• Article

Regex.Replace Method (String, String, Int32)

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Within a specified input string, replaces a specified maximum number of strings that match a regular expression pattern with a specified replacement string.

Namespace:  System.Text.RegularExpressions
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Function Replace ( _
    input As String, _
    replacement As String, _
    count As Integer _
) As String

public string Replace(
    string input,
    string replacement,
    int count
)

Parameters

  • count
    Type: System.Int32
    The maximum number of times the replacement can occur.

Return Value

Type: System.String
A new string that is identical to the input string, except that a replacement string takes the place of each matched string.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentNullException

input is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

-or-

replacement is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Remarks

The search for matches starts at the beginning of the input parameter string. The regular expression is the pattern defined by the constructor for the current Regex object. If count is negative, replacements continue to the end of the string. If count exceeds the number of matches, all matches are replaced.

The replacement parameter specifies the string that is to replace the first count matches in input. replacement can consist of any combination of literal text and substitutions. For example, the replacement pattern a*${test}b inserts the string "a*" followed by the substring that is matched by the test capturing group, if any, followed by the string "b". The * character is not recognized as a metacharacter within a replacement pattern.

NoteNote:

Substitutions are the only regular expression language elements that are recognized in a replacement pattern. All other regular expression language elements, including character escapes, are allowed in regular expression patterns only and are not recognized in replacement patterns.

Examples

The following example replaces the first five occurrences of duplicated characters with a single character. The regular expression pattern (\w)\1 matches consecutive occurrences of a single character and assigns the first occurrence to the first capturing group. The replacement pattern $1 replaces the entire match with the first captured group.

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim str As String = "aabccdeefgghiijkklmm"
      Dim pattern As String = "(\w)\1"
      Dim replacement As String = "$1"
      Dim rgx As New Regex(pattern)

      Dim result As String = rgx.Replace(str, replacement, 5)
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Original String:    '{0}'", str) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Replacement String: '{0}'", result) & vbCrLf
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Original String:    'aabccdeefgghiijkklmm'
'       Replacement String: 'abcdefghijkklmm'

using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string str = "aabccdeefgghiijkklmm";
      string pattern = "(\\w)\\1";
      string replacement = "$1";
      Regex rgx = new Regex(pattern);

      string result = rgx.Replace(str, replacement, 5);
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Original String:    '{0}'", str) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Replacement String: '{0}'", result) + "\n";
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Original String:    'aabccdeefgghiijkklmm'
//       Replacement String: 'abcdefghijkklmm'

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.