Table of Contents

Regular expressions (VB.Net / netframework)

Note

This demo is available in your FlexCel installation at <FlexCel Install Folder>\samples\vb\VS2022\netframework\20.Reports\47.Regular Expressions and also at https:​//​github.​com/​tmssoftware/​TMS-​FlexCel.​NET-​demos/​tree/​master/​vb/​VS2022/​netframework/​Modules/​20.​Reports/​47.​Regular Expressions

Overview

Regular expressions give you both the power to transform the text in your reports in any way you like, and also to obfuscate and make unmaintainable your templates if you abuse them. The <#regex()> tag lets you write your own Regular Expressions in a FlexCel report.

Concepts

  • There are 2 versions of the <#regex> tag:

  • RegEx(IgnoreCase, Expression, Search): This will search for the expression inside "Search" string, and return the part of "Search" that matches the expression.

  • RegEx(IgnoreCase, Expression, Search, Replace): This will Replace the matching string inside "Search" by the "Replace" string.

  • Both "Search" and "Replace" parameters are evaluated at runtime, so they will evaluate to different strings as the row changes. The "Expression" parameter is evaluated only once before starting the report, so it will not change.

  • As formerly said, use regular expressions with care. Sometimes they are just invaluable to get your desired output, but on other times they can make maintaining the templates a lot of work. Depending on the case, you might find better to define your own user function to do a complex transformation. (See the User Defined Functions example)

  • Regular Expressions are a complex subject, and we will not explain how to use them here. There is a lot of information out there available on them.

Files

AssemblyInfo.vb

Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

'
' General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following 
' set of attributes. Change these attribute values to modify the information
' associated with an assembly.
'
<Assembly: AssemblyTitle("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyDescription("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCompany("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyProduct("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCopyright("(c) 2002 - 2014 TMS Software")>
<Assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCulture("")>

'
' Version information for an assembly consists of the following four values:
'
'      Major Version
'      Minor Version 
'      Build Number
'      Revision
'
' You can specify all the values or you can default the Revision and Build Numbers 
' by using the '*' as shown below:

<Assembly: AssemblyVersion("6.2.1.0")>

'
' In order to sign your assembly you must specify a key to use. Refer to the 
' Microsoft .NET Framework documentation for more information on assembly signing.
'
' Use the attributes below to control which key is used for signing. 
'
' Notes: 
'   (*) If no key is specified, the assembly is not signed.
'   (*) KeyName refers to a key that has been installed in the Crypto Service
'       Provider (CSP) on your machine. KeyFile refers to a file which contains
'       a key.
'   (*) If the KeyFile and the KeyName values are both specified, the 
'       following processing occurs:
'       (1) If the KeyName can be found in the CSP, that key is used.
'       (2) If the KeyName does not exist and the KeyFile does exist, the key 
'           in the KeyFile is installed into the CSP and used.
'   (*) In order to create a KeyFile, you can use the sn.exe (Strong Name) utility.
'       When specifying the KeyFile, the location of the KeyFile should be
'       relative to the project output directory which is
'       %Project Directory%\obj\<configuration>. For example, if your KeyFile is
'       located in the project directory, you would specify the AssemblyKeyFile 
'       attribute as [assembly: AssemblyKeyFile("..\\..\\mykey.snk")]
'   (*) Delay Signing is an advanced option - see the Microsoft .NET Framework
'       documentation for more information on this.
'
<Assembly: AssemblyDelaySign(False)>
<Assembly: AssemblyKeyFile("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyKeyName("")>

Form1.Designer.vb

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Resources
Imports FlexCel.Core
Imports FlexCel.XlsAdapter
Imports FlexCel.Report
Imports FlexCel.Demo.SharedData
Namespace RegularExpressions
	Partial Public Class mainForm
		Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

		Private WithEvents button1 As System.Windows.Forms.Button
		Private saveFileDialog1 As System.Windows.Forms.SaveFileDialog
		Private label1 As System.Windows.Forms.Label
		Private WithEvents btnCancel As System.Windows.Forms.Button
		''' <summary>
		''' Required designer variable.
		''' </summary>
		Private components As System.ComponentModel.Container = Nothing

