Powershell regex refusing to run on multiple lines

Question

I have a regex which returns the correct results when I use the various on-line regex testing sites. However when I use the regex in a PowerShell script, it only returns a single line instead of multiple lines. I'm the hoping PowerShell experts here can tell me what I'm doing wrong. I'm using PowerShell v1.

This is my regex: https://regex101.com/r/eA5jB2/3

This is my powershell script:-

#Read the file 
$FilePath = "testfile.txt" 

$regex = '(?msi)^0[12][VM](?:[^\n]|\n(?!0[12][VM]|50|90))+'
get-content $FilePath | select-string -pattern $regex

The return is a single line

01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  01 01 01

instead of

01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 01 01 01
01=0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01=5xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:50:56Z

1

The problem is in the Get-Content cmdlet, as it returns an array of lines, so you can't match the text divided by line break.

Try to use other method to get the file contents:

[IO.File]::ReadAllText($FilePath)
Get-Content $FilePath -Raw
Get-Content $FilePath | Out-String

You can find a similar question here.

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:50

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answered Jan 15, 2015 at 14:15

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2 Comments

user3046742 Over a year ago

Thanks but when I try the first and last methods my script returns every possible line and the second isn't supported by powershell v1. All the methods work fine when I did "get-content $filepath | out-string >temp.txt" and copied the file into the online regex test site.

Ansgar Wiechers Over a year ago

@user3046742 Those methods are just for reading the file in a way that you can apply your regular expression. You still need to pipe it into Select-String.

mjolinor · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-15 15:05:48Z

I think the problem is using Select-String.

$text = 
@'
00 date
01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01 01 01 01=0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01=5xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01 01 01 01=0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01=9xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
50 xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01Vxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$A xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$B 0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$5xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
50 xxxxxxxxxxxx BatchTotal
90 xxxxxxxxxxxx FILETotal
'@ 

$regex = '(?msi)^0[12][VM](?:[^\n]|\n(?!0[12][VM]|50|90))+'


[regex]::matches($text,$regex) |
 foreach {$_.groups[0].value;'***'}

01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01 01 01 01=0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01=5xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
***
01Mxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01 01 01 01=0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01=9xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
***
01Vxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$A xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$B 0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
01$5xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
***

That works fine! And it works when I read my file with "$text = get-content $FileName | out-string. Problem solved.

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