This is a regex I will use in a PowerShell script to match if any of the below "Write-*" match unless it is in a comment (comment starts with # and does not need to be at the beginning of a line) Write-Host Write-Output Write-Verbose Write-Error Write-Debug Write-Warning

I suppose I should also take into consideration aliases, but I can cross that bridge once I understand how to properly structure this regex

Regex so far: (?i)^(?!.*#).*Write-(Host|Output|Verbose|Error|Debug|Warning).*$

The below match as expected.

Write-Host
Write-Verbose
if ($True){write-Warning}

The below does not match as expected.

#Write-Host
      # Write-Host
# "command is commented out"    Write-Output

I expect the below to match but it does not. What should I change in the regex to make the below match successfully too?

Write-output #Comment after command
write-warning  #Write-Warning

CodePudding user response：

Instead of a negative lookahead assertion, you can use a character class to exclude #s from appearing before Write-:

(?i)^[^#]*Write-(Host|Output|Verbose|Error|Debug|Warning).*$

Demo:

The green highlight shows what is in capture group 1.