[FIXED] (Python/ Regular Expression) How to select text between two given words?

Issue

Langaue(Python3.X, Re library)

I have a string as follows

import re
query_string = r'SELECT "a"."name", "a"."create_date", "a"."state", SUM("b"."cost") AS "amount", SUM("b"."cost") FILTER (WHERE "a"."state" = 'UNPAID') AS "paid", SUM("b"."cost") FILTER (WHERE "a"."state" = 'PAID') AS "unpaid" FROM "maintenance"'

I want to select "column names" i.e. "a"."name", "a"."create_date", "a"."state". from above string.

Which comes between "SELECT" and "SUM(.*)" Any help appreciated.

I have tried below Regular Expression pattern

1. r'SELECT (.* ), [^(SUM(.* )]'

2. r'SELECT (.* ), SUM(.* )'

but both are not giving accurate result

Expected result:

 "a"."name", "a"."create_date", "a"."state"(No comma at the endth)

Solution

You can use

(?:SELECT\s*)(.*?)(?:,\s*SUM.*)

to create a single capturing group.

The two (?:...) make non-capturing groups.
The (.*?) is a non-greedy group, which will stop before the FIRST "SUM" instead of the last one.

Answered By - Yunnosch