best design for parse

[gs]

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format string
from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Re: best design for parse

"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschrieb:

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string

Maybe you are looking for 'DateTime.Parse Exact'.

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

thank you, I give that a shot Hopefully . it will take care most of what I
need, or at least make the rest easier. except one thing,

I am dealing with lines of string data (up to 300 lines) and the date fields
position may not be known before hand although for a given set of lines,
they stay in the same place 99.999 of the time except for the odd comments
which is not that critical;

"Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]" <hirf-spam-me-here@gmx.atwrot e in message
news:eTeYgRTMHH A.4376@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschrieb:

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string

>
Maybe you are looking for 'DateTime.Parse Exact'.
>
--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>
>

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Re: best design for parse

GS,

Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.

Cor

"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

thank you, Cor.

However, I must be thick. I don't quite get the drift as with regard to
2007. are we talking about a new release of studio, .net frame work or just
the release or patch to come out in 2007.

how would that handle string date mixed with other data?

Actually the original source of the data is displayed html table placed in
clipboard. the objective to standardize the date string to yyyy-mm-dd and
then pass on to other components for processing and storage

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order

>
>

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Re: best design for parse

GS,

I was thinking about writting that this was not in the case with webpages.
However windowforms is the default in this newsgroup, therefore please tell
this next time.

Cor

"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comsc hreef in bericht
news:OIkxvRhMHH A.992@TK2MSFTNG P06.phx.gbl...

thank you, Cor.
>
However, I must be thick. I don't quite get the drift as with regard to
2007. are we talking about a new release of studio, .net frame work or
just
the release or patch to come out in 2007.
>
how would that handle string date mixed with other data?
>
Actually the original source of the data is displayed html table placed in
clipboard. the objective to standardize the date string to yyyy-mm-dd and
then pass on to other components for processing and storage
>
"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

>GS,
>>
>Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
>DateTime.parse Exact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
>globalizatio n and than the to that related ToString option.
>>
>Cor
>>
>"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
>news:OtrnsPTMH HA.4720@TK2MSFT NGP03.phx.gbl.. .

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming
format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>

>>
>>

>
>

[Stephany Young]

Re: best design for parse

It is?

Newsgroup microsoft.publi c.dotnet.langua ges.vb provides a forum for
questions and general discussion of Visual Basic .NET.

Source:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/vbcon/html/vboritopsupportsitesforvisualbasicprogrammers.asp

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23%23RArb hMHHA.536@TK2MS FTNGP02.phx.gbl ...

GS,
>
I was thinking about writting that this was not in the case with webpages.
However windowforms is the default in this newsgroup, therefore please
tell this next time.
>
Cor
>
"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comsc hreef in bericht
news:OIkxvRhMHH A.992@TK2MSFTNG P06.phx.gbl...

>thank you, Cor.
>>
>However, I must be thick. I don't quite get the drift as with regard to
>2007. are we talking about a new release of studio, .net frame work or
>just
>the release or patch to come out in 2007.
>>
>how would that handle string date mixed with other data?
>>
>Actually the original source of the data is displayed html table placed
>in
>clipboard. the objective to standardize the date string to yyyy-mm-dd and
>then pass on to other components for processing and storage
>>
>"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
>news:%23Qj7TbW MHHA.3944@TK2MS FTNGP06.phx.gbl ...

>>GS,
>>>
>>Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
>>DateTime.pars eExact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
>>globalizati on and than the to that related ToString option.
>>>
>>Cor
>>>
>>"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
>>news:OtrnsPTM HHA.4720@TK2MSF TNGP03.phx.gbl. ..
>let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
>string from one of the following
>dd/mm/yyyy
>mm/dd/yyyy
>dd/mmm/yyyy
>mmm/dd/yyyy
>dd/mm/yy
>mm/dd/yy
>dd/mmm/yy
>mmm/dd/yy
>dd/mm
>what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming
>format
>string
>a) use two array and statically match
>b) use regex to find the order
>>
>>>
>>>

>>
>>

>
>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

the target is actually part of a windows .net application with winform that
embed webbrowser control.

