Correction:
- assert:
that:
- q is search('abc\\t' | regex_escape)
using regex_escape to avoid escaping manually the backslashes ('abc\\\\t')
On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 11:09:15 PM UTC+2 [email protected] wrote:
> There is also the case that the search test appears in an assert:
>
> - assert:
> that:
> - q is search('abc\\t')
>
>
> The tab character needs to be double escaped here because (I think)
> the assert clause is interpreted as a double quoted string.
> On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 10:58:42 PM UTC+2 [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Thank you for your replies. The search test does work with lists and this
>> is where the
>> issue lies. Your examples helped me clear this up. The search, regex, etc
>> tests will
>> convert the object to a string. In python code, this means that the list
>> will be turned
>> into a string with str(list_here). This will escape tab characters in the
>> list items, so
>> that a list ["a", "b\t"] will get converted to the string, '["a",
>> "b\\t"]'. To match this correctly
>> with the search test, I need to search for ...b\\t... in single quotes.
>> On Monday, June 20, 2022 at 9:22:37 PM UTC+2 [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 20 Jun 2022 02:36:37 -0700 (PDT)
>>> "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> > q:
>>> > - 'abc<tab character here>'
>>> > - 123
>>> >
>>> > - debug:
>>> > msg: >-
>>> > {{ q is search('abc\t') }}
>>>
>>> There are more aspects to this question:
>>>
>>> * It's necessary to understand the difference between 'Double-Quoted
>>> Style' and 'Single-Quoted Style'. See
>>> https://yaml.org/spec/1.2.2/#731-double-quoted-style
>>> https://yaml.org/spec/1.2.2/#732-single-quoted-style
>>>
>>> In 'Single-Quoted Style' only "'" has to be escaped. As a result, the
>>> string 'abc\t' doesn't include TAB. It's a sequence of characters: a,
>>> b, c, \, t. Test it. The task below
>>>
>>> - copy:
>>> dest: /tmp/test.txt
>>> content: |
>>> {{ ql.0 }}
>>> {{ ql.1 }}
>>> vars:
>>> ql:
>>> - 'abc\tx'
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> gives
>>>
>>> shell> cat /tmp/test.txt
>>> abc\tx
>>> 123
>>>
>>> The string will include TAB if you use 'Double-Quoted Style'
>>>
>>> - copy:
>>> dest: /tmp/test.txt
>>> content: |
>>> {{ ql.0 }}
>>> {{ ql.1 }}
>>> vars:
>>> ql:
>>> - "abc\tx"
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> gives
>>>
>>> shell> cat /tmp/test.txt
>>> abc x
>>> 123
>>>
>>> * The *search* test doesn't work with lists. It works with strings.
>>> See
>>>
>>> https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_tests.html#testing-strings
>>>
>>>
>>> Use it to test a single item of a list. For example,
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "{{ ql.0 is search(regex) }}"
>>> vars:
>>> regex: 'abc\tx'
>>> ql:
>>> - "abc\tx"
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> gives
>>>
>>> msg: true
>>>
>>> Also the task below, with single-quoted *item* and escaped backslash
>>> in *regex*, gives the same result
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "{{ ql.0 is search(regex) }}"
>>> vars:
>>> regex: 'abc\\tx'
>>> ql:
>>> - 'abc\tx'
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> * Instead, you can "Test if a list contains a value". See
>>>
>>> https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/user_guide/playbooks_tests.html#testing-if-a-list-contains-a-value
>>>
>>>
>>> For example, both tasks below returns *True*
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "{{ item in ql }}"
>>> vars:
>>> item: 'abc\tx'
>>> ql:
>>> - 'abc\tx'
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "{{ item in ql }}"
>>> vars:
>>> item: "abc\tx"
>>> ql:
>>> - "abc\tx"
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> * If you want to use *regex* to test an item in a list use *select*.
>>> For example,
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "{{ ql|select('search', regex) }}"
>>> vars:
>>> regex: 'abc\\tx'
>>> ql:
>>> - 'abc\tx'
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> gives
>>>
>>> msg:
>>> - abc\tx
>>>
>>> , or use it in a condition. For example,
>>>
>>> - debug:
>>> msg: "Regex {{ regex }} is present in the list."
>>> when: ql|select('search', regex)|length > 0
>>> vars:
>>> regex: 'abc\\tx'
>>> ql:
>>> - 'abc\tx'
>>> - 123
>>>
>>> gives
>>>
>>> msg: Regex abc\\tx is present in the list.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Vladimir Botka
>>>
>>
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