Passing regex match to a script function

[MHolmes]

In a Replace Files step, I need to pass the result of a regex match. Basically, I need to match a filename in a file using the following regex:


^.*"OutputFilename"\s*=\s*"(.*)".*$


I capture the complete path specified, but I want to get JUST the filename part (so if it's C:\My Files\somefile.txt, I want somefile.txt) so that I can mutate the final output path at build time. I have a project level function called GetFileNamePart which uses the FSO to return the filename, but I can't call it as:


[GetFileNamePart($1)]


In the replace text. I know that regexp normally uses backreferences for that, but how can I get a match and pass it to a script function?

[kevina]

Unfortunately you can't do exactly what you are wanting (pass a matched expression to script), but you can accomplish what you are trying to do with just a regular expression.

Below is an example Replace In File step that uses a different regular expression that does what I think you are trying to do.

<step action='Replace in File' type='0'>
<FileIn>c:\temp\test.txt</FileIn>
<FileOut>c:\temp\output.txt</FileOut>
<Find>(^[[^\n"]]*"OutputFilename"\s*=\s*)"(([[^\n\\"]]*\\)*)([[^"\n]]*)[["\n]]</Find>
<Replace>$1"(?3$4)"</Replace>
<indent type='3'>1</indent>
<name>Replace Full Path with filename only</name>
</step>

Note: Please note that using .* is not a very safe thing to do with regular expressions in Visual Build Pro because it doesn't function in a 'line mode'. .* is greedy in Visual Build Pro which can consume line feeds. The sample regular expression above adheres to the advice in the help file for Replace In File Action using [^\n]* instead of .*.

Note 2: Just copy the above xml fragment and paste into Visual Build Pro. A Replace In File step will be created for you to review/use.