# coding=utf8
# the above tag defines encoding for this document and is for Python 2.x compatibility
import re
regex = r"\b(?:[^L\W]*L){2}[^L\W]*\b"
test_str = ("match on specific character, multiple times but not necessarily consecutive\n\n"
"I'm looking for a 'non consecutive' way to do something similar to how`{n}` works. Some examples, using the letter `L` , and using `L{2}` *incorrectly* just to demonstrate the desired outcome\n\n"
"LLAMA - match\n\n"
"SHELLS - match\n\n"
"LEVEL \\- match, even though the L's are not consecutive\n\n"
"LOSER - no match number of L != 2\n\n"
"LEVELLED - no match, number of L != 2 \n")
matches = re.finditer(regex, test_str)
for matchNum, match in enumerate(matches, start=1):
print ("Match {matchNum} was found at {start}-{end}: {match}".format(matchNum = matchNum, start = match.start(), end = match.end(), match = match.group()))
for groupNum in range(0, len(match.groups())):
groupNum = groupNum + 1
print ("Group {groupNum} found at {start}-{end}: {group}".format(groupNum = groupNum, start = match.start(groupNum), end = match.end(groupNum), group = match.group(groupNum)))
# Note: for Python 2.7 compatibility, use ur"" to prefix the regex and u"" to prefix the test string and substitution.
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 Python, please visit: https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html