How do I use regexp to extract text between numbers

I have a string that I extracted from a pdf

str = "↵↵↵1. Receptacles, general purpose. ↵2. Receptacles with integral GFCI. ↵3. USB Charger receptacles. ↵4. AFCI receptacles. ↵5. Twist-locking receptacles. ↵6. Isolated-ground receptacles. ↵7. Tamper-resistant receptacles. ↵8. Weather-resistant receptacles. ↵9. Pendant cord-connector devices. ↵10. Cord and plug sets. ↵11. Wall box dimmers. ↵12. Wall box dimmer/sensors. ↵13. Wall box occupancy/vacancy sensors. ↵14. Toggle Switches. ↵15. Floor service outlets. ↵16. Associated device plates. ↵↵"

How can I use the function regexp to extract all the descriptions between the numbers to put them into a 16x1 matrix. So the end product I want will be a 16x1 string that looks like

1. Receptacles, general purpose.
2. Receptacles with integral GFCI.
3. USB Charger receptacles.
4. AFCI receptacles.
5. Twist-locking receptacles.
6. Isolated-ground receptacles.
7. Tamper-resistant receptacles.
8. Weather-resistant receptacles.
9. Pendant cord-connector devices.
10. Cord and plug sets.
11. Wall box dimmers.
12. Wall box dimmer/sensors.
13. Wall box occupancy/vacancy sensors.
14. Toggle Switches.
15. Floor service outlets.
16. Associated device plates.

I also have this line of code

parts = regexp(str,'^\d*+.*$','dotexceptnewline','lineanchors');

which finds the index of each number in the string. I think I could then use all the index values to write a for loop to extract the text that is in between the text

[Rik]

Why not use the newline character as the delimiter?

[Ean Hendrickson]

I tried to do that but I could not get it to work

[Rik]

Is this the exact text of your char array? Or are there actually some char(10) in there?

[Ean Hendrickson]

this is the exact text I extracted from a pdf. there should be no char(10) in there. I used extractFileText, strfind and extractBetween to get the above text.

Answer 1

[per isakson]

"So the end product I want will be a 16x1 string that looks like" I'm not sure exactly how understand your requirement.

The problem is the delimiter that looks a bit like the character on my ENTER key ( ↵). After copy&paste from your question the hex number of that character is \x21B5.

Try

%%
z = regexp( str, "\x21B5+", 'split' );
z = strtrim( z );
z( isstring(z) & strlength(z)==0 ) = [];
%%
% z = regexp( z, "(?<=\d+\.\x20).+$", 'match', 'once' ); % removes the numbers
out = reshape( z, [],1 );
%%
fprintf( 1, '%s\n', out );

outputs in the command window

1. Receptacles, general purpose.
2. Receptacles with integral GFCI.
3. USB Charger receptacles.
4. AFCI receptacles.
5. Twist-locking receptacles.
6. Isolated-ground receptacles.
....    

and

>> out(1:4)
ans = 
  4×1 string array
    "1. Receptacles, general purpose."
    "2. Receptacles with integral GFCI."
    "3. USB Charger receptacles."
    "4. AFCI receptacles."

Answer 2

[JESUS DAVID ARIZA ROYETH]

str = "↵↵↵1. Receptacles, general purpose. ↵2. Receptacles with integral GFCI. ↵3. USB Charger receptacles. ↵4. AFCI receptacles. ↵5. Twist-locking receptacles. ↵6. Isolated-ground receptacles. ↵7. Tamper-resistant receptacles. ↵8. Weather-resistant receptacles. ↵9. Pendant cord-connector devices. ↵10. Cord and plug sets. ↵11. Wall box dimmers. ↵12. Wall box dimmer/sensors. ↵13. Wall box occupancy/vacancy sensors. ↵14. Toggle Switches. ↵15. Floor service outlets. ↵16. Associated device plates. ↵↵"
parts = regexp(str,'\d+\. +[.\w,-/\s]+\.','match')'

parts =

16×1 string array

"1. Receptacles, general purpose."

"2. Receptacles with integral GFCI."

"3. USB Charger receptacles."

"4. AFCI receptacles."

"5. Twist-locking receptacles."

"6. Isolated-ground receptacles."

"7. Tamper-resistant receptacles."

"8. Weather-resistant receptacles."

"9. Pendant cord-connector devices."

"10. Cord and plug sets."

"11. Wall box dimmers."

"12. Wall box dimmer/sensors."

"13. Wall box occupancy/vacancy sensors."

"14. Toggle Switches."

"15. Floor service outlets."

"16. Associated device plates."