Omid - Challenge 249

data-challenges
advanced-exercises
🔰 : Extract Extract all product IDs from the texts that match the following pattern:
Published

March 24, 2026

Illustration for Omid - Challenge 249

Challenge Description

🔰 : Extract Extract all product IDs from the texts that match the following pattern:

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "files/200-299/249/CH-249 Extract from Text.xlsx"
input = read_excel(path, range = "B2:B7")
test = read_excel(path, range = "D2:D6")

pattern = "[A-Z]{1}[a-z]{1}[0-9]{1}-[0-9]{2}"

result = input %>%
  mutate(`Product ID` = str_extract(Text, pattern)) %>%
  na.omit() %>%
  select(`Product ID`)

all.equal(result, test, check.attributes = FALSE)
# @ [1] TRUE

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook ranges needed for the challenge

    • Builds the intermediate columns that drive the final result

    • Parses the text patterns directly instead of relying on manual cleanup

  • Strengths:

    • The R solution stays close to the workbook rule and keeps the transformation compact.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the sheet structure and source ranges remain stable.

  • Gem:

    • The strongest part of the solution is choosing the right intermediate representation before shaping the final output.
import pandas as pd
import re

path = "200-299/249/CH-249 Extract from Text.xlsx"

input = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="B", skiprows=1, nrows=6)
test = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="D", skiprows=1, nrows=4)
pattern = r"[A-Z]{1}[a-z]{1}[0-9]{1}-[0-9]{2}"
result = input.iloc[:, 0].astype(str).str.extract(f'({pattern})').dropna().reset_index(drop=True).rename(columns={0: 'Product ID'})

print(result.equals(test))

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook ranges needed for the challenge

  • Strengths:

    • The Python version follows the same rule in a direct dataframe-oriented implementation.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the workbook layout remains stable, so any sheet redesign would require small adjustments.

  • Gem:

    • The implementation stays close to the original workbook rule instead of adding unnecessary abstraction.

Difficulty Level

This task is moderate:

  • The core logic is clear, but the correct transformation pattern is not obvious from the raw input.

  • The challenge combines multiple reshaping, grouping, or parsing steps.