Regular Expression Pattern for Full Match of Filenames

Question

I am looping through an Array of Image Filenames which are as below:

1. ConImage1 - Core.png
2. ConImage211 - Core.png
3. ConImage34 - Core.png
4. ConImage09 - Core.png
5. ConImage11 - Core.png
6. ConImageOri23.png
7. ConImageOri2.png
8. ConImageOri11.png
9. ConImageOri132.png
10. ConImageForEng7 - Core.png
11. ConImageForEng12 - Core.png
12. ConImageForEng11 - Core.png
13. ConImageForEng10 - Core.png
14. ConImage1-Dislikes-Core.png
15. ConImage1-Likes-Core.png
16. ConImage12 - Dislikes - Core.png
17. ConImage12 - Likes - Core.png
18. ConImage34 - Dislikes - Core.png
19. ConImage34 - Likes - Core.png
20. ConImage55 - Dislikes - Core.png
21. ConImage55 - Likes - Core.png

I need a Regex pattern that will only match the following Filenames:

1. ConImage1 - Core.png
2. ConImage211 - Core.png
3. ConImage34 - Core.png
4. ConImage09 - Core.png

5. ConImage11 - Core.png

6. ConImageOri23.png

7. ConImageOri2.png
8. ConImageOri11.png
9. ConImageOri132.png

and exclude the filenames containing the words : Likes, Dislikes, ForEng etc.

Edit:

I am not good at regex but trying something like this to limit my search.

^(ConImage|(Orig|!ForEng)){1}[0-9\ \-]+[\W(Dislikes|Likes)][0-9\ \-]+(Core\.png)$/i/g

OR the below works for finding necessary files, but if some odd name comes out e.g. ConImageMaxx12 - Core.png etc, it also picks that up.

^ConImage((?!ForEng|Dislikes|Likes).)*$

I don't want to implement VBA.Filter function but need a Regex solution.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Answer 1

Without specific rules, it is hard to come up with a regex. To match the specific values you have posted (and exclude the ConImageMaxx12 you mentioned in a comment), you could try:

Edit to correct the missing "Start of String" token

^ConImage(?:Ori)?\d+(?:(?!(?:For|Likes)).)*$

That regex matches:

• ConImage
• optionally matches Ori
• matches one or more digits
• and then matches the rest of the string so long as it does not contain the substrings in the negative lookahead (which would include ForEng, Likes, Dislikes and other derivatives)

Whether that set of rules is sufficient to eliminate the unwanted file names cannot be stated, since I am only guessing at some rules based on what you've written.

Here is a more formal explanation of the Regex with some links to a tutorial explanation:

Note that, in accordance with your comments, we set the case-insensitive option

Match Specific File Names

^ConImage(?:Ori)?\d+(?:(?!(?:For|Likes)).)*$

Options: Case insensitive; ^$ match at line breaks

• Assert position at the beginning of a line ^
• Match the character string “ConImage” literally ConImage
• Match the regular expression below (?:Ori)?
  • Between zero and one times, as many times as possible, giving back as needed (greedy) ?
  • Match the character string “Ori” literally Ori
• Match a single character that is a “digit” \d+
  • Between one and unlimited times, as many times as possible, giving back as needed (greedy) +
• Match the regular expression below (?:(?!(?:For|Likes)).)*
  • Between zero and unlimited times, as many times as possible, giving back as needed (greedy) *
  • Assert that it is impossible to match the regex below starting at this position (negative lookahead) (?!(?:For|Likes))
    • Match the regular expression below (?:For|Likes)
      • Match this alternative For
        • Match the character string “For” literally For
      • Or match this alternative Likes
        • Match the character string “Likes” literally Likes
  • Match any single character that is NOT a line break character .
• Assert position at the end of a line $

Created with RegexBuddy