# Scan string w regex .. and HNYTAOY! **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134 "2007-01-04T12:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/1 "2007-01-04T12:50:32Z")
HNYTAOY (Dry version of … Happy New Year To All Of You) I am trying to get an array of email addresses from a string , as this string is coming from an input textarea in a from, even if I ask for a blank between each address, users will also enter some return characters… so I get something like : to\_string = “removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid\r\removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid\r\removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid” I know how to use a\_string.scan(" "), but here I should use a regex… after many try … could not find the correct one… could someone make 2007 starting on right tracks… thanks a lot !! joss ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/2 "2007-01-04T12:56:32Z")
On 2007-01-04 12:47:06 +0100, Josselin [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) said: > “removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid\r\removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid\r\removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid” > > I know how to use a\_string.scan(" "), but here I should use a regex… > after many try … could not find the correct one… > could someone make 2007 starting on right tracks… thanks a lot !! > > joss ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/3 "2007-01-04T13:08:36Z")
On Jan 4, 2007, at 6:55 AM, Josselin wrote: > > I know how to use a\_string.scan(" "), but here I should use a > > regex… after many try … could not find the correct one… > > could someone make 2007 starting on right tracks… thanks a lot !! > > joss > > forgot to mention what I wwrote until now : > > > to\_string.split(%r{\r\n\s\*}) which gives me teh addresses > > separated by \r\n , but I missed the addresses separated by spaces I would just scan for email addresses. I got this: to\_string.scan(/[A-Z0-9.\_%-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+.[A-Z]{2,4}/i) From this site: [http://www.regular-expressions.info/email.html](http://www.regular-expressions.info/email.html) Which seems to do the job reasonably well. Happy new year to you too! -Mat ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/4 "2007-01-04T13:36:43Z")
On 2007-01-04 13:07:32 +0100, Mat S. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) said: > > > so I get something like : > > > by \r\n , but I missed the addresses separated by spaces > > > -Mat > > > thanks Mat… I got it too… my concern is getting all adresses in one > > > array… > > > It seems that I could do a scan first to replace the \r\n by a space > > > then doing a split on space character will give me the array > > > finally I’ll use the regex to chexk each email address ( I am using a > > > Rails plugin validates\_as\_email , based on RFC2822 with a possibility > > > to perform an online checking if needed) Joss ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/5 "2007-01-04T13:40:45Z")
On 04.01.2007 13:07, Mat S. wrote: > On Jan 4, 2007, at 6:55 AM, Josselin wrote: > > > forgot to mention what I wwrote until now : > > > > > to\_string.split(%r{\r\n\s\*}) which gives me teh addresses separated > > > by \r\n , but I missed the addresses separated by spaces > > I would just scan for email addresses. Yeah, that’s what I’d also prefer over splitting. > I got this: > to\_string.scan(/[A-Z0-9.\_%-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+.[A-Z]{2,4}/i) > > From this site: > [How to Find or Validate an Email Address](http://www.regular-expressions.info/email.html) > > Which seems to do the job reasonably well. Hm, IMHO the domain part could be a bit better with respect to dots. Something like (?:[A-Z0-9-]+.)+[A-Z]{2,4} In some circumstances something simple like this will even work [^\s@]+@[^\s@]+ And I bet there is a ton of variants… Cheers ``` robert ``` ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/6 "2007-01-04T14:26:54Z")
On 1/4/07, James Edward G. II [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > to\_string.split > > That seems easier than a regex to match an email. > > James Edward G. II That’s definitely easier. And more certain. ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/7 "2007-01-04T14:06:48Z")
On Jan 4, 2007, at 5:55 AM, Josselin wrote: > forgot to mention what I wwrote until now : > > > to\_string.split(%r{\r\n\s\*}) which gives me teh addresses > > separated by \r\n , but I missed the addresses separated by spaces You can split() on any whitespace characters with: to\_string.split That seems easier than a regex to match an email. James Edward G. II ---
**Author:** ![Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@Josselin](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Josselin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/scan-string-w-regex-and-hnytaoy/81134/8 "2007-01-04T14:46:55Z")
On Jan 4, 2007, at 8:06 AM, James Edward G. II wrote: > That seems easier than a regex to match an email. /me slaps his forehead agreed… -Mat