", needle); // -> "hello World"
Option 2:
NSRegularExpression *regex = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:#"^value:(.+?):value$" options:0 error:nil];
NSTextCheckingResult *match = [regex firstMatchInString:haystack options:NSAnchoredSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, haystack.length)];
NSRange needleRange = [match rangeAtIndex: 1];
NSString *needle = [haystack substringWithRange:needleRange];
This one might be a bit over the top for your rather trivial case though.
Option 3:
NSString *needle = [haystack componentsSeparatedByString:#":"][1];
This one creates three temporary strings and an array while splitting.
All snippets assume that what's searched for is actually contained in the string.
Here's a slightly less complicated answer:
NSString *myString = #"abcdefg";
NSString *mySmallerString = [myString substringToIndex:4];
See also substringWithRange and substringFromIndex
Here's a simple function that lets you do what you are looking for:
- (NSString *)getSubstring:(NSString *)value betweenString:(NSString *)separator
{
NSRange firstInstance = [value rangeOfString:separator];
NSRange secondInstance = [[value substringFromIndex:firstInstance.location + firstInstance.length] rangeOfString:separator];
NSRange finalRange = NSMakeRange(firstInstance.location + separator.length, secondInstance.location);
return [value substringWithRange:finalRange];
}
Usage:
NSString *myName = [self getSubstring:#"This is my :name:, woo!!" betweenString:#":"];
Use this also
NSString *ChkStr = [MyString substringWithRange:NSMakeRange(5, 26)];
Note - Your NSMakeRange(start, end) should be NSMakeRange(start, end- start);
Here is a little combination of #Regexident Option 1 and #Garett answers, to get a powerful string cutter between a prefix and suffix, with MORE...ANDMORE words on it.
NSString *haystack = #"MOREvalue:hello World:valueANDMORE";
NSString *prefix = #"value:";
NSString *suffix = #":value";
NSRange prefixRange = [haystack rangeOfString:prefix];
NSRange suffixRange = [[haystack substringFromIndex:prefixRange.location+prefixRange.length] rangeOfString:suffix];
NSRange needleRange = NSMakeRange(prefixRange.location+prefix.length, suffixRange.location);
NSString *needle = [haystack substringWithRange:needleRange];
NSLog(#"needle: %#", needle);