Question

My problem is finding the position of a specific word (ex: span) in an NSString containing html text, and replace this word.

For example, if my target word is span, my replacement text should look like:

<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FF0000">span</SPAN>

If my starting text is:

<span class='i_04_12_000000'>this is a span</span>

My desired result would be:

<span class='i_04_12_000000'>this is a <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FF0000">span</SPAN></span>

Obviously if I just search for span I won’t find just the occurrence inside the html tag.
Ideas on how to locate the correct string, even with a NSRange ?

UPDATE:

This is the final solution: 😉

    +(NSString *)emphasizeString:(NSString *)stringToEmphasize inText:(NSString *)fullText
{
    NSString * regExp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"(?i)([\\s\\.,>'-])(%@)([\\s\\.,;!\\?\\)<])",stringToEmphasize];;
    NSArray * regexResult = [fullText arrayOfCaptureComponentsMatchedByRegex:regExp];
    NSString * result = [NSString stringWithString:fullText];
    if([regexResult count] >0)
    {
        for (NSArray * match in regexResult)
        {

            NSString * all = [match objectAtIndex:0];
            NSString * before = [match objectAtIndex:1];
            NSString * matched = [match objectAtIndex:2];
            NSString * after = [match objectAtIndex:3];

            result = [result stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:all 
                                                       withString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@<SPAN style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FF0000\">%@</SPAN>%@",before, matched, after]
                                                          options:NSCaseInsensitiveSearch 
                                                            range: [result rangeOfString:all]];
        }
    }
    NSLog(@"%@",result);
    return result;
}

Answer 1

This is the final solution: 😉

    +(NSString *)emphasizeString:(NSString *)stringToEmphasize inText:(NSString *)fullText
{
    NSString * regExp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"(?i)([\\s\\.,>'-])(%@)([\\s\\.,;!\\?\\)<])",stringToEmphasize];;
    NSArray * regexResult = [fullText arrayOfCaptureComponentsMatchedByRegex:regExp];
    NSString * result = [NSString stringWithString:fullText];
    if([regexResult count] >0)
    {
        for (NSArray * match in regexResult)
        {

            NSString * all = [match objectAtIndex:0];
            NSString * before = [match objectAtIndex:1];
            NSString * matched = [match objectAtIndex:2];
            NSString * after = [match objectAtIndex:3];

            result = [result stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:all 
                                                       withString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@<SPAN style=\"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FF0000\">%@</SPAN>%@",before, matched, after]
                                                          options:NSCaseInsensitiveSearch 
                                                            range: [result rangeOfString:all]];
        }
    }
    NSLog(@"%@",result);
    return result;
}