How to extract desired pattern out of line (string)

Question

I am trying to compare my pattern with given string ( in general I will readline out of file, but for now I use explicit string just to see how it works ) though for given line script does not work as I desire.

import re

regex = '.+0+[0-9]+.'
string = "Your order number is 0000122995"

print (re.match(regex,string))

What I am trying to achieve here is to find this 0000* number and assign it to the variable ( which I would like to place into Excel later ), but given regex matches the whole line, which is not what I am trying to get ( I know that is because of the syntax ). Any tips how to overcome this?

Answer 1

If you want to locate a match anywhere in a string , use re.search() instead of re.match() . re.match() checks for a match only at the beginning of the string, while re.search() checks for a match anywhere in the string.

import re
regex = r'(0{4}\d+)'
string = "Your order number is 0000122995"

print (re.search(regex, string).group(0))

re.search() and re.match() return a match object if there is a match. Using match.group() returns one or more subgroups of the match.

See the re.search() documentation for more information.

Answer 2

In your case, if you expect your queries to be as consistent as you've shown the following will work(It ignores "Your order number is " and captures everything behind it until it hits whitespace or the end of the string):

def findOrder():
        import re
        string = "Your order number is 0000122995"
        arrayAnswer = re.findall('Your order number is ([\S]+)', string)
        print('Your number in an Array is:')
        print(arrayAnswer)
        print('')
        print('Your number(s) output as a "string(s)" is/are:')
        for order in arrayAnswer:
                print(order)

.

Run this by making sure to call findOrder(). If you wan to get a little more "regexy", noting that what you want exclusively includes numbers, the below excludes letters and spaces and returns numbers:

def findOrder():
        import re
        string = "Your order number is 0000122995"
        arrayAnswer = re.findall('[a-zA-Z\s]+([\d]+)', string)
        print('Your number in an Array is:')
        print(arrayAnswer)
        print('')
        print('Your number(s) output as a "string(s)" is/are:')
        for order in arrayAnswer:
                print(order)

Again, run this by making sure to call findOrder().

Your OUTPUT for both should be this:

>>> findOrder()
Your number in an Array is:
['0000122995']

Your number(s) output as a "string(s)" is/are:
0000122995

I suspect, though, you might want to work with a query longer than the string you posted. Post that if you need anything further.