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regexvb.netnumbersextract

Regular Expression to remove all numbers and all dots

I have this code in VB.NET : 

MessageBox.Show(Regex.Replace("Example 4.12.0.12", "\d", ""))

It removes/extracts numbers

I want also to remove dots

so I tried

MessageBox.Show(Regex.Replace("Example 4.12.0.12", "\d\.", ""))

but it keeps the numbers.

how to remove both (numbers & dots) from the string ?

thanks.

Solution

  • Try using a character group:

    MessageBox.Show(Regex.Replace("Example 4.12.0.12", "[\d.]", ""))

    I'll elaborate since I inadvertently posted essentially the same answer as Steven.

    Given the input "Example 4.12.0.12"

    • "\d" matches digits, so the replacement gives "Example ..."
    • "\d\." matches a digit followed by a dot, so the replacement gives "Example 112"
    • "[\d.]" matches anything that is a digit or a dot. As Steven said, it's not necessary to escape the dot inside the character group.