How to do named capture in ruby

Question

I want to name the capture of string that I get from scan. How to do it?

\"555-333-7777\".scan(/(\\d{3})-(\\d{3})-(\\d{4})/).flatten #=> [\"555\", \"333\", \"         


        

Answer 1

You should use match with named captures, not scan

m = "555-333-7777".match(/(?<area>\d{3})-(?<city>\d{3})-(?<number>\d{4})/)
m # => #<MatchData "555-333-7777" area:"555" city:"333" number:"7777">
m[:area] # => "555"
m[:city] # => "333"

If you want an actual hash, you can use something like this:

m.names.zip(m.captures).to_h # => {"area"=>"555", "city"=>"333", "number"=>"7777"}

Or this (ruby 2.4 or later)

m.named_captures # => {"area"=>"555", "city"=>"333", "number"=>"7777"}

Answer 2

Something like this?

"555-333-7777" =~ /^(?<area>\d+)\-(?<city>\d+)\-(?<local>\d+)$/
Hash[$~.names.collect{|x| [x.to_sym, $~[x]]}]
 => {:area=>"555", :city=>"333", :local=>"7777"}

Bonus version:

Hash[[:area, :city, :local].zip("555-333-7777".split("-"))]
=> {:area=>"555", :city=>"333", :local=>"7777"}

Answer 3

A way to turn capture group names and their values into a hash is to use a regex with named captures using (?<capture_name> and then access the %~ global "last match" variable.

regex_with_named_capture_groups = %r'(?<area>\d{3})-(?<city>\d{3})-(?<local>\d{4})'
"555-333-7777"[regex_with_named_capture_groups]

match_hash = $~.names.inject({}){|mem, capture| mem[capture] = $~[capture]; mem}
# => {"area"=>"555", "city"=>"333", "local"=>"7777"}

# If ActiveSupport is available
match_hash.symbolize_keys!
# => {area: "555", city: "333", local: "7777"}