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

import Foundation let pattern = #"(?m)(?:^recipeingredient:\s\[\".*|\G)[^\"]*\K\\"# let regex = try! NSRegularExpression(pattern: pattern, options: .anchorsMatchLines) let testString = #""" description: "Easiest Way to Prepare Speedy Dal Chicken" title: "How to Prepare Award-winning Dal Chicken" date: 2020-12-10T07:38:14.079Z image: https://img-\global.cpcdn.com/recipes/f92bd4e2e07d9fa1/751x532cq70/dal-chicken-recipe-main-photo.jpg thumbnail: https://img-global.cpcdn.com/recipes/f92bd4e2e07d9fa1/751x532cq70/dal-chicken-recipe-main-photo.jpg cover: https://img-global.cpcdn.com/recipes/f92bd4e2e07d9fa1/751x532cq70/dal-chicken-recipe-main-photo.jpg author: Mathilda Day ratingvalue: 4.9 reviewcount: 44224 recipeingredient: ["1 chicken breast - cut in small pieces","1 \ 1/2 cup chana dal - soaked over night and partially boiled","1 tblsp red chilli powder","1 tblsp dhaniya powder","pinch turmeric powder","1 1/2 tblsp of ginger-garlic paste"," Salt per taste","3 black peppers (whole)","3,4 cloves","1 cinnamon stick","1/2 tsp cumin seeds","1 medium onion - finely chopped","1 medium tomato paste","4 tblsp oil","as needed Water",] recipeinstructions: ["Heat oil in a wok - Add cumin seeds, black peppers, cloves, and cinnamon stick.","Add onions.Let it cook till it turns light brownAdd tomato paste.Let it cook till oil separates.","Add lal masala (Step 3) &amp; salt - Cook till oil separates and the masala is cooked.Add chicken and chana dal.Add water as needed.","Cook till chicken and the dal has properly cooked and the gravy is at the consistency that you want.","Serve with roti aur chapati.",] categories: """# let stringRange = NSRange(location: 0, length: testString.utf16.count) let matches = regex.matches(in: testString, range: stringRange) var result: [[String]] = [] for match in matches { var groups: [String] = [] for rangeIndex in 1 ..< match.numberOfRanges { let nsRange = match.range(at: rangeIndex) guard !NSEqualRanges(nsRange, NSMakeRange(NSNotFound, 0)) else { continue } let string = (testString as NSString).substring(with: nsRange) groups.append(string) } if !groups.isEmpty { result.append(groups) } } print(result)

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 Swift 5.2, please visit: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsregularexpression