With Regex Spliting the string into Alphanumeric and Numeric part

ozgurgul · #1 (**permalink**) 06-30-2007

Hi there

With shell script I'm trying to split the string into two parts. One is alphanumeric part, the other one is a numeric part.

Code:

dummy_postcode_1 = 'SL1' 
--> res_alpha = 'SL' and  res_numeric = '1' 
dummy_postcode_2 = 'S053' 
--> res_alpha = 'S' and  res_numeric = '053' 
dummy_postcode_3 = 'SO5R3' 
--> res_alpha = 'SO5R' and res_numeric = '3' 
dummy_postcode_4 = 'SO53R' 
--> res_alpha = 'SO53R' and res_numeric = ''
dummy_postcode_5 = '783652' 
--> res_alpha = '' and res_numeric = '783652'

The logic of splitting these postcode strings is the rightmost alphanum character it seems and I could do that with the character checking but it seems to me this type of coding is a bit silly to do so.

Could you advise me how i can split them into two parts by using regex?

Thanks in advance,

Ozgur

aigles · #2 (**permalink**) 06-30-2007

With ksh and bash (with extglog option enabled) you can do :

Code:

echo "SL1
S053
SO5R3
SO5R
783652" |
while read var
do
   res_alpha=${var%%*([0-9])}
   res_num=${var#$tes_alpha}
   echo "$var = '$res_alpha' + '$res_num'"
done

Output:

Code:

SL1 = 'SL' + '1'
S053 = 'S' + '053'
SO5R3 = 'SO5R' + '3'
SO5R = 'SO5R' + ''
783652 = '' + '783652'

With all shells you can also do the work with expr :

Code:

echo "SL1
S053
SO5R3
SO5R
783652" |
while read var
do
   res_alpha=`expr "$var" : '\(.*[^0-9]\+\)[0-9]*'`
   res_num=`expr "$var" : "${res_alpha}\(.*\)"`
   echo "$var = '$res_alpha' + '$res_num'"
done

Output:

Code:

SL1 = 'SL' + '1'
S053 = 'S' + '053'
SO5R3 = 'SO5R' + '3'
SO5R = 'SO5R' + ''
783652 = '' + '783652'

More UNIX and Linux Forum Topics You Might Find Helpful
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
ksh - test if string contains alphanumeric...	tugger	Shell Programming and Scripting	3	10-16-2007 04:23 AM
AlphaNumeric String Operations	lakshmikanth	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	3	01-05-2007 06:55 AM
Wanted to eliminate numeric part from a filename	Sona	UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers	8	07-20-2006 02:49 PM
Convert string to numeric	kflee2000	Shell Programming and Scripting	3	11-19-2003 11:21 PM
matching alphanumeric string	sskb	Shell Programming and Scripting	4	12-12-2001 10:48 AM

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:


	Powered by