yq/operators/string-operators.md

String Operators

RegEx

This uses golangs native regex functions under the hood - See https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax for the supported syntax.

String blocks, bash and newlines

Bash is notorious for chomping on precious trailing newline characters, making it tricky to set strings with newlines properly. In particular, the $( exp ) will trim trailing newlines.

For instance to get this yaml:

a: |
  cat

Using $( exp ) wont work, as it will trim the trailing new line.

m=$(echo "cat\n") yq e -n '.a = strenv(m)'
a: cat

However, using printf works:

printf -v m "cat\n" ; m="$m" yq e -n '.a = strenv(m)'
a: |
  cat

As well as having multiline expressions:

m="cat
"  yq e -n '.a = strenv(m)'
a: |
  cat

Similarly, if you're trying to set the content from a file, and want a trailing new line:

IFS= read -rd '' output < <(cat my_file)
output=$output ./yq e '.data.values = strenv(output)' first.yml

Join strings

Given a sample.yml file of:

- cat
- meow
- 1
- null
- true

then

yq eval 'join("; ")' sample.yml

will output

cat; meow; 1; ; true

Match string

Given a sample.yml file of:

foo bar foo

then

yq eval 'match("foo")' sample.yml

will output

string: foo
offset: 0
length: 3
captures: []

Match string, case insensitive

Given a sample.yml file of:

foo bar FOO

then

yq eval '[match("(?i)foo"; "g")]' sample.yml

will output

- string: foo
  offset: 0
  length: 3
  captures: []
- string: FOO
  offset: 8
  length: 3
  captures: []

Match with capture groups

Given a sample.yml file of:

abc abc

then

yq eval '[match("(abc)+"; "g")]' sample.yml

will output

- string: abc
  offset: 0
  length: 3
  captures:
    - string: abc
      offset: 0
      length: 3
- string: abc
  offset: 4
  length: 3
  captures:
    - string: abc
      offset: 4
      length: 3

Match with named capture groups

Given a sample.yml file of:

foo bar foo foo  foo

then

yq eval '[match("foo (?P<bar123>bar)? foo"; "g")]' sample.yml

will output

- string: foo bar foo
  offset: 0
  length: 11
  captures:
    - string: bar
      offset: 4
      length: 3
      name: bar123
- string: foo  foo
  offset: 12
  length: 8
  captures:
    - string: null
      offset: -1
      length: 0
      name: bar123

Capture named groups into a map

Given a sample.yml file of:

xyzzy-14

then

yq eval 'capture("(?P<a>[a-z]+)-(?P<n>[0-9]+)")' sample.yml

will output

a: xyzzy
n: "14"

Match without global flag

Given a sample.yml file of:

cat cat

then

yq eval 'match("cat")' sample.yml

will output

string: cat
offset: 0
length: 3
captures: []

Match with global flag

Given a sample.yml file of:

cat cat

then

yq eval '[match("cat"; "g")]' sample.yml

will output

- string: cat
  offset: 0
  length: 3
  captures: []
- string: cat
  offset: 4
  length: 3
  captures: []

Test using regex

Like jq'q equivalent, this works like match but only returns true/false instead of full match details

Given a sample.yml file of:

- cat
- dog

then

yq eval '.[] | test("at")' sample.yml

will output

true
false

Substitute / Replace string

This uses golang regex, described here Note the use of |= to run in context of the current string value.

Given a sample.yml file of:

a: dogs are great

then

yq eval '.a |= sub("dogs", "cats")' sample.yml

will output

a: cats are great

Substitute / Replace string with regex

This uses golang regex, described here Note the use of |= to run in context of the current string value.

Given a sample.yml file of:

a: cat
b: heat

then

yq eval '.[] |= sub("(a)", "${1}r")' sample.yml

will output

a: cart
b: heart

Split strings

Given a sample.yml file of:

cat; meow; 1; ; true

then

yq eval 'split("; ")' sample.yml

will output

- cat
- meow
- "1"
- ""
- "true"

Split strings one match

Given a sample.yml file of:

word

then

yq eval 'split("; ")' sample.yml

will output

- word