I have three individual sPattern's that I am working on. How can I
merge them together so that the pattern will look for three digits
followed by either a period, or by a space and a period, or by a space
and a letter?

Thanks

Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}(?=\.)"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][\.]"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][?=\A-Z,a-z]"

Set oRegex = New RegExp
oRegex.Pattern = sPattern
oRegex.Global = True

If oRegex.Test(strIn) = True Then
Set colMatches = oRegex.Execute(strIn)
strData = colMatches(0)
End If

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:55:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I have three individual sPattern's that I am working on. How can I
merge them together so that the pattern will look for three digits
followed by either a period, or by a space and a period, or by a space
and a letter?

Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}(?=\.)"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][\.]"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][?=\A-Z,a-z]"

Const sPattern As String = "\d{1,3}((\.)|(\ \.)|(\ [A-Z,a-z]))"

You have some optional arguments (I think, I don't recognize the syntax)
that I've removed. This just uses the pipe to separate the three choices.
--
Dick Kusleika
Microsoft MVP-Excel
http://www.dailydoseofexcel.com

Thank you Dick. I'm very new to using Regex. You comments helped.

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:55:57 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I have three individual sPattern's that I am working on. How can I
merge them together so that the pattern will look for three digits
followed by either a period, or by a space and a period, or by a space
and a letter?

Thanks

Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}(?=\.)"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][\.]"
Const sPattern As String = "d{1,3}[\ ][?=\A-Z,a-z]"

Set oRegex = New RegExp
oRegex.Pattern = sPattern
oRegex.Global = True

If oRegex.Test(strIn) = True Then
Set colMatches = oRegex.Execute(strIn)
strData = colMatches(0)
End If

Your examples do not match your description in several aspects:

Your description says you are looking for **three** digits;

Assuming the "\" should be before the "d", your examples will match 1, 2 or 3
digits.

In your first example, you are using a positive lookahead assertion which means
you will only match the digits, and not the subsequent period.

In your second example, you don't use the positive lookahead assertion, so the
subsequent <space dot will be matched also. This seems inconsistent. And
also, enclosing the <space and the <. within a character class is
unnecessary.

Finally your third pattern, in the area following the digits, matches a
<space, but the subsequent series within the character class do not make up a
legitimate pattern, because the backslash cannot be followed by an "A" when
within a character class. Also, note that you have a <comma within the
character class, so you would be also matching a <comma, which is not
something you stated in your description

Going by your description, if you want to match a series of three digits,
followed by one of those three sequences you describe, then:

"\d{3}(\.|\s\.|\s[A-Za-z])"

or, if you want to match ONLY the digits, provided they are followed by one of
those other three sequences, then:

"\d{3}(?=\.|\s\.|\s[A-Za-z])"

--ron