Master Regular Expressions with UiPath's Matches Activity

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is the Matches Activity?
3. Extracting Data using Regular Expressions
4. Creating a Variable
5. Configuring the Matches Activity
6. Using the Matches Activity
7. Iterating through the Output Variable
8. Accessing Email IDs with Index
9. Counting the Number of Values
10. Conclusion

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the Matches activity in UiPath and learn how to extract data from an input string using regular expressions. Regular expressions, also known as regex, are sequences of characters that define a search pattern. We will walk through the process of using the Matches activity to extract specific email IDs from a given input string. Additionally, we will cover iterating through the output variable, accessing email IDs with an index, and counting the number of values extracted. Let's dive in and get started!

What is the Matches Activity?

The Matches activity is a built-in activity in UiPath that allows us to extract data from an input string using regular expressions. It takes an input string and a regular expression pattern as parameters and stores the extracted value in a result variable. This activity is extremely useful for parsing information from complex and unstructured data.

Extracting Data using Regular Expressions

Regular expressions are powerful tools for extracting specific data patterns from text. They define a sequence of characters that match a desired pattern, allowing us to search and extract relevant information. In this article, we will focus on using regular expressions to extract email IDs from a given input string. We will use UiPath's built-in regular expressions to accomplish this task.

Creating a Variable

Before we can extract data using the Matches activity, we need to create a variable that will hold the input string value. The input string is the text from which we want to extract the desired data. In UiPath, we can create a variable of type string to hold this value. We will assign the input string to this variable.

Configuring the Matches Activity

Once we have created the variable to hold the input string, we can use the Matches activity to extract the desired data. The Matches activity takes two parameters: the input string and the regular expression pattern. We will provide the input string variable we created as the value for the input parameter. Additionally, we will select the appropriate regular expression pattern for email extraction.

Using the Matches Activity

After configuring the Matches activity with the input string and regular expression pattern, we can execute it to extract the desired data. The Matches activity will search the input string using the provided regular expression and store the extracted value in a result variable. We can then proceed to access and utilize this result variable for further processing.

Iterating through the Output Variable

In many cases, the Matches activity will extract multiple values that match the specified pattern. To access and utilize these extracted values, we need to iterate through the output variable. The output variable is a collection of matches and can be iterated using a For Each activity. By iterating through the output variable, we can perform specific actions on each extracted value.

Accessing Email IDs with Index

While iterating through the output variable, we can access individual email IDs by using their index. The output variable contains multiple email IDs, and each email ID is associated with an index. By providing the appropriate index, we can retrieve and utilize a specific email ID for further processing.

Counting the Number of Values

To determine the total number of values extracted using the Matches activity, we can use the Count property of the output variable. The output variable, being a collection of matches, has a count that represents the total number of extracted values. This information can be useful for validation and tracking purposes.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored the Matches activity in UiPath and learned how to extract data using regular expressions. We covered the steps involved in configuring the Matches activity, iterating through the output variable, and accessing email IDs with an index. We also discussed the importance of creating a variable to hold the input string and demonstrated how to count the number of extracted values. With this knowledge, you can efficiently extract and utilize specific data from an input string using UiPath's Matches activity.