Regex capitalize first letter every word, also after a special character like a dash

Question

I use this #(\s|^)([a-z0-9-_]+)#i for capitalize every first letter every word, i want it also to capitalize the letter if it's after a special mark like a dash(-)

Now it shows:

This Is A Test For-stackoverflow

And i want this:

This Is A Test For-Stackoverflow

Any suggestions/samples for me?

I'am not a pro, so try to keep it simple for me to understand.

Answer 1

A simple solution is to use word boundaries:

#\b[a-z0-9-_]+#i

Alternatively, you can match for just a few characters:

#([\s\-_]|^)([a-z0-9-_]+)#i

Answer 2

+1 for word boundaries, and here is a comparable Javascript solution. This accounts for possessives, as well:

var re = /(\b[a-z](?!\s))/g;
var s = "fort collins, croton-on-hudson, harper's ferry, coeur d'alene, o'fallon"; 
s = s.replace(re, function(x){return x.toUpperCase();});
console.log(s); // "Fort Collins, Croton-On-Hudson, Harper's Ferry, Coeur D'Alene, O'Fallon"

Answer 3

Actually dont need to match full string just match the first non-uppercase letter like this:

'~\b([a-z])~'

Answer 4

Try #([\s-]|^)([a-z0-9-_]+)#i - the (\s|^) matches a whitespace character (\s) or the start of the line (^). When you change the \s to [\s-], it matches any whitespace character or a dash.

Answer 5

this will make

R.E.A.C De Boeremeakers

from

r.e.a.c de boeremeakers

(?<=\A|[ .])(?<up>[a-z])(?=[a-z. ])

using

    Dim matches As MatchCollection = Regex.Matches(inputText, "(?<=\A|[ .])(?<up>[a-z])(?=[a-z. ])")
    Dim outputText As New StringBuilder
    If matches(0).Index > 0 Then outputText.Append(inputText.Substring(0, matches(0).Index))
    index = matches(0).Index + matches(0).Length
    For Each Match As Match In matches
        Try
            outputText.Append(UCase(Match.Value))
            outputText.Append(inputText.Substring(Match.Index + 1, Match.NextMatch.Index - Match.Index - 1))
        Catch ex As Exception
            outputText.Append(inputText.Substring(Match.Index + 1, inputText.Length - Match.Index - 1))
        End Try
    Next

Answer 6

Here's my Python solution

>>> import re
>>> the_string = 'this is a test for stack-overflow'
>>> re.sub(r'(((?<=\s)|^|-)[a-z])', lambda x: x.group().upper(), the_string)
'This Is A Test For Stack-Overflow'

read about the "positive lookbehind" here: https://www.regular-expressions.info/lookaround.html