Regular Expressions 101

Explanation

Pro

Group 1((?:\[\s*(?<name>[a-zA-Z0-9-_]+)\s*(?:\=\s*(?<bbCode>\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)))?\s*(?<parameters>(?:\s*(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))))*)\s*(?:\](?<content>.*?)\[\s*(?<markerContent>\/)\s*(\k<name>)\s*\]|\]|(?<marker>\/)\s*\])))

Non-Capturing Group(?:\[\s*(?<name>[a-zA-Z0-9-_]+)\s*(?:\=\s*(?<bbCode>\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)))?\s*(?<parameters>(?:\s*(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))))*)\s*(?:\](?<content>.*?)\[\s*(?<markerContent>\/)\s*(\k<name>)\s*\]|\]|(?<marker>\/)\s*\]))

\[the literal [ (91₁₀ / 133₈ / 5B₁₆)

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

Group name(?<name>[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 insensitive)

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

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

-the literal - (45₁₀ / 55₈ / 2D₁₆)

_the literal _ (95₁₀ / 137₈ / 5F₁₆)

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

Non-Capturing Group(?:\=\s*(?<bbCode>\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)))?

?repeats the group contents below at most once:

\=the literal = (61₁₀ / 75₈ / 3D₁₆)

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

Group bbCode(?<bbCode>\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+))

1st Alternative\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)

Negated Character Class[^\"\\\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

.any Unicode character (except for line terminators)

Negated Character Class[^\"\\\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

2nd Alternative((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)

Group 4((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)

Non-Capturing Group(?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+

+repeats the group contents below at least once:

Negative Lookahead(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])

1st Alternative=\s*

=the literal = (61₁₀ / 75₈ / 3D₁₆)

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

2nd Alternative\]

\]the literal ] (93₁₀ / 135₈ / 5D₁₆)

3rd Alternative\/\]

\/the literal / (47₁₀ / 57₈ / 2F₁₆)

\]the literal ] (93₁₀ / 135₈ / 5D₁₆)

Negated Character Class[^\s]

\sa Unicode whitespace character

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

Group parameters(?<parameters>(?:\s*(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))))*)

Non-Capturing Group(?:\s*(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))))*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

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

Non-Capturing Group(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$)))

\w+a Unicode word character, repeated at least once

Non-Capturing Group(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))

1st Alternative\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"

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

\=the literal = (61₁₀ / 75₈ / 3D₁₆)

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

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)

Negated Character Class[^\"\\\\]*

Non-Capturing Group(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*

\"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

2nd Alternative\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)

3rd Alternative(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$)

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

Non-Capturing Group(?:\](?<content>.*?)\[\s*(?<markerContent>\/)\s*(\k<name>)\s*\]|\]|(?<marker>\/)\s*\])

Global pattern flags

u modifier: unicode. Treats the pattern and subject as UTF-16

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

i modifier: insensitive. Matches without distinguishing uppercase and lowercase letters

Match Information

Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.

Quick Reference

25 tokens

Regular Expression

((?:\[\s*(?<name>[a-zA-Z0-9-_]+)\s*(?:\=\s*(?<bbCode>\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)))?\s*(?<parameters>(?:\s*(?:\w+(?:\s*\=\s*\"(?:[^\"\\\\]*(?:\\\\.[^\"\\\\]*)*)\"|\s*\=\s*((?:(?!=\s*|\]|\/\])[^\s])+)|(?=\s|\]|\/\s*\]|$))))*)\s*(?:\](?<content>.*?)\[\s*(?<markerContent>\/)\s*(\k<name>)\s*\]|\]|(?<marker>\/)\s*\])))

New

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Extraction

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