| [](https://github.com/dart-lang/string_scanner/actions/workflows/test-package.yml) | |
| [](https://pub.dev/packages/string_scanner) | |
| [](https://pub.dev/packages/string_scanner/publisher) | |
| This package exposes a `StringScanner` type that makes it easy to parse a string | |
| using a series of `Pattern`s. For example: | |
| ```dart | |
| import 'dart:math' as math; | |
| import 'package:string_scanner/string_scanner.dart'; | |
| num parseNumber(String source) { | |
| // Scan a number ("1", "1.5", "-3"). | |
| final scanner = StringScanner(source); | |
| // [Scanner.scan] tries to consume a [Pattern] and returns whether or not it | |
| // succeeded. It will move the scan pointer past the end of the pattern. | |
| final negative = scanner.scan('-'); | |
| // [Scanner.expect] consumes a [Pattern] and throws a [FormatError] if it | |
| // fails. Like [Scanner.scan], it will move the scan pointer forward. | |
| scanner.expect(RegExp(r'\d+')); | |
| // [Scanner.lastMatch] holds the [MatchData] for the most recent call to | |
| // [Scanner.scan], [Scanner.expect], or [Scanner.matches]. | |
| var number = num.parse(scanner.lastMatch![0]!); | |
| if (scanner.scan('.')) { | |
| scanner.expect(RegExp(r'\d+')); | |
| final decimal = scanner.lastMatch![0]!; | |
| number += int.parse(decimal) / math.pow(10, decimal.length); | |
| } | |
| // [Scanner.expectDone] will throw a [FormatError] if there's any input that | |
| // hasn't yet been consumed. | |
| scanner.expectDone(); | |
| return (negative ? -1 : 1) * number; | |
| } | |
| ``` |