Regular Expressions 101

Explanation

Pro

^start of line

Negated Character Class[^*]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

*the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:\*{2}[^ ][^*]*[^ ]\*{2}[^*\n]*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

\*{2}the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

Negated Character Class[^ ]

the literal (32₁₀ / 40₈ / 20₁₆)

Negated Character Class[^*]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

*the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆)

Negated Character Class[^ ]

the literal (32₁₀ / 40₈ / 20₁₆)

\*{2}the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

Negated Character Class[^*\n]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

*the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆)

\na line-feed (newline) character (ASCII 10)

Non-Capturing Group(?:\*{2}(?: [^*]+|[^*]+ )\*{2})

\*{2}the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

Non-Capturing Group(?: [^*]+|[^*]+ )

1st Alternative [^*]+

the literal (32₁₀ / 40₈ / 20₁₆)

Negated Character Class[^*]+

+matches at least one character outside the set below:

*the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆)

2nd Alternative[^*]+

Negated Character Class[^*]+

+matches at least one character outside the set below:

*the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆)

the literal (32₁₀ / 40₈ / 20₁₆)

\*{2}the literal * (42₁₀ / 52₈ / 2A₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

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

$end of line

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

Match Information

Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.

Quick Reference

26 tokens

Regular Expression

^[^*]*(?:\*{2}[^ ][^*]*[^ ]\*{2}[^*\n]*)*(?:\*{2}(?: [^*]+|[^*]+ )\*{2}).*$

**correct** This line is **correct** and **properly marked down**.
But this line **is not** because ** the second bold is wrong**.
** Also**  **This Also** ** This Also ** this line is wrong **even though this is right **.
Absolutely no bold tagging in this sentence.
**correct** This line is **correct** and **properly marked down**.
But this line **is not** because ** the second bold is wrong**.
** Also**  **This Also** ** This Also ** this line is wrong **even though this is right **.

Extraction

**correct** This line is **correct** and **properly marked down**.
But this line **is not** because ** the second bold is wrong**.
** Also**  **This Also** ** This Also ** this line is wrong **even though this is right **.
Absolutely no bold tagging in this sentence.
**correct** This line is **correct** and **properly marked down**.
But this line **is not** because ** the second bold is wrong**.
** Also**  **This Also** ** This Also ** this line is wrong **even though this is right **.