I have several message types that I have to parse and database from chat rooms. Some fields have a specific format, some are free form, and some fields are optional, leading to several message variations and of course there are humans typing them so mistakes are inevitable. I am hoping for some guidance on the best approach to parsing these. I am currently using regex to break these apart but because some fields are optional, it is getting cumbersome to tell which ones were included in the messages. I also want to give feedback when the field is incorrectly formatted and have some flexibility for correcting some common mistakes... 
time / date / address / when / free form 1 /free form text 2
time / date / free form  1 / free form 2
time / date / when / free form 1 / what

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I am not sure I can do it effectively with parseRecDescent or any of the other parsers. There seems to be a steep learning curve and of course I need to have it done yesterday... Just looking for some guidance from anyone who has tackled this type of problem... Any help appreciated

In reply to parsing question by liamlrb

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