I despite the clipboard source may well be in html table, but I can get the
text. the resulting text will have columns delimited by a couple of space
like characters

I am just in the designing stage to find the an easy to maintain approach
that will yield adequate performance on target PCs.

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23%23RArb hMHHA.536@TK2MS FTNGP02.phx.gbl ...

GS,
>
I was thinking about writting that this was not in the case with webpages.
However windowforms is the default in this newsgroup, therefore please

tell

this next time.
>
Cor
>
"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comsc hreef in bericht
news:OIkxvRhMHH A.992@TK2MSFTNG P06.phx.gbl...

thank you, Cor.

However, I must be thick. I don't quite get the drift as with regard to
2007. are we talking about a new release of studio, .net frame work or
just
the release or patch to come out in 2007.

how would that handle string date mixed with other data?

Actually the original source of the data is displayed html table placed

in

clipboard. the objective to standardize the date string to yyyy-mm-dd

and

then pass on to other components for processing and storage

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...
let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming
format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order

>
>

>
>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

thanks for all pitched in so far.

let give it another shot.

looks like an easier way out would be
1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in part 2:
replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
identifier
look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
identifier
replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with month
identifier
replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
identifier

2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd


any problem with the above approach?

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order

>
>

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Re: best design for parse

Stephany,

You would have seen (you are not a newbie) how much time it took especially
for me, before I got it accepted that the used VB.net language in ASPNET was
also a part of the language and not of the framework and therefore suspect
of this newsgroup. Maybe you even saw that last week I wrote that again in
the C# newsgroup.

I only ask to the OP to tell that if it is specialized on a webpage (what
seems to be not the case) to tell that. Most of the persons answering here
are taking windowsforms as default, and in the case of date times I seldom
ask that, because there is "leiter" no DateTime Value equivalent in HTML.

Cor

"Stephany Young" <noone@localhos tschreef in bericht
news:utTgAjhMHH A.3288@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

It is?
>
Newsgroup microsoft.publi c.dotnet.langua ges.vb provides a forum for
questions and general discussion of Visual Basic .NET.
>
Source:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/vbcon/html/vboritopsupportsitesforvisualbasicprogrammers.asp

>
>
"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23%23RArb hMHHA.536@TK2MS FTNGP02.phx.gbl ...

>GS,
>>
>I was thinking about writting that this was not in the case with
>webpages. However windowforms is the default in this newsgroup, therefore
>please tell this next time.
>>
>Cor
>>
>"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comsc hreef in bericht
>news:OIkxvRhMH HA.992@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...

>>thank you, Cor.
>>>
>>However, I must be thick. I don't quite get the drift as with regard to
>>2007. are we talking about a new release of studio, .net frame work or
>>just
>>the release or patch to come out in 2007.
>>>
>>how would that handle string date mixed with other data?
>>>
>>Actually the original source of the data is displayed html table placed
>>in
>>clipboard. the objective to standardize the date string to yyyy-mm-dd
>>and
>>then pass on to other components for processing and storage
>>>
>>"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
>>news:%23Qj7Tb WMHHA.3944@TK2M SFTNGP06.phx.gb l...
>>>GS,
>>>>
>>>Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
>>>DateTime.par seExact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
>>>globalizatio n and than the to that related ToString option.
>>>>
>>>Cor
>>>>
>>>"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
>>>news:OtrnsPT MHHA.4720@TK2MS FTNGP03.phx.gbl ...
>>let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
>>string from one of the following
>>dd/mm/yyyy
>>mm/dd/yyyy
>>dd/mmm/yyyy
>>mmm/dd/yyyy
>>dd/mm/yy
>>mm/dd/yy
>>dd/mmm/yy
>>mmm/dd/yy
>>dd/mm
>>what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming
>>format
>>string
>>a) use two array and statically match
>>b) use regex to find the order
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>

>>
>>

>
>

[Stephany Young]

Re: best design for parse

I think that you are missing the whole point.

