RegExp Help

[Toady]

I'm having difficulty in removing a comment from a line in VB.

Here is an example line...

Dim c As Char 'This is a comment

Im trying to use regexp to erase the comment but have trouble with code lines that look like this..

Dim s As String = 'blah' ' 'This is a comment

So this...

StringRegExpReplace($fileArray[$i],"'.*","")

Won't work for every case... any ideas?

Edited August 29, 2007 by Toady

[Xenobiologist]

Hi,

sorry do not know vb. What kind of comments do exist?

So long,

Mega

[Toady]

A comment in VB starts with a ' character.

Well I think i figured it out... I have to check wether its at end of string..

StringRegExpReplace($fileArray[$i],"'.*$","")

[SadBunny]

I guess the first thing you need is a clear definition of what the exact algorithm for recognizing comments is (so you can distinguish them from strings etc). Are all your comments placed behind 1 ' and all your strings placed between two? (I.E. You never use apostrophes in comments themselves?) If so, then I would suggest to look for lines containing an UNeven number of apostrophes, because then you know that you have a comment in it, then just search from the right side of the string using StringInStr's fourth parameter.

If you use apostrophes more loosely than that, it will be harder to tell comments apart from the actual code and you will need a more complex conceptual description of what exactly defines a comment, then when you know that exactly, you can 'translate' it to some RegEx query or a function or whatever you need.

Examples of what I mean: how would you go about finding the comments in the following lines, if you use them like this?

Dim s As String = 'blah' & 'blah' 'This is a comment

Dim s As String = 'blah' & 'blah' 'This is a comment with an extra apostrophe at the end'

Dim s As String = 'blah' & 'blah' 'This is a comment and it's a really good one

[Toady]

Well I believe I have found the solution... Since you can only comment code at the end of every line. Then the regular expressions would be "'.*$"

This works for cases..

Dim c as string = "string" 'Comment

Dim c as string = "string" 'Comment'

Dim c as string = "string" 'Comment' something after comment

[Xenobiologist]

Hi,

and what do you do when the line is

Dim s As String = 'blah'

So long,

Mega

[Toady]

No worry, you cant declare strings using those ', it has to be "

Edited August 29, 2007 by Toady