Question

I’m using this code

(\d{5})([\-]\d{4})?\s*

Which matches my Zip Code

12345-1234

in 2 groups

1. 12345
2. -1234

I need it to match both 12345 (5 char zip) and 12345-1234 (10 char zip) in 1 single group. Is that possible?

EDIT:

(\d{5}-\d{4}|\d{5})

(Thanks to vcsjones) satisfies the original question.

However it doesn’t retrieve only 12345 in case of a malformed Zip (eg. 12345-123)

Is there any way to do that?

Answer 1

You can give this one a try:

(\d{5}-\d{4}|\d{5})

Edit:

However it doesn’t retrieve only 12345 in case of a malformed Zip (eg. 12345-123)

Are you sure? This produces a match:

Dim zip5 As String = "12345"
Dim zip9 As String = "12345-6789"
Dim partialZip9 = "12345-33"
Dim regex As New Regex("(\d{5}-\d{4}|\d{5})")
Dim zip5Match = regex.Match(zip5).Groups(0).Value 'Produces 12345
Dim zip9Match = regex.Match(zip9).Groups(0).Value 'Produces 12345-6789
Dim partialZip9Match = regex.Match(partialZip9).Groups(0).Value 'Produces 12345