Hi, I have a string (named

selection

) that is equal to this pattern :

[key=value, key=value, key=value]

and I want to split it to a map containing all the keys and values, is there a simple way than this ?

val attributes = selection.replace("[(\\w+)]".toRegex(), "$1").replace("\\s+".toRegex(), "").split(',').associate { it.substringBefore('=') to it.substringAfter('=') }

In the same vein, but a bit clearer IMO (it doesn't clear the spaces inside keys and values):

// compile those only once
val entrySeparator = Regex("""\s*,\s*""")
val keyValueSeparator = Regex("""\s*=\s*""")

selection.removePrefix("[")
    .removeSuffix("]")
    .split(entrySeparator)
    .associate { 
        val (key, value) = it.split(keyValueSeparator)
        key to value
    }

Slightly more permissive, but simpler (using trim for the brackets):

selection.trim('[', ']')
    .split(entrySeparator)
    .associate { 
        val (key, value) = it.split(keyValueSeparator)
        key to value
    }

But if you're using regex anyway, you may as well use

Regex.findAll

, it might be simpler in the end

I got this:

"(\\w+) *= *(\\w+)".toRegex()
    .findAll(selection)
    .associate { match ->
        match.groupValues[1] to match.groupValues[2]
    }

It seems to work but I didn't test much

Yeah the regex will depend on what can be a key/value

only text & numbers can be key/value, so \\w+ is valid

\\w

matches underscore as well if my memory is correct

Yeah it works nicely, thank you all !