RegEx Issue with missing responses

[lyd_ucl]

Hi all,

I'm new to Alteryx, and jumping straight in with a RegEx problem. I've read a lot of examples, but I haven't found a solution for this yet, so proving a little challenging for me!

I am receiving data which is being exported from a survey, and unfortunately isn't in a great state. the biggest issue I have is with matrix responses, which come back as long lists with a separator. Two example responses below:

RESPONSE 1: University reputation: Very important | Programme reputation: Important | Facilities (i.e. library, work stations, research labs etc): Not important at all | Accommodation: Important | Employability: Very important | League Tables/ Rankings: Important | Social atmosphere/ extra-curricular: Very important | International mix of students: Important | Location: Important | Bursary opportunities: Not very important | Scholarship opportunities: Not very important

RESPONSE 2: Facilities (i.e. library, work stations, research labs etc): Not very important | Social atmosphere/ extra-curricular: Important | Bursary opportunities: Very important | Scholarship opportunities: Not important at all

So far, I've written the following:

.*University reputation:(.*),*\sProgramme reputation:\s(.*),*\sProgramme content:\s(.*),*\sFacilities:\s(.*),*\sAccommodation:\s(.*),*\sEmployability:\s(.*),*\sLeague Tables/ Rankings:\s(.*),*\sSocial atmosphere/ extra-curricular:\s(.*),*\sInternational mix of students:\s(.*),*\sLocation:\s(.*),*\sBursary opportunities:\s(.*),*\sScholarship opportunities:\s(.*)

*Earlier in the workflow I changed the | for comma and Reduced the length of the 'Facilities' title just for ease of processing)

This works for Response 1 (apart from a very minor comma issue!), but if someone hasn't completed the question, the response is not pulled. And so, Response 2 comes up with an error. I've included a results. The large majority of fields, therefore, come back with errors, as completition is really hit and miss...

Is there a way to write the RegEx expression so if the value is not there, it simply moves onto the next possible response?

Or else, does anyone have a better way of tackling this?

Thanks so much!

[CharlieS · Accepted solution]

I approached this without RegEx.

Check out the attached solution for an alternative example.

[lyd_ucl]

That's great - and solved so quickly, thanks so much!!