Scala Regex | Scala Regular Expressions – Replacing Matches

In our last tutorial, we studied Scala Trait Mixins. Today, we are going to discuss Scala Regular Expressions or in general terms, we call it Scala Regex. In this Scala Regex cheat sheet, we will learn syntax and example of Scala Regular Expression, also how to Replace Matches and Search for Groups of Scala Regex.

So, let’s begin Scala Regular Expression (Regex).

What is Scala Regex?

We now move on to regular expressions. Using certain strings, we can find patterns and lack of patterns in data.’ To convert a string into a regular expression, use the .r method. We import the Regex class from the package scala.util.matching.Regex.
Let’s Discuss Scala Closures with Examples 

scala> val word="portmanteau".r
word: scala.util.matching.Regex = portmanteau
scala> val str=" Scala is a portmanteau of scalable and language"
str: String = Scala is a portmanteau of scalable and language
scala> word findFirstIn str
res9: Option[String] = Some(portmanteau)

Here, Scala converts the String to a RichString and invokes r() for an instance of Regex. We define a word and a string to search in. Then, we call the method findFirstIn() to find the first match. For a string with multiple occurrences, we can use findAllIn() to find all occurrences.

Scala Regular Expressions Example

Let’s take another example of Scala Regex.

scala> import scala.util.matching.Regex
import scala.util.matching.Regex
scala> val word=new Regex("(i|I)ntern")
word: scala.util.matching.Regex = (i|I)ntern
scala> val str="An intern on the Internet"
str: String = An intern on the Internet
scala> (word findAllIn str).mkString(", ")
res10: String = intern, Intern

Here, we use the Regex() constructor to create the pattern, the method findAllIn() to find all occurrences of the word, and a pipe(|) to allow any case of a certain letter.

How to Replace Matches in Scala Regex?

To replace a first match, we use the method replaceFirstIn(). To replace all matches, we use replaceAllIn().

scala> val word="Python".r
word: scala.util.matching.Regex = Python
scala> val str="I'm doing Python"
str: String = I'm doing Python
scala> word replaceFirstIn(str,"Scala")
res11: String = I'm doing Scala

Searching for Groups of Scala Regular Expression

We can use parentheses to search for groups of regular expressions in Scala.

scala> val pattern="([0-9a-zA-Z-#() ]+): ([0-9a-zA-Z-#() ]+)".r
pattern: scala.util.matching.Regex = ([0-9a-zA-Z-#() ]+): ([0-9a-zA-Z-#() ]+)
scala> val str=
| """background-color: #A03300;
| background-image: url(img/header100.png);
| background-position: top center;
| background-repeat: repeat-x;
| background-size: 2160px 108px;
| margin: 0;
| height: 108px;
| width: 100%;""".stripMargin
str: String =
background-color: #A03300;
background-image: url(img/header100.png);
background-position: top center;
background-repeat: repeat-x;
background-size: 2160px 108px;
margin: 0;
height: 108px;
width: 100%;
scala> for(patternMatch<-pattern.findAllMatchIn(str))
| println(s"key:${patternMatch.group(1)} value:${patternMatch.group(2)}")
key:background-color value:#A03300
key:background-image value:url(img
key:background-position value:top center
key:background-repeat value:repeat-x
key:background-size value:2160px 108px
key:margin value:0
key:height value:108px
key:width value:100

Let’s study Inheritance in Java Programming Language 

The syntax of Scala Regex

Where Java inherits many features from Perl, Scala inherits the syntax of Scala regular expressions from Java. Here’s the list of metacharacter syntax:

Let’s Learn Scala Inheritance – Syntax, Example & Types in Detail

So, this was all about Scala Regex Tutorial. Hope you like our explanation.

Conclusion

Hence, in this Scala regex cheat sheet, we studied what is Scala Regular expression. In addition, we saw example & syntax of Scala Regex and how to Replace Matches and Search for Groups of Scala Regular Expression. Furthermore, if you have a query regarding, feel free to ask in the comment box.

See Also- Scala Final | Scala This

Reference