Regular Expressions 101

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An explanation of your regex will be automatically generated as you type.
Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.
  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Non-capturing group
    (?:...)
  • Capturing group
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression
No Match

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

# coding=utf8 # the above tag defines encoding for this document and is for Python 2.x compatibility import re regex = r"^v=spf1( +([-+?~]?(all|include:(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\})|a(:(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}))?((\/(\d|1\d|2\d|3[0-2]))?(\/\/([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8]))?)?|mx(:(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}))?((\/(\d|1\d|2\d|3[0-2]))?(\/\/([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8]))?)?|ptr(:(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}))?|ip4:([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])(\/([0-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-2]))?|ip6:(::|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){7}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){1,8}:|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){7}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,5}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,6}|[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,7}|:(:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}){1,8}|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}:([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}:([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:)?([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}:([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,2}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}:([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,3}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}:([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,4}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}::([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,5}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])|::([0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,6}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5]))(\/(\d{1,2}|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8]))?|exists:(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}))|redirect=(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\})|exp=(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*(\.([A-Za-z]|[A-Za-z]([-0-9A-Za-z]?)*[0-9A-Za-z])|%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\})|[A-Za-z][-.0-9A-Z_a-z]*=(%\{[CDHILOPR-Tcdhilopr-t]([1-9][0-9]?|10[0-9]|11[0-9]|12[0-8])?r?[+-\/=_]*\}|%%|%_|%-|[!-$&-~])*))* *$" test_str = ("# Valid SPF records\n" "v=spf1 -all\n" "v=spf1 a -all\n" "v=spf1 a mx -all\n" "v=spf1 +a +mx -all\n" "v=spf1 mx -all\n" "v=spf1 -all\n" "v=spf1 +all\n" "v=spf1 ip4:192.168.0.1/16 -all\n" "v=spf1 ip6:1080::8:800:200C:417A/96 -all\n" "v=spf1 ip6:1080::8:800:68.0.3.1/96 -all\n" "v=spf1 a:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 a:mailers.example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 a/24 a:offsite.example.com/24 -all\n" "v=spf1 mx mx:deferrals.domain.com -all\n" "v=spf1 mx/24 mx:offsite.domain.com/24 -all\n" "v=spf1 ptr -all\n" "v=spf1 ptr:otherdomain.com -all\n" "v=spf1 exists:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 include:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 ?include:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 redirect=example.com\n" "v=spf1 exp=example.com\n\n" "# None Valid SPF\n" "v=spf1 *all\n" "v=spf1 a-all\n" "v=spf1 aa mx -all\n" "v=spf1 +a +mx -alll\n" "v=spf1 mxx -all\n" " v=spf1 -all\n" "v=spf1+all\n" "v=spf1 ip4:192.168.0.1111/16 -all\n" "v=spf1 ipv6:1080::8:800:200C:417A/96 -all\n" "v=spf1 ip6:1080::8:800:68.0.3.1/96 -alll\n" "# com-all shoudl give an error, but it doesn't, need to fix this.\n" "v=spf1 a:example.com-all\n" "v=spf1 aa:mailers.example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 a/2a4 a:offsite.example.com/24 -all\n" "v=spf1 xmx mx:deferrals.domain.com -all\n" "v=spf1mx/24 mx:offsite.domain.com/24 -all\n" "ptr -all\n" "v=spf2 ptr:otherdomain.com -all\n" "v=spf1 existss:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 include :example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 ?includes:example.com -all\n" "v=spf1 redirect=example.com\n" "v=spf1 exp=example.com") matches = re.finditer(regex, test_str, re.MULTILINE) 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