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  1. import re
  2.  
  3. regex = r"^(.*?)(, | - |: )(.*?)(?!\2)(, | - |: )(.*?)(?!\2|\4)(, | - |: )(.*)"
  4.  
  5. test_str = ("abc: def: ijk, lmno: pqr - stu, wx")
  6.  
  7. matches = re.search(regex, test_str, re.MULTILINE)
  8.  
  9. if matches:
  10.     print(matches.group(1))
  11.     print(matches.group(3))
  12.     print(matches.group(5))
  13.     print(matches.group(7))
Success #stdin #stdout 0.02s 9648KB
comments (?)
stdin 
Standard input is empty
stdout 
abc
def: ijk
lmno: pqr
stu, wx
https://ideone.com/rsKGl4
language:
Python 3 (python  3.12)
created:
6 years ago
visibility:
secret

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