Regular Expressions (Regex) are about pattern matching, not format matching.

It does not matter whether the source data comes from a HTML page, a Windows
Forms TextBox or a disk file. The source data is the source data and that is
all there is to it.

If the source data only contained one instance of a 'date' in dd/MM/yyyy
format then to find it by your methodology, you would need to test for up to
3,719,628 permutations from 01/01/0001 all the way up to 31/12/9999, i.e.,
31 (days) * 12 (months) * 9999 (years). Couple this up with the other 8
'formats' and you can how such a task will quickly become unmanagable.

But ... what you really are looking for is a sequence of 2 digits followed
by a slash followed by 2 digits followed by a slash followed by 4 digits.
That immediately takes care of 2 of your 'formats'. Off the top of my head
the regex for that is "[0-9]{2}/[0-9]{2}/[0-9]{4}".

The next pattern you are looking for is 2 digits followed by a slash
followed by 3 alphas followed by a slash followed by 4 digits.
"[0-9]{2}/{A-Za-z}{3}/{0-9}{4}".

The next pattern you are looking for is 3 alphas followed by a slash
followed by 2 digits followed by a slash followed by 4 digits.
"{A-Za-z}{3}/[0-9]{2}/{0-9}{4}".

The next 4 formats are taken care of by varying the above.
"[0-9]{2}/[0-9]{2}/[0-9]{2}", "[0-9]{2}/{A-Za-z}{3}/{0-9}" and
"{A-Za-z}{3}/[0-9]{2}/{0-9}{2}" respectively.

The last format is simply the pattern "[0-9]{2}/{0-9}{2}".

Now, the real secret is what directly precedes and follows your 'dates'. For
instance, are your 'dates' ALWAYS 'wrapped' in a tag? E.g.,
<td>07/01/2007</td>. It might be that there is always a space character
directly before 'date and another directly after the 'date'. Any such
information will allow you to 'tune' your pattern so that it doesn't pick up
false positives. The pattern [0-9]{2}/{0-9}{2} would pick up the 01/02 out
of 01MyQuite01/02YourQuote02.

All the patterns need to be put together in a regular expression woth or's
so that you can find all the candidate dates in one operation.

"\d{2}/\d{2}/\d{4}|\d{2}/[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{4}|[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}/\d{4}|\d{2}/\d{2}/\d{2}|\d{2}/[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}|[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}/\d{2}|\d{2}/\d{2}"

Please feel free to jump in here if I've got that wrong because I'm by no
means a regex expert.


Once you have your candidate dates (matches) you need to deal with each one
in turn.

As Herfried said earlier you need to use DateTime.ParseE xact.

For that you need an array of strings to hold all your formats.

Dim _formats As String() = new String() {"dd/MM/yyyy", "MM/dd/yyyy",
"dd/MMM/yyyy", "MMM/dd/yyyy", "dd/MM/yy", "MM/dd/yy", "dd/MMM/yy",
"MMM/dd/yy", "dd/MM"}

For each candidate call DateTime.ParseE xact, trapping an exception if it
occurs:

Dim _d As DateTime

Try
_d = DateTime.ParseE xact(_candidate , _formats, Nothing,
DateTimeStyles. None)
' DateTime.ParseE xact succeeded so we can deal with it
...
Catch _ex As FormatException
' Because we know that _candidate is not an empty string and none of the
elements of _formats is an empty string then _candidate does not contain a
date and time that corresponds to any element of _formats
....
End Try



"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:%23vnOBJiM HHA.1280@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

thanks for all pitched in so far.
>
let give it another shot.
>
looks like an easier way out would be
1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in part
2:
replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
identifier
look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
identifier
replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with
month
identifier
replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
identifier
>
2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd
>
>
any problem with the above approach?
>
"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

>GS,
>>
>Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
>DateTime.parse Exact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
>globalizatio n and than the to that related ToString option.
>>
>Cor
>>
>"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
>news:OtrnsPTMH HA.4720@TK2MSFT NGP03.phx.gbl.. .

