Re: [xsl] analyze-string help?

Subject: Re: [xsl] analyze-string help?
From: Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:45:58 +0100
On 10/06/2012 07:46, Syd Bauman wrote:
But is there any reason not to use a simpler regex? E.g.,
   <xsl:analyze-string select="normalize-space($title)" regex="(.+) - (.+)">

Even if it doesn't fix your problem, it might make it easier to find.
I think this principle of always using the simplest regex that does the job is a very good one. Remember, even if the regex works on all your test cases, there's a good chance someone in a year's time is going to come back to it and need to change it. Complex regexes are intrinsically very hard to debug, so it's a good idea to avoid them if you can.

In this particular case the simpler regex is also closer to the English-language description of the requirement:

separate the content after the last "space dash space"

The OP's regex fails to do this if, for example, the content after the last " - " includes a hyphen.


Michael Kay
Saxonica

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