Regular Expressions 101

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An explanation of your regex will be automatically generated as you type.
Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.
  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Non-capturing group
    (?:...)
  • Capturing group
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression

/
/
gmxJ

Test String

Code Generator

Generated Code

#include <StringConstants.au3> ; to declare the Constants of StringRegExp #include <Array.au3> ; UDF needed for _ArrayDisplay and _ArrayConcatenate Local $sRegex = "(?mxJ)(?<= \s )" & @CRLF & _ " # Match opening braket (i.e., `[`)." & @CRLF & _ " (?<g1> \[)" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ " # Match any single character (e.g., `x`)." & @CRLF & _ " (?<g2> .)" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ " # Matching closing braket (i.e., `]`)" & @CRLF & _ " (?<g1> \])" & @CRLF & _ "(?= \s* [?!*]? \s* )" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "# Exclude entries without text (i.e., incl. in tables)." & @CRLF & _ "(?! " & @CRLF & _ " \s* [?!*]? \s* \|" & @CRLF & _ " |" & @CRLF & _ " \s* [?!*]? \s* $" & @CRLF & _ ")" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "# Match the text (i.e., capture based on modifier presence)." & @CRLF & _ "(?:" & @CRLF & _ " # Match modifier (i.e., `!`, `?`, or `*`) and the text that follows." & @CRLF & _ " \s* (?<g3>[!?*]) \s* (?<g4>.*?)" & @CRLF & _ " |" & @CRLF & _ " # Match the text that does not follow a modifier." & @CRLF & _ " \s* (?! [!?*]) \s* (?<g5>.*?)" & @CRLF & _ ")" & @CRLF & _ "# Match until either of the stops that follow are met." & @CRLF & _ "(?= \s+ \^[a-z0-9]{6,} | \s+ \| | \s*$)" Local $sString = "# Should match" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] Some task" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] Some task | [[link]]" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] Some task ^abcdef" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] Some task | [[link]] ^abcdef" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! Some task" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! Some task | [[link]]" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! Some task ^abcdef" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! Some task | [[link]] ^abcdef" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] Task one | [ ] ! Task two | [ ] Task three ^abcdef" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "| Tracker | Task | Backlog |" & @CRLF & _ "| ----------: | :---------------------- | :------- |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] Task item | [[linK]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] Task item ^abcdef | [[link]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] [[task-item]] | [[link]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] ! Task item | [[linK]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] ! Task item ^abcdef | [[link]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] ! [[task-item]] | [[link]] |" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "# Should not match" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] " & @CRLF & _ "- [ ]" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] " & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! " & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] !" & @CRLF & _ "- [ ] ! " & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "| Tracker | Task | Backlog |" & @CRLF & _ "| ----------: | :---------------------- | :------- |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] | [[linK]] |" & @CRLF & _ "| 00:00-00:00 | [ ] ! | [[linK]] |" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "# Desired outcome" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- group `notation`:" & @CRLF & _ " - match: `[` and `]`" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- group `symbol`: " & @CRLF & _ " - match: any single character (e.g., `\s`) between `[` and `]`" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- group `modifier`:" & @CRLF & _ " - match: `!`, `?`, or `*` that follows after `[ ]`" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- group `text`: " & @CRLF & _ " - match: task text after `[ ]` without modifier present" & @CRLF & _ "" & @CRLF & _ "- group `textmod`: " & @CRLF & _ " - match: task text after `[ ] !` with modifier present" & @CRLF & _ "" Local $aArray = StringRegExp($sString, $sRegex, $STR_REGEXPARRAYGLOBALFULLMATCH) Local $aFullArray[0] For $i = 0 To UBound($aArray) -1 _ArrayConcatenate($aFullArray, $aArray[$i]) Next $aArray = $aFullArray ; Present the entire match result _ArrayDisplay($aArray, "Result")

Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for AutoIt, please visit: https://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/functions/StringRegExp.htm