How do I eliminate name prefixes and suffixes with RegEx in VB.NET?

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Given the names "Mr. John P. Doe Jr." and "Mr John P. Doe Jr", what RegEx replace pattern could be used to remove Mr. or Mr from the front of the name, and what replace pattern could be used to remove Jr. or Jr from the end of the name? My current code for eliminating name prefixes looks like this, but it's not working:

VB

'--populate array with a bunch of possible prefixes
Dim lsArrayPrefix As String() = New String() {"mr", "mrs", "miss", "dr", "prof"}

'--loop through the array looking for matches using regexp
For intCounter = 0 To UBound(lsArrayPrefix)
    pattern = "^" & lsArrayPrefix(intCounter) & "\.?\s+"
    Regex.Replace(strName, pattern, "")
Next

Posted 31-Jul-14 19:46pm

PeteKipe

Add a Solution

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-31T20:02:00

Solution 1

Try something like:

^(mr|mrs|miss|dr|prof)[\.\s]*

Posted 31-Jul-14 20:02pm

OriginalGriff

Comments

PeteKipe 1-Aug-14 13:44pm

It's not working for me, OG. I tried running it against names that begin "Mr.", "Mr", "mr." and "mr", but the statement Regex.Replace(strName, pattern, "") doesn't cause strName to change. The string "pattern" is set to "^(mr|mrs|miss|dr|prof)[\.\s]*". Is the pattern sensitive to case? Also, what about a period after the prefix -- will that be handled, or do I need to add additional tests to the pattern?

PeteKipe 1-Aug-14 13:56pm

...and as I mentioned in my original question, I also need a pattern to eliminate trailing suffixes, like "Jr", "Sr", etc. Thanks in advance!

OriginalGriff 1-Aug-14 14:16pm

You do realize that Regex.Replace returns a string with the modifications, just like string.Replace?
Remember, strings are immutable...

PeteKipe 2-Aug-14 1:20am

Oops, had my head where the sun don't shine... It's working perfectly, and I figured out how to handle suffixes on my own. Thanks!