re = /<a(?:\s+name=".*?")?\s+href=.*?#.*?>(.*?)<\/a>/
str = '<a href="http://example.com/books/1">The Lord of the Rings</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/1#c1" >Chapter 1</a></li>
<li><a name="name before href" href="http://example.com/books/1#c2">Chapter 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/1#c3" name="name after href">Chapter 3</a></li>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/1#cN" target="_blank">Chapter N</a></li>
</ul>
<br><br>
<a href="http://example.com/books/1">Harry Potter</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/2#c1" target="_self">Chapter 1</a></li>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/2#c2" name="some have name" title="some others have title" >Chapter 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/2#c3">Chapter 3</a></li>
<li><a href="http://example.com/books/2#cN" >Chapter N</a></li>
</ul>'
# Print the match result
str.scan(re) do |match|
puts match.to_s
end
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 Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html