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

/
/
gmx

Test String

Code Generator

Generated Code

import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class Example { public static void main(String[] args) { final String regex = "(?(DEFINE)\n" + " (?# Definitions )\n" + " (?<valid_nameChars>[\\p{L}\\p{Nl}])\n" + " (?<valid_nonNameChars>[^\\p{L}\\p{Nl}\\p{Zs}])\n" + " (?<valid_startFirstName>(?![a-z])[\\p{L}'])\n" + " (?<valid_upperChar>(?![a-z])\\p{L})\n" + " (?<valid_nameSeparatorsSoft>[\\p{Pd}'])\n" + " (?<valid_nameSeparatorsHard>\\p{Zs})\n" + " (?<valid_nameSeparators>(?&valid_nameSeparatorsSoft)|(?&valid_nameSeparatorsHard))\n" + " (?# Invalid combinations )\n" + " (?<invalid_startChar>^[\\p{Zs}a-z])\n" + " (?<invalid_endChar>.*[^\\p{L}\\p{Nl}.\\p{C}]$)\n" + " (?<invalid_unaccompaniedSymbol>.*(?&valid_nameSeparatorsHard)(?&valid_nonNameChars)(?&valid_nameSeparatorsHard))\n" + " (?<invalid_overTwoUpper>(?:(?&valid_nameChars)*\\p{Lu}){3})\n" + " (?<invalid>(?&invalid_startChar)|(?&invalid_endChar)|(?&invalid_unaccompaniedSymbol)|(?&invalid_overTwoUpper))\n" + " (?# Valid combinations )\n" + " (?<valid_name>(?:(?:(?&valid_nameChars)|(?&valid_nameSeparatorsSoft))*(?&valid_nameChars)+(?:(?&valid_nameChars)|(?&valid_nameSeparatorsSoft))*)+\\.?)\n" + " (?<valid_firstName>(?&valid_startFirstName)(?:\\.|(?&valid_name)*))\n" + " (?<valid_multipleName>(?&valid_firstName)(?=.*(?&valid_nameSeparators)(?&valid_upperChar))(?:(?&valid_nameSeparatorsHard)(?&valid_name))+)\n" + " (?<valid>(?&valid_multipleName)|(?&valid_firstName))\n" + ")\n" + "^(?!(?&invalid))(?&valid)$"; final String string = "== 1NcOrrect N4M3S ==\n" + "CAPITAL LETTER\n" + "AlTeRnAtE LeTtEr\n" + "Natalia maria\n" + "Natalia aria\n" + "Natalia orea\n" + "Maria dornelas\n" + "Samuel eto'\n" + "Miguel lasagna\n" + "Antony1 de Home Ap*ril\n" + "Ap*ril Willians\n" + "Antony_ de Home Apr+il\n" + "Ant_ony de Home Apr#il\n" + "Antony@ de Ho@me Apr^il\n" + "Maria Silva\n" + "Maria silva\n" + "maria Silva\n" + " Maria Silva\n" + "Maria Silva \n" + "Maria / Silva\n" + "Maria . Silva\n" + "John W8\n\n" + "==Correct Names==\n" + "Urxan Əbűlhəsənzadə\n" + "İsmət Jafarov\n" + "Şükür Hagverdiyev\n" + "Űmid Abdurrahimov\n" + "Ġerardo Seralta\n" + "Ċikku Paris\n" + "Hind ibn Sheik\n" + "Colop-U-Uichikin\n" + "Lażżru Role\n" + "Alaksiej Taraškievič\n" + "Petruso Husoǔski\n" + "Sumu-la-El\n" + "Valeh ßlÿsgÿroğlu\n" + "'Arab al-Rashayida\n" + "Tariq al-Hashimi\n" + "Nabeeh el-Mady\n" + "Tariq Al-Hashimi\n" + "Brian O'Conner\n" + "Maria da Silva\n" + "Maria Silva\n" + "Maria G. Silva\n" + "Maria McDuffy\n" + "Getúlio Dornelles Vargas\n" + "Maria das Flores\n" + "John Smith\n" + "John D'Largy\n" + "John Doe-Smith\n" + "John Doe Smith\n" + "Hector Sausage-Hausen\n" + "Mathias d'Arras\n" + "Martin Luther King Jr.\n" + "Ai Wong\n" + "Chao Chang\n" + "Alzbeta Bara\n" + "Marcos Assunção\n" + "Maria da Silva e Silva\n" + "Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira\n" + "Maria da Costa e Silva\n" + "Samuel Eto'o\n" + "María Antonieta de las Nieves\n" + "Eugène\n" + "Antòny de Homé April\n" + "àntony de Home ùpril\n" + "Antony de Home Aprìl\n" + "Pierre de l'Estache\n" + "Pierre de L'Estoile\n" + "Akihito\n" + "Nadine Schröder\n" + "Anna A. Møller\n" + "D. Pedro I\n" + "Pope Benedict XVI\n" + "Marsibil Ragnarsdóttir\n" + "Natanaël Morel\n" + "Isaac De la Croix\n" + "Jean-Michel Bozonnet\n" + "Qutaibah Mu'tazz Abadi\n" + "Rushd Jawna' Kassab\n" + "Khaldun Abdul-Qahhar Sabbag\n" + "'Awad Bashshar Asker\n" + "Al B. Zellweger\n" + "Gunnleif Snæ-Ulfsson\n" + "Käre Toresson\n" + "Sorli Ærnmundsson\n" + "Arnkel Øystæinsson\n" + "Ástríður Dórey\n" + "Åsmund Kåresson\n" + "Yahatti-Il\n" + "Ipqu-Annunitum\n" + "Nabu-zar-adan\n" + "Eskopas Cañaverri\n" + "Botolph of Langchester\n" + "Aelfhun the Cantrell\n" + "Fraco di Natale\n" + "Fraco Di Natale\n" + "Iván de Luca\n" + "Iván De Luca\n" + "Man'nah\n" + "Atabala Aüamusalü\n" + "Ramiz Ağasəfalu\n" + "Dadaş Aghakhanov\n" + "Fÿrxad Mübarizlı\n" + "Vaclaǔ Šupa\n" + "Yakiv Volacič\n" + "Flor Van Vaerenbergh\n" + "Flor van Vaerenbergh\n" + "Edwin van der Sar\n" + "Husein Ekmečić\n" + "Álvaro Guimarães Alencar\n" + "Phone U Yaza Arkar\n" + "Seocan MacGhille\n" + "X'wat'e Tlekadugovy\n" + "Albert-Jan Bootsveld\n" + "Maurits-jan Kuipers op den Kollenstaart\n" + "Elco ter Hoek\n" + "Robbert te Poele\n" + "Aad ten Have\n" + "'Ehu Kali\n" + "Ho'opa'a Loni\n" + "Aukanai'i Mahi'ai\n" + "Kalman ben Tal El\n" + "Żytomir Roszkowski\n" + "K'awai\n\n" + "==EXTRA== only if possible, strange ones\n" + "Maol-Moire Mac'IlleBhuidh\n" + "Tòmas MacIlleChruim\n" + "Aindreas MacIllEathain\n" + "Eanruig MacGilleBhreac\n" + "Peadar MacGilleDhonaghart\n" + "Maolmhuire MacGill-Eain\n" + "Eanruig MacGilleBhreac\n" + "Wim van 't Plasman"; final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.MULTILINE | Pattern.COMMENTS); final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string); while (matcher.find()) { System.out.println("Full match: " + matcher.group(0)); for (int i = 1; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++) { System.out.println("Group " + i + ": " + matcher.group(i)); } } } }

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 Java, please visit: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html