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

`
`
sg

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" *<hashTree>. *<JSONPathAssertion.*?</JSONPathAssertion>. *<hashTree/>. *</hashTree>." test_str = ("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n" "<jmeterTestPlan version=\"1.2\" properties=\"5.0\" jmeter=\"5.1.1 r1855137\">\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <TestPlan guiclass=\"TestPlanGui\" testclass=\"TestPlan\" testname=\"test one\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"TestPlan.comments\"></stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"TestPlan.functional_mode\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"TestPlan.tearDown_on_shutdown\">true</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"TestPlan.serialize_threadgroups\">false</boolProp>\n" " <elementProp name=\"TestPlan.user_defined_variables\" elementType=\"Arguments\" guiclass=\"ArgumentsPanel\" testclass=\"Arguments\" testname=\"User Defined Variables\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <collectionProp name=\"Arguments.arguments\"/>\n" " </elementProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"TestPlan.user_define_classpath\"></stringProp>\n" " </TestPlan>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <com.blazemeter.jmeter.threads.concurrency.ConcurrencyThreadGroup guiclass=\"com.blazemeter.jmeter.threads.concurrency.ConcurrencyThreadGroupGui\" testclass=\"com.blazemeter.jmeter.threads.concurrency.ConcurrencyThreadGroup\" testname=\"Thread - main\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <elementProp name=\"ThreadGroup.main_controller\" elementType=\"com.blazemeter.jmeter.control.VirtualUserController\"/>\n" " <stringProp name=\"ThreadGroup.on_sample_error\">continue</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"TargetLevel\">${__P(threads, 1)}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"RampUp\">${__P(time, 1)}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Steps\">${__P(steps, 1)}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Hold\">${__P(hold, 3)}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"LogFilename\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Iterations\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Unit\">M</stringProp>\n" " </com.blazemeter.jmeter.threads.concurrency.ConcurrencyThreadGroup>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <GenericController guiclass=\"LogicControllerGui\" testclass=\"GenericController\" testname=\"Simple Controller - main\" enabled=\"true\"/>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass=\"HttpTestSampleGui\" testclass=\"HTTPSamplerProxy\" testname=\"REQUEST1\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw\">true</boolProp>\n" " <elementProp name=\"HTTPsampler.Arguments\" elementType=\"Arguments\">\n" " <collectionProp name=\"Arguments.arguments\">\n" " <elementProp name=\"\" elementType=\"HTTPArgument\">\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPArgument.always_encode\">false</boolProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Argument.value\">{&#xd;\n" " &quot;version&quot;: &quot;1.1&quot;,&#xd;\n" " &quot;test&quot;: {&#xd;\n" "}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Argument.metadata\">=</stringProp>\n" " </elementProp>\n" " </collectionProp>\n" " </elementProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.domain\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.port\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.protocol\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.contentEncoding\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.path\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.method\">POST</stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.follow_redirects\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.auto_redirects\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.use_keepalive\">true</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.DO_MULTIPART_POST\">false</boolProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.embedded_url_re\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.connect_timeout\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.response_timeout\"></stringProp>\n" " </HTTPSamplerProxy>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <JSONPathAssertion guiclass=\"JSONPathAssertionGui\" testclass=\"JSONPathAssertion\" testname=\"JSON Assertion\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"JSON_PATH\">$.status</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"EXPECTED_VALUE\">ok</stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"JSONVALIDATION\">true</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"EXPECT_NULL\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"INVERT\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"ISREGEX\">false</boolProp>\n" " </JSONPathAssertion>\n" " <hashTree/>\n" " <JSR223PreProcessor guiclass=\"TestBeanGUI\" testclass=\"JSR223PreProcessor\" testname=\"JSR223 PreProcessor\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"cacheKey\">true</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"filename\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"parameters\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"script\">// period in the past - year-month-day, set from properties in User Defined Variables\n\n" "import java.time.Instant;\n" "import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;\n" "import groovy.json.JsonOutput;\n" "import org.apache.commons.lang.RandomStringUtils;</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"scriptLanguage\">groovy</stringProp>\n" " </JSR223PreProcessor>\n" " <hashTree/>\n" " <JSR223PostProcessor guiclass=\"TestBeanGUI\" testclass=\"JSR223PostProcessor\" testname=\"JSR223 PostProcessor\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"cacheKey\">true</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"filename\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"parameters\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"script\">import java.time.Instant;\n" "import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"scriptLanguage\">groovy</stringProp>\n" " </JSR223PostProcessor>\n" " <hashTree/>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " <IfController guiclass=\"IfControllerPanel\" testclass=\"IfController\" testname=\"If Controller\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"IfController.condition\">${__groovy(${random_variable} == 1)}</stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"IfController.evaluateAll\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"IfController.useExpression\">true</boolProp>\n" " </IfController>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <RandomController guiclass=\"RandomControlGui\" testclass=\"RandomController\" testname=\"Random Controller\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <intProp name=\"InterleaveControl.style\">1</intProp>\n" " </RandomController>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass=\"HttpTestSampleGui\" testclass=\"HTTPSamplerProxy\" testname=\"REQUEST2\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw\">true</boolProp>\n" " <elementProp name=\"HTTPsampler.Arguments\" elementType=\"Arguments\">\n" " <collectionProp name=\"Arguments.arguments\">\n" " <elementProp name=\"\" elementType=\"HTTPArgument\">\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPArgument.always_encode\">false</boolProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Argument.value\">{&#xd;\n" " &quot;version&quot;: &quot;1.1&quot;,&#xd;\n" " &quot;test&quot;: {&#xd;\n" "}</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"Argument.metadata\">=</stringProp>\n" " </elementProp>\n" " </collectionProp>\n" " </elementProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.domain\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.port\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.protocol\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.contentEncoding\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.path\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.method\">POST</stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.follow_redirects\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.auto_redirects\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.use_keepalive\">true</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"HTTPSampler.DO_MULTIPART_POST\">false</boolProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.embedded_url_re\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.connect_timeout\"></stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"HTTPSampler.response_timeout\"></stringProp>\n" " </HTTPSamplerProxy>\n" " <hashTree>\n" " <JSONPathAssertion guiclass=\"JSONPathAssertionGui\" testclass=\"JSONPathAssertion\" testname=\"JSON Assertion\" enabled=\"true\">\n" " <stringProp name=\"JSON_PATH\">$.status</stringProp>\n" " <stringProp name=\"EXPECTED_VALUE\">ok</stringProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"JSONVALIDATION\">true</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"EXPECT_NULL\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"INVERT\">false</boolProp>\n" " <boolProp name=\"ISREGEX\">false</boolProp>\n" " </JSONPathAssertion>\n" " <hashTree/>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" " </hashTree>\n" "</jmeterTestPlan>") matches = re.finditer(regex, test_str, re.DOTALL) 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