Article
11/17/2011

Match.NextMatch Method

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Returns a new Match object with the results for the next match, starting at the position at which the last match ended (at the character beyond the last matched character).

Namespace: System.Text.RegularExpressions
Assembly: System (in System.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Function NextMatch As Match

public Match NextMatch()

Return Value

Type: System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match
The next regular expression match.

Remarks

This function is similar to calling Match again and passing (Index+Length) as the new starting position, but it differs from calling Match directly because it handles zero-length match cases in a way that guarantees progress to the end of the string.

Note:
This method does not modify the current instance. Instead, it returns a new Match object that contains information about the next match.

Examples

The following example uses the NextMatch method to capture regular expression matches beyond the first.

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim text As String = "One car red car blue car"
      Dim pat As String = "(\w+)\s+(car)"

      ' Instantiate the regular expression object.
      Dim r As Regex = New Regex(pat, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)

      ' Match the regular expression pattern against a text string.
      Dim m As Match = r.Match(text)
      Dim matchcount As Integer = 0
      Do While m.Success
         matchcount += 1
         outputBlock.Text += "Match" & (matchcount) & vbCrLf
         Dim i As Integer
         For i = 1 To 2
            Dim g As Group = m.Groups(i)
            outputBlock.Text += "Group" & i & "='" & g.ToString() & "'" & vbCrLf
            Dim cc As CaptureCollection = g.Captures
            Dim j As Integer
            For j = 0 To cc.Count - 1
               Dim c As Capture = cc(j)
               outputBlock.Text += "Capture" & j & "='" & c.ToString() _
                  & "', Position=" & c.Index & vbCrLf
            Next 
         Next 
         m = m.NextMatch()
      Loop
   End Sub
End Module
' This example displays the following output:
'       Match1
'       Group1='One'
'       Capture0='One', Position=0
'       Group2='car'
'       Capture0='car', Position=4
'       Match2
'       Group1='red'
'       Capture0='red', Position=8
'       Group2='car'
'       Capture0='car', Position=12
'       Match3
'       Group1='blue'
'       Capture0='blue', Position=16
'       Group2='car'
'       Capture0='car', Position=21

using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string text = "One car red car blue car";
      string pat = @"(\w+)\s+(car)";
      // Compile the regular expression.
      Regex r = new Regex(pat, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
      // Match the regular expression pattern against a text string.
      Match m = r.Match(text);
      int matchCount = 0;
      while (m.Success)
      {
         outputBlock.Text += "Match" + (++matchCount) + "\n";
         for (int i = 1; i <= 2; i++)
         {
            Group g = m.Groups[i];
            outputBlock.Text += "Group" + i + "='" + g + "'" + "\n";
            CaptureCollection cc = g.Captures;
            for (int j = 0; j < cc.Count; j++)
            {
               Capture c = cc[j];
               outputBlock.Text += "Capture" + j + "='" + c + "', Position=" + c.Index + "\n";
            }
         }
         m = m.NextMatch();
      }
   }
}
//This example displays the following output:
//       Match1
//       Group1='One'
//       Capture0='One', Position=0
//       Group2='car'
//       Capture0='car', Position=4
//       Match2
//       Group1='red'
//       Capture0='red', Position=8
//       Group2='car'
//       Capture0='car', Position=12
//       Match3
//       Group1='blue'
//       Capture0='blue', Position=16
//       Group2='car'
//       Capture0='car', Position=21

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

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