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming
format
string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>

>>
>>

>
>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

You are sort of on the same track as mine.


I must first apologize I did not tell you the complete story.

Although the application does not exactly know before hand what format the
data may come in, however part of the application allow user to define and
record favourite for a website
- to extract by text or html
- header content and format
- record format and date format ( that is where the date format mask
come in)
- optionally ordinal number for each column or re-ordering
- trailer content and format

For a given batch, at least for the body, date format are uniform

furthermore, the need to make the extract process generic and adaptable to
the front end that takes the user definitions, I believe it would be easier
to "normalize" date string to "yyyy-mm-dd".

Also the end target for of may not necessarily be SQL database but may be
text, pasted to word report. or excel by user


Therefore, I can transform the date format mask to regex in the appropriate
format and identifier I can use regex,replace to normalize the date. As a
matter of fact the date separator does not have to / but can be space as
long as there are identifiable delimiter around the date string.

I already have code for dealing with regex for dates from prior project.
all I have to do is adapt to the present need

who knows, maybe I taken on a totally offbeat tract

"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:%23vnOBJiM HHA.1280@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

thanks for all pitched in so far.
>
let give it another shot.
>
looks like an easier way out would be
1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in part

2:

replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
identifier
look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
identifier
replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with

month

identifier
replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
identifier
>
2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd
>
>
any problem with the above approach?
>
"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

GS,

Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.

Cor

"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming

format

string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>

>
>

[Stephany Young]

Re: best design for parse

Again you're missing the point.

I think the best thing you can do is post a relatively small sample of the
text you are attempting to parse.

While you're doing that, execute the following and observe the results. It
demonstrates what I am talking about:

Dim _source As String = "On 07/01/2007 the quick brown fox jumps over the
lazy dog." & Environment.New Line & _
"On 08/01/2007 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On Jan/09/2007 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On 10/Jan/2007 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On 11/01/07 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On 01/12/07 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On Jan/13/07 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On 14/Jan/07 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"On 15/01 the quick brown fox again jumps over the lazy dog." &
Environment.New Line & _
"The part number XYZ/72/84 is now discontinued."

Dim _regex As New
Regex("\d{2}/\d{2}/\d{4}|[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}/\d{4}|\d{2}/[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{4}|\d{2}/\d{2}/\d{2}|[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}/\d{2}|\d{2}/[A-Za-z]{3}/\d{2}|\d{2}/\d{2}")

Dim _candidates As Integer = 0
Dim _matches As Integer = 0

Dim _match As Match = _regex.Match(_s ource)

While _match.Success
_candidates += 1
Console.WriteLi ne("{0} found at index {1}", _match.Value, _match.Index)
Try
Console.WriteLi ne("Converted value = {0:yyyy-MM-dd}",
DateTime.ParseE xact(_match.Val ue, New String() {"dd/MM/yyyy", "MM/dd/yyyy",
"MMM/dd/yyyy", "dd/MMM/yyyy", "dd/MM/yy", "MM/dd/yy", "dd/MMM/yy",
"MMM/dd/yy", "dd/MM"}, Nothing, DateTimeStyles. None))
_matches += 1
Catch _ex As Exception
Console.WriteLi ne(_ex.Message)
End Try
_match = _match.NextMatc h()
End While

Console.WriteLi ne("{0} candidates found", _candidates)

Console.WriteLi ne("{0} matches found", _matches)


"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:eFm$y5rMHH A.4376@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

