Regex : search strings extending on exact number of lines

Question

I want to search for strings like :

cast('"
                        + object.method()
                        + "' as datetime 

The code block above can be in just one line or two lines So the followings expressions :

cast('" + object.method()+"' as datetime   

or

cast('"
                            + object.method()+ "' as datetime   

are good matches too.

So I used as regex pattern the following expression :

(?s)(?i)cast.*?datetime  

But the strings I want to match should not exceed 3 lines
How can I express this condition in the regex pattern ?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

How about the regex

cast([^\n]+\n){0,2}.*datetime

Example : http://regex101.com/r/hQ9xT1/1

• [^\n]+\n matches anything other than \n followed by \n

• {0,2} quantifier quantifies the expression maximum 2 times, That is it matches 2 lines

• .* matches anthing on the last line

• datetime matches datetime

Answer 2

cast[^\n]+\n[^\n]+\n[^\n]*datetime

Try this.See demo.

http://regex101.com/r/hQ9xT1/2

Edit:

Use

cast([^\n]+\n){0,2}[^\n]*datetime

If you want to match 1 to 3 lines.

http://regex101.com/r/hQ9xT1/4

Answer 3

cast(.+([\n])?){1,3}datetime

match cast once*

match any group of characters (min of 1) followed by 0 or 1 new lines (.+([\n])?)

match the above group at least once, but no more than 3 times {1,3}

match the word datetime once*

*whilst I have indicated "match once" I mean a literal match in respect of the pattern, if you have the global modifier in use this expression will allow multiple matches of the above search pattern within your text.