Zugg Software :: View topic - using wildcards in multiple pattern matching?

Apprentice Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 105

I also have another slightly-related question:

how do i use a * in a trigger pattern with multiple options? * doesn't seem to work when it's inside {}s

here is an example of what it is like at the moment:
{a fat soldier|an ugly soldier|a smart soldier|a mean soldier}
so you can see what I am trying to do

I want to capture the whole phrase "a whatever soldier", and i want to expand this to have a list of second words too so i can do not just soldiers

not sure what to do really at all

this is completely wrong syntax im sure but again this is the kind of thing i am trying to do so gives you an idea

pattern
({a|an} * {soldier|giant spider|mugger|priest})

captured:
an ugly soldier
a vicious giant spider
a scary mugger
an angry priest

etc
(then I do #cw red)

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:51 pm

In short: You can't.
In slightly longer: Use a regex instead.

You could actually just do it the way you have in your trigger there if you like, but a regex will probably neater.

Also, you probably shouldn't be using * unless you really mean "any character". In your examples there, you mean "a word", so you should use %w.