You are sort of on the same track as mine.
>
>
I must first apologize I did not tell you the complete story.
>
Although the application does not exactly know before hand what format the
data may come in, however part of the application allow user to define and
record favourite for a website
- to extract by text or html
- header content and format
- record format and date format ( that is where the date format mask
come in)
- optionally ordinal number for each column or re-ordering
- trailer content and format
>
For a given batch, at least for the body, date format are uniform
>
furthermore, the need to make the extract process generic and adaptable to
the front end that takes the user definitions, I believe it would be
easier
to "normalize" date string to "yyyy-mm-dd".
>
Also the end target for of may not necessarily be SQL database but may be
text, pasted to word report. or excel by user
>
>
Therefore, I can transform the date format mask to regex in the
appropriate
format and identifier I can use regex,replace to normalize the date. As a
matter of fact the date separator does not have to / but can be space as
long as there are identifiable delimiter around the date string.
>
I already have code for dealing with regex for dates from prior project.
all I have to do is adapt to the present need
>
who knows, maybe I taken on a totally offbeat tract
>
"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:%23vnOBJiM HHA.1280@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

>thanks for all pitched in so far.
>>
>let give it another shot.
>>
>looks like an easier way out would be
>1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
>relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in part

2:

> replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
>identifier
> look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
> replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
>identifier
> replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with

month

>identifier
> replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
>identifier
>>
>2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd
>>
>>
>any problem with the above approach?
>>
>"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
>news:%23Qj7TbW MHHA.3944@TK2MS FTNGP06.phx.gbl ...

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...
let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming

format

string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>
>
>

>>
>>

>
>

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Re: best design for parse

GS,

As long as you don't know the date format, you can probably do nothing.
As soon as you know the dateformat, you can try to use the
DateTime.ParseE xact with the given patern.
(Don't forget to set the mm in Upercase and let it not be done by the user).

Cor

"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comsc hreef in bericht
news:eFm$y5rMHH A.4376@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

You are sort of on the same track as mine.
>
>
I must first apologize I did not tell you the complete story.
>
Although the application does not exactly know before hand what format the
data may come in, however part of the application allow user to define and
record favourite for a website
- to extract by text or html
- header content and format
- record format and date format ( that is where the date format mask
come in)
- optionally ordinal number for each column or re-ordering
- trailer content and format
>
For a given batch, at least for the body, date format are uniform
>
furthermore, the need to make the extract process generic and adaptable to
the front end that takes the user definitions, I believe it would be
easier
to "normalize" date string to "yyyy-mm-dd".
>
Also the end target for of may not necessarily be SQL database but may be
text, pasted to word report. or excel by user
>
>
Therefore, I can transform the date format mask to regex in the
appropriate
format and identifier I can use regex,replace to normalize the date. As a
matter of fact the date separator does not have to / but can be space as
long as there are identifiable delimiter around the date string.
>
I already have code for dealing with regex for dates from prior project.
all I have to do is adapt to the present need
>
who knows, maybe I taken on a totally offbeat tract
>
"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:%23vnOBJiM HHA.1280@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

>thanks for all pitched in so far.
>>
>let give it another shot.
>>
>looks like an easier way out would be
>1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
>relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in part

2:

> replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
>identifier
> look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
> replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
>identifier
> replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with

month

>identifier
> replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
>identifier
>>
>2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd
>>
>>
>any problem with the above approach?
>>
>"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
>news:%23Qj7TbW MHHA.3944@TK2MS FTNGP06.phx.gbl ...

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft inbuild
globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...
let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming

format

string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order
>
>
>

>>
>>

>
>

[GS]

Re: best design for parse

look like I am not expressing myself clearly. although the application does
not know which format is used but does know for a given Set which date
format I deals with and can expect the same format for a given Set of input.
I should not have used the term batch but a set of record. The only
possible variations are some records in certain sets may be split into 2
lines but that is not critical as the conditions can be described before
hand and normalized by the another parse component

sample date

Set1: date format mask is "dd MMM"
Date Parts ID Parts Description location Quantitiy Unit Cost Total
Cost
11 Dec A1234987 Sample Parts description W1I1R4S1 2 10.00 20.00
15 Dec A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
18 Dec A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
19 Dec A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
12 Dec A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20


