Getting multiple matches for a group in RegEx

Question

Consider the following string method<arg1,arg2,arg3>

I would like to use RegEx to get the portions method , arg1 , arg2 , arg3 from this string.

The following regex /([a-z0-9]+)<(?:([a-z0-9]+),?)*>/i matches the string as a whole.

That is,

var result = /([a-z0-9]+)<(?:([a-z0-9]+),?)*>/i.test('method<arg1,arg2,arg3>');
// result = true

But, regEx.exec method returns only method , arg3 portions.

result = /([a-z0-9]+)<(?:([a-z0-9]+),?)*>/i.exec('method<arg1,arg2,arg3>');

// result is ["methodname<arg1,arg2,arg3>", "methodname", "arg3"]

// as opposed to 
// ["methodname<arg1,arg2,arg3>", "methodname", "arg1", "arg2", "arg3"]

Is there a way to get all the matches of a group?

Note: I am asking this for the purpose of learning and I do not want a JavaScript work around.

Edit: The number of args (arg1, arg2, etc.) is arbitrary and can change in different cases.

Answer 1

You need to split this up into two expressions, one for the outer string and one for the inner; though, the inner expression can be simplified to just a regular string split.

var str = 'method<arg1,arg2,arg3>',
outer_re = /(\w+)<([^>]*)>/g;

while ((match = outer_re.exec(str)) !== null) {
    var fn = match[1],
    args = match[2].split(',');

    console.log(fn, args);
}

Demo

Btw, this is able to match multiple method occurrences, eg:

"method1<arg1> method2<arg1,arg2>"

If this is not necessary you can anchor the expression:

/^([^<]+)<([^>]*)>$/;

Answer 2

Try out this regex

\\b([^<]*)<([^,]*),([^,]*),([^>]*)>

Captured groups:

0: "method<arg1,arg2,arg3>"
1: "method"
2: "arg1"
3: "arg2"
4: "arg3"

Any number of arguments

\\b([^<]*)<([^>]*)> pulls out the name and all arguments.

Captured groups:

0: "method<arg1,arg2,arg3>"
1: "method"
2: "arg1,arg2,arg3"

Then I'd simply split the group 2 on the known delimiter ,

Answer 3

The following will work:

input = "method<arg1,arg2,arg3>";
action = input.match (/^(\w*)\s*<\s*(.*)?\s*>$/);
action[2] = action[2].split (/\s*,\s*/); // array of args

;; processing method action[1] and arguments action[2] (an array)