Regex for splitting a string using space when not surrounded by single or double quotes

Question

I\'m new to regular expressions and would appreciate your help. I\'m trying to put together an expression that will split the example string using all spaces that are not s

Answer 1

It'll probably be easier to search the string, grabbing each part, vs. split it.

Reason being, you can have it split at the spaces before and after "will be". But, I can't think of any way to specify ignoring the space between inside a split.

(not actual Java)

string = "This is a string that \"will be\" highlighted when your 'regular expression' matches something.";

regex = "\"(\\\"|(?!\\\").)+\"|[^ ]+"; // search for a quoted or non-spaced group
final = new Array();

while (string.length > 0) {
    string = string.trim();
    if (Regex(regex).test(string)) {
        final.push(Regex(regex).match(string)[0]);
        string = string.replace(regex, ""); // progress to next "word"
    }
}

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Also, capturing single quotes could lead to issues:

"Foo's Bar 'n Grill"

//=>

"Foo"
"s Bar "
"n"
"Grill"