Set 2 date format Mask is "dd MM yy"
Date Parts ID Parts Description location Quantitiy Unit Cost Total
Cost
11 12 06 A1234987 Sample Parts description W1I1R4S1 2 10.00 20.00
15 12 06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
18 12 06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
19 12 06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
12 12 06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20

Set 3 date format mask "dd/MMM/06"
Parts Description location Quantitiy Unit Cost Total Cost
11/12/06 A1234987 Sample Parts description W1I1R4S1 2 10.00 20.00
15/12/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00
2018/12/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00
2019/12/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00
2012/12/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20

Set 4 date format mask ""
Date Parts ID Parts Description location Quantitiy Unit Cost Total
Cost
11/dec/06 A1234987 Sample Parts description W1I1R4S1 2 10.00 20.00
15/dec/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
18/dec/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
19/dec/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20
12/dec/06 A1234988 Sample Parts description 1 10.00 20

how do I deal with format without year, I do have cluse for other parts of
teh originatin website and optional default set by user

the sample data show variation of date format from set to set but the date
format that I need to deal within a given set are consistant and user has
influence to date format mask used.

Like Cor suggestion. don't let user enter the format but let the user pick
from a list. that will like be case at least n the version 0


"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:eFm$y5rMHH A.4376@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...

You are sort of on the same track as mine.
>
>
I must first apologize I did not tell you the complete story.
>
Although the application does not exactly know before hand what format the
data may come in, however part of the application allow user to define and
record favourite for a website
- to extract by text or html
- header content and format
- record format and date format ( that is where the date format mask
come in)
- optionally ordinal number for each column or re-ordering
- trailer content and format
>
For a given batch, at least for the body, date format are uniform
>
furthermore, the need to make the extract process generic and adaptable to
the front end that takes the user definitions, I believe it would be

easier

to "normalize" date string to "yyyy-mm-dd".
>
Also the end target for of may not necessarily be SQL database but may be
text, pasted to word report. or excel by user
>
>
Therefore, I can transform the date format mask to regex in the

appropriate

format and identifier I can use regex,replace to normalize the date. As a
matter of fact the date separator does not have to / but can be space as
long as there are identifiable delimiter around the date string.
>
I already have code for dealing with regex for dates from prior project.
all I have to do is adapt to the present need
>
who knows, maybe I taken on a totally offbeat tract
>
"GS" <gsmsnews.micro soft.comGS@msne ws.Nomail.comwr ote in message
news:%23vnOBJiM HHA.1280@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

thanks for all pitched in so far.

let give it another shot.

looks like an easier way out would be
1.copy the date format string regex string holder and then derive the
relevant regex expression to be used for date normalization later in

part

2:

replace the regex string the yyyy to regex year expression with year
identifier
look for yy and replace with 20yy and repeat the step above
replace mmm with the month regex expression associated with month
identifier
replace mm with the 2 digit month regex expression associated with

month

identifier
replace dd with the 2 digit day regix expression assoc. with day
identifier

2. use the resulting regex in regex replace to normalize to yyyy--mm-dd


any problem with the above approach?

"Cor Ligthert [MVP]" <notmyfirstname @planet.nlwrote in message
news:%23Qj7TbWM HHA.3944@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

GS,
>
Maybe can you avoid this in 2007 and all things like that as
DateTime.parseE xact, but have a look to the nicely by Microsoft

inbuild

globalization and than the to that related ToString option.
>
Cor
>
"gs" <gs@dontMail.te lusschreef in bericht
news:OtrnsPTMHH A.4720@TK2MSFTN GP03.phx.gbl...
let say I have to deal with various date format and I am give format
string from one of the following
dd/mm/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mmm/yyyy
mmm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yy
mm/dd/yy
dd/mmm/yy
mmm/dd/yy
dd/mm
what is the best way to come up a relevant regex for the incoming

format

string
a) use two array and statically match
b) use regex to find the order

>
>

>
>