Regular Expressions 101

\<the literal < (60₁₀ / 74₈ / 3C₁₆)

Group 1([\w]+)

Character Class[\w]+

+matches at least one character from the set below:

\wany word character

Group 2([^\>]*?)

Negated Character Class[^\>]*?

*?matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\>the literal > (62₁₀ / 76₈ / 3E₁₆)

Group 3(([\s]*\/\>)|(\>((([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*)\<\/\1[\s]*\>))

1st Alternative([\s]*\/\>)

Group 4([\s]*\/\>)

Character Class[\s]*

*matches any number of characters from the set below:

\sany whitespace character

\/the literal / (47₁₀ / 57₈ / 2F₁₆)

\>the literal > (62₁₀ / 76₈ / 3E₁₆)

2nd Alternative(\>((([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*)\<\/\1[\s]*\>)

Group 5(\>((([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*)\<\/\1[\s]*\>)

\>the literal > (62₁₀ / 76₈ / 3E₁₆)

Group 6((([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*)

Group 7(([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

1st Alternative([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)

Group 8([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)

1st Alternative[^\<]*?

Negated Character Class[^\<]*?

*?matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\<the literal < (60₁₀ / 74₈ / 3C₁₆)

2nd Alternative\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>

\<the literal < (60₁₀ / 74₈ / 3C₁₆)

\!the literal ! (33₁₀ / 41₈ / 21₁₆)

\-the literal - (45₁₀ / 55₈ / 2D₁₆)

.*?any character (except for line terminators), repeated any number of times

\-the literal - (45₁₀ / 55₈ / 2D₁₆)

\>the literal > (62₁₀ / 76₈ / 3E₁₆)

2nd Alternative(?R)

(?R)recurses into the entire pattern

\<the literal < (60₁₀ / 74₈ / 3C₁₆)

\/the literal / (47₁₀ / 57₈ / 2F₁₆)

\1the text saved by group 1

Character Class[\s]*

*matches any number of characters from the set below:

\sany whitespace character

\>the literal > (62₁₀ / 76₈ / 3E₁₆)

Global pattern flags

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

Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.

Search reference

Regular Expression

\<([\w]+)([^\>]*?)(([\s]*\/\>)|(\>((([^\<]*?|\<\!\-\-.*?\-\-\>)|(?R))*)\<\/\1[\s]*\>))

New

<test>
    <a href="hello.html">A link</a>
</test>