Parsing Data using Regex. Split it into columns via groups-CodePudding

I want to use REGEX to parse my data into 3 columns

Film data:
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #125
Spider-Man Legends Vol. II: Todd Mcfarlane Book I (Trade Paperback)
Spider-Man Legends Vol. II: Todd Mcfarlane Book I
Spider-Man Legends Vol. II: Todd Mcfarlane Book I (1998)
Marvel Comics Presents #125

Expected output: enter image description here

I can see how to group it, but can't seem to REGEX it: enter image description here

I built this expression: (.*)$(\d{4})$(.*)

I want to essentially use the ? quantifier to say the following: (.*)$(\d{4})$**?**(.*) sort of like saying this group may or may not be there?

Nevertheless, it's not working.

CodePudding user response：

You could use 2 capture groups, where the last 2 are optional:

^(.*?)(?:\((\d{4})\))?\s*(#\d )?$

The pattern matches:

^ Start of string
(.*?) Capture group 1
(?:$(\d{4})$)? Optional non capture group capturing 4 digits in group 2
\s* match optional whitespace chars
(#\d )? Optional group 3, match # and 1 digits
$ End of string

See a regex101 demo.