Question

Using some extensions provided by .net, one can find groups of parenthesis by using something like this:

^(\w+)\(((?>[^()]+|\((?<D>)|\)(?<-D>))*(?(D)(?!)))\)(.*)$ 

This will match the following:

Func(innerfunction(arg)).DoSomething() 

With the following groups:

• Group 1: Func
• Group 2: innerfunction(arg)
• Group 3: .DoSomething()

My question is, how do I match commas, taking into account if they are or not inside a parenthesis group? For example, a regex to evaluate:

Func(innerFunction(arg1, arg2), arg3).DoSomething() 

Should yield:

• Group 1: Func
• Group 2: innerFunction(arg1, arg2)
• Group 3: arg3
• Group 4: .DoSomething()

Thanks.

Answer 1

I think I found it. Does anyone have a counter example:

^([^()]*?|.*\((?>[^()]+|\((?<D>)|\)(?<-D>))*(?(D)(?!))\).*?),(.*)$ 

This will match this expression:

func1(arg2, func3(arg3, arg4)), func2(arg5, arg6).property 

as:

• Group1: func1(arg2, func3(arg3, arg4))
• Group2: func2(arg5, arg6).property

This solution only looks for one comma, but it deals with an arbitrary depth of parenthesis.

UPDATE: Gumbo has provided a counter-example:

func1((arg1), arg2), func2(arg3).property 

Get’s split up into:

• Group1: func1((arg1)
• Group2: arg2), func2(arg3).property

HOWEVER: By turning the first ‘any match’ into non-greedy, one can solve it:

^([^()]*?|.*?\((?>[^()]+|\((?<D>)|\)(?<-D>))*(?(D)(?!))\).*?)\s*,\s*(.+)$ 

Any other counter-example?