import re
regex = re.compile(r"""
(?:(?<=^\n)|(?<=\A))
(?<list_all>
(?<list_prefix>
[\s]{0,3}
(?<list_type_any>
(?:
(?<list_type_unordered_star>(?&list_unordered_star))
|
(?<list_type_unordered_minus>(?&list_unordered_minus))
|
(?<list_type_unordered_plus>(?&list_unordered_plus))
|
(?<list_type_ordered>(?&list_ordered))
)
)
[ \t]+
)
(?<list_content>(?s:.+?))
(?<list_after>
\z
|
\n{2,}
(?=\S)
(?!
[ \t]*
(?<list_type_any2>
(?:
(?<list_type_unordered_star2>(?&list_unordered_star))
|
(?<list_type_unordered_minus2>(?&list_unordered_minus))
|
(?<list_type_unordered_plus2>(?&list_unordered_plus))
|
(?<list_type_ordered2>(?&list_ordered))
)
)
[ \t]+
)
)
)
(?(DEFINE)
(?<list_unordered_star>
[\*]
(?!
(?:
[ ]?[\*][ ]?
){2,}
)
)
(?<list_unordered_minus>
[\-]
(?!
(?:
[ ]?[\-][ ]?
){2,}
)
)
(?<list_unordered_plus>[\+])
(?<list_ordered>\d+[\.])
)
""", flags=re.MULTILINE | re.VERBOSE)
test_str = ("\n"
"* asterisk 1\n\n"
"* asterisk 2\n\n"
"* asterisk 3\n\n"
"* * *\n\n")
matches = regex.finditer(test_str)
for match_num, match in enumerate(matches, start=1):
print(f"Match {match_num} was found at {match.start()}-{match.end()}: {match.group()}")
for group_num, group in enumerate(match.groups(), start=1):
print(f"Group {group_num} found at {match.start(group_num)}-{match.end(group_num)}: {group}")
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