regex101: PCRE (Legacy) Match Workspace

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Definition Group(?(DEFINE) # regex definitions (?P<string>[a-zA-Z0-9]+) (?P<value>\s*(?:(?&string)|(?&array)|(?&object))\s*) (?P<array>\s*\[\s*(?&value)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&value)\s*)*\]) (?P<pair>(?&string)\s*:\s*(?&value)) (?P<object>\{\s*(?&pair)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&pair)\s*)*\}) )

Comment: regex definitions

Group string(?P<string>[a-zA-Z0-9]+)

Character Class[a-zA-Z0-9]+

+matches at least one character from the set below:

a-zone character from a (97₁₀) to z (122₁₀) (case sensitive)

A-Zone character from A (65₁₀) to Z (90₁₀) (case sensitive)

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

Group value(?P<value>\s*(?:(?&string)|(?&array)|(?&object))\s*)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

Non-Capturing Group(?:(?&string)|(?&array)|(?&object))

1st Alternative(?&string)

(?&string)calls group string as a subroutine

2nd Alternative(?&array)

(?&array)calls group array as a subroutine

3rd Alternative(?&object)

(?&object)calls group object as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

Group array(?P<array>\s*\[\s*(?&value)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&value)\s*)*\])

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

\[the literal [ (91₁₀ / 133₈ / 5B₁₆)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

(?&value)calls group value as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

Non-Capturing Group(?:\s*,\s*(?&value)\s*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

,the literal , (44₁₀ / 54₈ / 2C₁₆)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

(?&value)calls group value as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

\]the literal ] (93₁₀ / 135₈ / 5D₁₆)

Group pair(?P<pair>(?&string)\s*:\s*(?&value))

(?&string)calls group string as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

(?&value)calls group value as a subroutine

Group object(?P<object>\{\s*(?&pair)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&pair)\s*)*\})

\{the literal { (123₁₀ / 173₈ / 7B₁₆)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

(?&pair)calls group pair as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

Non-Capturing Group(?:\s*,\s*(?&pair)\s*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

,the literal , (44₁₀ / 54₈ / 2C₁₆)

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

(?&pair)calls group pair as a subroutine

\s*any whitespace character, repeated any number of times

\}the literal } (125₁₀ / 175₈ / 7D₁₆)

(?&object)calls group object as a subroutine

Global pattern flags

g modifier: global. Finds all matches instead of stopping after the first

m modifier: multiline. Causes ^ and $ to match the start and end of each line, not only the start and end of the string

x modifier: extended. Ignores unescaped whitespace and comments outside character classes

25 tokens

Regular Expression

(?(DEFINE)                     # regex definitions
    (?P<string>[a-zA-Z0-9]+)
    (?P<value>\s*(?:(?&string)|(?&array)|(?&object))\s*)
    (?P<array>\s*\[\s*(?&value)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&value)\s*)*\])
    (?P<pair>(?&string)\s*:\s*(?&value))
    (?P<object>\{\s*(?&pair)\s*(?:\s*,\s*(?&pair)\s*)*\})
)
(?&object)

New

 {
  foo : bar,
  baz : [aa, bb, ccc],
  123 : 123,
  obj : { foo : bar}
}

Extraction

 {
  foo : bar,
  baz : [aa, bb, ccc],
  123 : 123,
  obj : { foo : bar}
}