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I have a string list:

lis = {"abc","def","def ghi","jkl","ghi","jkl"}

I have another string list whose elements contain two members of lis joined together and separated by a space character:

lis2 = {"abc jkl","def ghi ghi","jkl abc"}

I would like to separate each member of lis2 back into its two components that belong to lis:

res = {{"abc","jkl"},{"def ghi","ghi"},{"jkl","abc"}}

As always, thanks for any ideas.

Here is another sample data set that may state the problem more clearly.

newLis = {"Texas State","Ohio","Sam Houston State","Ohio State"}

newLis2 = {{"Texas","State","Ohio","State"},{"Sam","Houston","State","Ohio","State"},{"Ohio","Sam","Houston","State"}}

Each of the three elements of newLis2 needs to be decomposed into two elements which are members of newLis:

newRes = {{"Texas State","Ohio State"},{"Sam Houston State","Ohio State"},{"Ohio","Sam Houston State"}}

*Please see kglr's comment below, he clearly states the problem at (1). It is best not to make the responders have to guess at the questioner's question :/ *

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    $\begingroup$ StringSplit /@ lis2 is your after? $\endgroup$ – yode Sep 13 '18 at 2:38
  • $\begingroup$ No, that gives: {{"abc", "jkl"}, {"def", "ghi", "ghi"}, {"jkl", "abc"}} and I'm aiming for {{"abc","jkl"},{"def ghi","ghi"},{"jkl","abc"}} $\endgroup$ – Suite401 Sep 13 '18 at 2:57
  • $\begingroup$ Suite401, updated problem and the original one are very different questions. Maybe you should make it explicit that the question is a two-part one: (1) Split the strings in input list so that the resulting strings match the ones in a reference list (lis) , and (2) reorganize and StringJoin a list of strings so that the resulting strings match the ones in the references list (lis). $\endgroup$ – kglr Sep 13 '18 at 5:30
  • $\begingroup$ Yes I agree, kglr - thank you for clarifying. This is exactly what I am trying to do. $\endgroup$ – Suite401 Sep 13 '18 at 5:46
  • $\begingroup$ @kglr yes, the task with the second data sample is what you describe at (1) in your comment. Thank you all for your patience and advice. $\endgroup$ – Suite401 Sep 13 '18 at 5:53
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alternatives = Apply[Alternatives] @ Reverse @ SortBy[StringLength] @ newLis

StringCases[alternatives] /@  StringRiffle /@ newLis2

"Sam Houston State" | "Texas State" | "Ohio State" | "Ohio" 

{{"Texas State", "Ohio State"}, 
 {"Sam Houston State", "Ohio State"}, 
 {"Ohio", "Sam Houston State"}
}

Reverse sort is done to make the longes cases more imprtant. E.g. to match Ohio State rather than single Ohio.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you all for your responses. @Kuba your solution fails on my data set, but if I replace StringCases[alternatives] /@ StringRiffle /@ newLis2 with StringCases[alternatives] /@ StringRiffle /@ newLis2[1] it succeeds. I'll call that a win :) $\endgroup$ – Suite401 Sep 13 '18 at 21:31
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StringReplace:

StringReplace[lis2,   a__ ~~ " " ~~  b__ /;
   (And @@ (Or @@ StringMatchQ[lis, #]& /@ {a, b})) :> {a,b}] /.
  StringExpression -> Identity

{{"abc", "jkl"}, {"def ghi", "ghi"}, {"jkl", "abc"}}

StringReplace[lis2,  StartOfString ~~ a : Alternatives @@ lis ~~ 
    " " ~~ b : Alternatives @@ lis ~~ EndOfString :> {a, b}] /. 
 StringExpression -> Identity

{{"abc", "jkl"}, {"def ghi", "ghi"}, {"jkl", "abc"}}

SequenceAlignment:

DeleteCases[SequenceAlignment[#, StringJoin @ 
  Riffle[PadRight[lis, 2 Length@lis, "Periodic"], "/"]], _List |  " "] & /@ lis2

{{"abc", "jkl"}, {"def ghi", "ghi"}, {"jkl", "abc"}}

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  • $\begingroup$ When I use kglr's second suggestion on the new sample data set, I get the following error message: StringReplace::strse: String or list of strings expected at position 1 in StringReplace[{{Texas,State,Ohio,State},{Sam,Houston,State,Ohio,State},{Ohio,Sam,Houston,State}},StartOfString~~a:Texas State|Ohio|Sam Houston State|Ohio State~~ ~~b:Texas State|Ohio|Sam Houston State|Ohio State~~EndOfString:>{a,b}]. $\endgroup$ – Suite401 Sep 13 '18 at 5:27
  • $\begingroup$ @Suite401, just saw your update. This one is not intended to work for your updated problem. Please see my comment below your question. $\endgroup$ – kglr Sep 13 '18 at 5:31
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Use StringSplit at first and then deal with the special case

If[Length[#] == 3, {StringRiffle[#[[;; 2]]], #[[3]]}, #] & /@ StringSplit[lis2]
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