Compare Strings by format not by value

Question

I have a shape of a String, for example:

• xxxx-xxxx-xxx

But instead of the x can enter several letters or numbers, example:

• A216-0450-013
• X2LP-1018-589
• Y585-0000-047

What I need to do is compare to know if the format is equal, however the value does not matter.

Answer 1

Using the Regex.IsMatch() you can check if a string is within the expected pattern, below follows an implementation.

---

Don’t forget to include the namespace System.Text.RegularExpressions

Using system.Text.Regularexpressions;

string pattern = @"^.{4}-.{4}-.{3}$";
string[] input = { "A216-0450-013" , "X2LP-1018-589",   "Y585-0000-047" , "585-0000-047" };

foreach(var item in input)
{
    if(Regex.IsMatch(item,pattern))
        Console.WriteLine("{0} is Match",item);
    else
        Console.WriteLine("{0} does not Match",item);
}

See working on .Net Fiddle