Match Methods with References to Global Variables
This question is heavily related to this one, but it has to do with grabbing methods that contain references to global variables (not commented out).
I'm using the following regular expression and test string to check to see if it works, but it's only partially working:
Regular Expression
^((?:(?:Public|Private)\s+)?(?:Function|Sub).+)[\s\S]+?(GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1)[\s\S]+?End\s+(?:Function|Sub)$
(I need part of the regular expression this way with the capturing group so that I can grab the name of the method as a sub-match).
Test String
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
' the code: Header
'
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dim GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1
Dim GLOBAL_VARIABLE_2
Dim GLOBAL_VARIABLE_3
Public Function doThis(byVal xml)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
'' Param : xml- an xml blob
return = replace(xml, "><", ">" & vbLf & "<")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 2 + 2
doThis = return
End Function
msgbox GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1
Public Function doThat(byVal xPath)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : array
' 'Param : xPath
return = split(mid(xPath, 2), "/")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_2 = 2 + 2
doThat = return
End Function
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_2 = 2 + 2
Public Sub butDontDoThis()
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj
For i = 0 To 5
return = return & "bye" & " "
Next
End Sub
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_3 = 3 + 3
Public Sub alsoDoThis(byRef obj)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj, an xml document object
For i = 0 To 4
return = return & "hi" & " "
Next
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 1 + 1
End Sub
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_3 = 3 + 3
Using http://www.regexpal.com/, I'm able to highlight the first method that references a global variable. However, the regular expression is not doing what I expect it to do with the other methods. The regular expression is also picking up other methods that don't have references to a specific global variable, and it ends with the last method that is actually using the global variable. I've determined the problem to be that the [\s\S]+?(GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1)[\s\S]+?End\s+(?:Function|Sub)$ part is doing a minimal / non-greedy match so that it keeps looking until it finds an actual match.
In summary the expression should follow these rules:
- to stop scanning the method it is currently checking when it sees the first end of a method's declaration. In this example, only the
doThisandalsoDoThismethods should be matched forGLOBAL_VARIABLE_1, but I'm not sure what the regular expression should be. - The regular expression should also only match methods that are actually using global variables
- If a
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1is commented out, then it is really not being used by the method. A commentedGLOBAL_VARIABLE_1should not trigger a positive match for the method.
Description
I'd do this in two steps, first identify each of your functions and subs. Here I'm using a reference \1 to ensure we're matching the correct end function or end sub. This regex also grabs the function name and places that into group 2. This can then be used later if part 2 is correct
(?:Public|Private)\s+(Function|Sub)\s+([a-z0-9]*).*?End\s+\1
Then test each of these to see if they contain your variable, note in this test I'm using multiline matching to ensure the comment character does not appear before Global_Variable on the same line. This also checks that the GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 is not preceded by any of the following
- alphanumeric with or without a
_seperater. This would need to be updated with all the characters you might find in a variable name. Including a hyphen-here might be confused with a minus sign used in an equation. - comment character
'
^[^']*?(?![a-z0-9][_]?|['])\bGLOBAL_VARIABLE_1
VB Part 1
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim sourcestring as String = "replace with your source string"
Dim re As Regex = New Regex("(?:Public|Private)\s+(Function|Sub)\s+([a-z0-9]*).*?End\s+\1",RegexOptions.IgnoreCase OR RegexOptions.Singleline)
Dim mc as MatchCollection = re.Matches(sourcestring)
Dim mIdx as Integer = 0
For each m as Match in mc
For groupIdx As Integer = 0 To m.Groups.Count - 1
Console.WriteLine("[{0}][{1}] = {2}", mIdx, re.GetGroupNames(groupIdx), m.Groups(groupIdx).Value)
Next
mIdx=mIdx+1
Next
End Sub
End Module
$matches Array:
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => Public Function doThis(byVal xml)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
'' Param : xml- an xml blob
return = replace(xml, "><", ">" & vbLf & "<")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 2 + 2
doThis = return
End Function
[1] => Public Function doThat(byVal xPath)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : array
' 'Param : xPath
return = split(mid(xPath, 2), "/")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_2 = 2 + 2
doThat = return
End Function
[2] => Public Sub butDontDoThis()
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj
For i = 0 To 5
return = return & "bye" & " "
Next
End Sub
[3] => Public Sub alsoDoThis(byRef obj)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj, an xml document object
For i = 0 To 4
return = return & "hi" & " "
Next
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 1 + 1
End Sub
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => Function
[1] => Function
[2] => Sub
[3] => Sub
)
[2] => Array
(
[0] => doThis
[1] => doThat
[2] => butDontDoThis
[3] => alsoDoThis
)
)
VB Part 2
Found in this text
Public Function doThis(byVal xml)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
'' Param : xml- an xml blob
return = replace(xml, "><", ">" & vbLf & "<")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 2 + 2
doThis = return
End Function
example
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim sourcestring as String = "replace with your source string"
Dim re As Regex = New Regex("^[^']*?GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1",RegexOptions.IgnoreCase OR RegexOptions.Multiline)
Dim mc as MatchCollection = re.Matches(sourcestring)
Dim mIdx as Integer = 0
For each m as Match in mc
For groupIdx As Integer = 0 To m.Groups.Count - 1
Console.WriteLine("[{0}][{1}] = {2}", mIdx, re.GetGroupNames(groupIdx), m.Groups(groupIdx).Value)
Next
mIdx=mIdx+1
Next
End Sub
End Module
$matches Array:
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => Param : xml- an xml blob
return = replace(xml, "><", ">" & vbLf & "<")
GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1
)
)
not found in this text
Public Function doThis(byVal xml)
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
'' Param : xml- an xml blob
return = replace(xml, "><", ">" & vbLf & "<")
' GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1 = 2 + 2
doThis = return
End Function
example
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim sourcestring as String = "replace with your source string"
Dim re As Regex = New Regex("^[^']*?GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1",RegexOptions.IgnoreCase OR RegexOptions.Multiline)
Dim mc as MatchCollection = re.Matches(sourcestring)
Dim mIdx as Integer = 0
For each m as Match in mc
For groupIdx As Integer = 0 To m.Groups.Count - 1
Console.WriteLine("[{0}][{1}] = {2}", mIdx, re.GetGroupNames(groupIdx), m.Groups(groupIdx).Value)
Next
mIdx=mIdx+1
Next
End Sub
End Module
Matches Found:
NO MATCHES.
also not found in this text
Public Sub butDontDoThis()
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj
For i = 0 To 5
return = return & "bye" & " "
Next
End Sub
example
Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim sourcestring as String = "Public Sub butDontDoThis()
'' Created : dd/mm/yyyy
'' Return : string
' 'Param : obj
For i = 0 To 5
return = return & ""bye"" & "" ""
Next
End Sub"
Dim re As Regex = New Regex("^[^']*?GLOBAL_VARIABLE_1",RegexOptions.IgnoreCase OR RegexOptions.Multiline)
Dim mc as MatchCollection = re.Matches(sourcestring)
Dim mIdx as Integer = 0
For each m as Match in mc
For groupIdx As Integer = 0 To m.Groups.Count - 1
Console.WriteLine("[{0}][{1}] = {2}", mIdx, re.GetGroupNames(groupIdx), m.Groups(groupIdx).Value)
Next
mIdx=mIdx+1
Next
End Sub
End Module
Matches Found:
NO MATCHES.
Disclaimer
There are a lot of edge cases which can trip this up, for example if you have a comment with ' end function or have a if you assign a string value to a variable like thisstring = "end sub"
Yes I realize OP was for VBscript, I've included these examples to demonstrate the overall logic and that the regular expressions work.
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