		''' <summary>
		''' Clean up any resources being used.
		''' </summary>
		Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
			If disposing Then
				If components IsNot Nothing Then
					components.Dispose()
				End If
			End If
			MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
		End Sub

		#Region "Windows Form Designer generated code"
		''' <summary>
		''' Required method for Designer support - do not modify
		''' the contents of this method with the code editor.
		''' </summary>
		Private Sub InitializeComponent()
			Me.button1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
			Me.saveFileDialog1 = New System.Windows.Forms.SaveFileDialog()
			Me.label1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Label()
			Me.btnCancel = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
			Me.SuspendLayout()
			' 
			' button1
			' 
			Me.button1.Anchor = (CType((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
			Me.button1.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green
			Me.button1.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
			Me.button1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(152, 88)
			Me.button1.Name = "button1"
			Me.button1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(112, 23)
			Me.button1.TabIndex = 0
			Me.button1.Text = "GO!"
			Me.button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = False
'			Me.button1.Click += New System.EventHandler(Me.button1_Click)
			' 
			' saveFileDialog1
			' 
			Me.saveFileDialog1.Filter = "Excel Files|*.xls;*.xlsx;*.xlsm|Excel 97/2003|*.xls|Excel 2007|*.xlsx;*.xlsm|All files|*.*"
			Me.saveFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = True
			' 
			' label1
			' 
			Me.label1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(24, 24)
			Me.label1.Name = "label1"
			Me.label1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(288, 24)
			Me.label1.TabIndex = 2
			Me.label1.Text = "A demo on how to use Regular Expressions in fields. "
			' 
			' btnCancel
			' 
			Me.btnCancel.Anchor = (CType((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
			Me.btnCancel.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb((CInt((CByte(192)))), (CInt((CByte(0)))), (CInt((CByte(0)))))
			Me.btnCancel.DialogResult = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel
			Me.btnCancel.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
			Me.btnCancel.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(272, 88)
			Me.btnCancel.Name = "btnCancel"
			Me.btnCancel.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(112, 23)
			Me.btnCancel.TabIndex = 3
			Me.btnCancel.Text = "Cancel"
			Me.btnCancel.UseVisualStyleBackColor = False
'			Me.btnCancel.Click += New System.EventHandler(Me.btnCancel_Click)
			' 
			' mainForm
			' 
			Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F)
			Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
			Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(416, 133)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.btnCancel)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.label1)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.button1)
			Me.Name = "mainForm"
			Me.Text = "Regular Expressions"
			Me.ResumeLayout(False)

		End Sub
		#End Region
	End Class
End Namespace

Form1.vb

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Resources
Imports FlexCel.Core
Imports FlexCel.XlsAdapter
Imports FlexCel.Report
Imports FlexCel.Demo.SharedData


Namespace RegularExpressions
	''' <summary>
	''' How to make your reports criptic using regexps...
	''' </summary>
	Partial Public Class mainForm
		Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

		Public Sub New()
			InitializeComponent()
		End Sub

		Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
			AutoRun()
		End Sub

		Public Sub AutoRun()
			Using ordersReport As FlexCelReport = SharedData.CreateReport()
				ordersReport.SetValue("Date", Date.Now)
				ordersReport.SetValue("ReportCaption", "Suppliers")
				Dim DataPath As String = Path.Combine(Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), ".."), "..") & Path.DirectorySeparatorChar

				If saveFileDialog1.ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
					ordersReport.Run(DataPath & "Regular Expressions.template.xls", saveFileDialog1.FileName)

					If MessageBox.Show("Do you want to open the generated file?", "Confirm", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Yes Then
						Process.Start(saveFileDialog1.FileName)
					End If
				End If
			End Using
		End Sub

		Private Sub btnCancel_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCancel.Click
			Close()
		End Sub

	End Class

End Namespace

Program.vb

Namespace RegularExpressions
	Friend NotInheritable Class Program

		Private Sub New()
		End Sub

		''' <summary>
		''' The main entry point for the application.
		''' </summary>
		<STAThread> _
		Shared Sub Main()
			Application.EnableVisualStyles()
			Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False)
			Application.Run(New mainForm())
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace