Regex.Replace Method (String, MatchEvaluator)
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Within a specified input string, replaces all strings that match a specified regular expression with a string returned by a MatchEvaluator delegate.
Namespace: System.Text.RegularExpressions
Assembly: System (in System.dll)
Syntax
'Declaration
Public Function Replace ( _
input As String, _
evaluator As MatchEvaluator _
) As String
public string Replace(
string input,
MatchEvaluator evaluator
)
Parameters
- input
Type: System.String
The string to search for a match.
- evaluator
Type: System.Text.RegularExpressions.MatchEvaluator
A custom method that examines each match and returns either the original matched string or a replacement string.
Return Value
Type: System.String
A new string that is identical to the input string, except that a replacement string takes the place of each matched string.
Exceptions
| Exception | Condition |
|---|---|
| ArgumentNullException | input is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). -or- evaluator is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic). |
Remarks
The Replace(String, MatchEvaluator) method is useful for replacing a regular expression match if any of the following conditions is true:
The replacement string cannot readily be specified by a regular expression replacement pattern.
The replacement string results from some processing done on the matched string.
The replacement string results from conditional processing.
The method is equivalent to calling the Matches(String) method and passing each Match object in the returned MatchCollection collection to the evaluator delegate.
The regular expression is the pattern defined by the constructor for the current Regex object.
The evaluator parameter is the delegate for a custom method that you define and that examines each match. The custom method must have the following signature to match the MatchEvaluator delegate.
Public Function MatchEvaluatorMethod(ByVal match As Match) As String
public string MatchEvaluatorMethod(Match match)
Your custom method returns a string that replaces the matched input.
Examples
The following code example displays an original string, matches each word in the original string, converts the first character of each match to uppercase, then displays the converted string.
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Example
Function CapText(ByVal m As Match) As String
' Get the matched string.
Dim x As String = m.ToString()
' If the first char is lower case...
If Char.IsLower(x.Chars(0)) Then
' Capitalize it.
Return Char.ToUpper(x.Chars(0)) & x.Substring(1, x.Length - 1)
End If
Return x
End Function
Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
Dim text As String = "four score and seven years ago"
outputBlock.Text &= "text=[" & text & "]" & vbCrLf
Dim rx As New Regex("\w+")
Dim result As String = rx.Replace(text, AddressOf Example.CapText)
outputBlock.Text &= "result=[" & result & "]" & vbCrLf
End Sub
End Module
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
class Example
{
static string CapText(Match m)
{
// Get the matched string.
string x = m.ToString();
// If the first char is lower case...
if (char.IsLower(x[0]))
{
// Capitalize it.
return char.ToUpper(x[0]) + x.Substring(1, x.Length - 1);
}
return x;
}
public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
{
string text = "four score and seven years ago";
outputBlock.Text += "text=[" + text + "]" + "\n";
Regex rx = new Regex(@"\w+");
string result = rx.Replace(text, new MatchEvaluator(Example.CapText));
outputBlock.Text += "result=[" + result + "]" + "\n";
}
}
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.
See Also