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

# coding=utf8 # the above tag defines encoding for this document and is for Python 2.x compatibility import re regex = r"^[^\s]+\s[^\s]+" test_str = ("Monika Olah Richárd Bai\n" "Like · Reply · March 24 at 4:45pm\n\n" "Kecskés Dóra Edina Molnar Attila\n" "Like · Reply · March 24 at 4:16pm\n\n" "Manole Ioana Dana Marinescu\n" "Like · Reply · 2 · March 24 at 5:09pm\n\n" "Norbert Kosa Sinko Bela\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 28 at 9:37am\n\n" "AsiYe Asy KeJal SeRna\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 27 at 4:59pm\n\n" "Banu Razvan Ana Banu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 26 at 11:40pm\n\n" "Timeia Denysa Batcau Denisa\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 26 at 11:36pm\n\n" "Cristina Visalon Eugen Comanescu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 26 at 11:21pm\n\n" "Irina Paun Paula Cristea\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 26 at 11:31am\n\n" "Oneth Ciprian Onet Daniela Carmen\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 26 at 12:46am\n\n" "Sorina Radulescu Tatiana Sorina\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 11:59pm\n\n" "Neculay Neculayp Caty Catyp\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 4:01pm\n\n" "Lavinia Popescu Lapadat Liviu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:51pm\n\n" "Georgeta Pintilie Octavian Pintilie\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:30pm\n\n" "Elena Petrescu Victor Petrescu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:29pm\n\n" "Doina Paraschiv Petre Paraschiv\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:27pm\n\n" "Adrian Ovreiu Ioana Ovreiu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:26pm\n\n" "Stan Papusa Crax Prax\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 11:20am\n\n" "Cornelia Ionescu Sorin Soury\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 10:45am\n\n" "Daniel Filigeanu Prejmerean Anita\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 10:44am\n\n" "Nicolae Georgiana Licuta Stan\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 9:23am\n\n" "Ramo Maryam Gabriela Andrei\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 9:19am\n\n" "Dana Daniela Lucica Lazar\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 1:11am\n\n" "Lucica Lazar Paun Dorin Petru\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 25 at 12:40am\n\n" "Cristian Murguleț Narcis Gabriel\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 11:15pm\n\n" "Rodica Bucur Ionut Richard G\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 10:53pm\n\n" "Clavi Mpo Elena Lenti\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 9:57pm\n\n" "Flory Florina Adriana Eco\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 9:01pm\n\n" "Strempel Henrietta Norbert Ciato\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 8:31pm\n\n" "Mihai Marele Bfx Bufu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 7:11pm\n\n" "Mariana Cioranu Petrica Cioranu\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 6:02pm\n\n" "Dragusan Tudorel Elena Elena\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 5:32pm\n\n" "Selegean Nicoleta Porumbei Albi Selegean\n" "Like · Reply · 1 · March 24 at 5:12pm\n\n" "Monika Erzsebet Tamas Szabo\n" "Like · Reply · March 31 at 11:56pm\n\n" "Ana Maria Goia Dan Goia\n" "Like · Reply · March 31 at 7:34pm\n\n" "Alexandru Gulie anka anca\n" "Like · Reply · March 30 at 12:58am\n\n" "Maria Corodescu Popp Costel Dan Corodescu\n" "Like · Reply · March 29 at 11:27pm\n\n" "Anduta Si Maruta Vali Vali\n" "Like · Reply · March 29 at 7:59pm\n\n" "Petruta Mire Ella Trancan Stefania\n" "Like · Reply · March 29 at 9:28am\n\n" "Diana Uricu Razvan Gulie\n" "Like · Reply · March 29 at 3:02am\n\n" "Preda Nicoleta Alina Mary Laurentiu\n" "Like · Reply · March 29 at 12:56am\n\n" "Gabriela Vasilescu Bily Moky\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 9:19pm\n\n" "Sinko Bela Norbert Kosa\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 8:05pm\n\n" "Ioan Bors Stelian Gheorghe\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 7:54pm\n\n" "Moni Elena Eftaliea Mara\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 5:46pm\n\n" "Nella Ella Anca Cristina\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 3:00pm\n\n" "Dorina Balteanu Bogdan Sabangeanu\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 2:59pm\n\n" "Berinde Vladut Vlad Berinde\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 1:35pm\n\n" "Iosif Stoian Florentina Flory\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 10:17am\n\n" "Iulianna Sabo Denisa Bui\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 9:31am\n\n" "Bleotu Macrina Bleotu Gheorghe\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 9:10am\n\n" "Ion Cretu Dumitrache Cami Dumitrache\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 1:27am\n\n" "Carmen Ionela Radian Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 1:06am\n\n" "Cristian Sorin Carmen-Ionela Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:54am\n\n" "Cami Dumitrache Dumy Nick\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:47am\n\n" "Nicolae Cristi Crina Toitan\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:41am\n\n" "Nutu Marius Carmen Ionela\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:34am\n\n" "Ile Ilenutza Dan F. Dan\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:24am\n\n" "Marin Nicolae Ioana Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:21am\n\n" "Ioana Nicolae Marin Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:16am\n\n" "Dumy Nick Cami Dumitrache\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:11am\n\n" "Carmen Nicolae Radian Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:05am\n\n" "Marina Cioceanu Liviu Moise\n" "Like · Reply · March 28 at 12:04am\n\n" "Ella Ellena Catalin Cozma\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:59pm\n\n" "Mircea Mircea Geta Geta\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:52pm\n\n" "Radian Nicolae Carmen-Ionela Nicolae\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:49pm\n\n" "Emil Hossu Mihaela Nistor\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:46pm\n\n" "Geta Geta Mircea Mircea\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:32pm\n\n" "Fish Dan Paula Gabriela\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:26pm\n\n" "Ungurean Mihai Maria Ungurean\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:16pm\n\n" "Doina Ana Butman Gheorghiu Paul\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 11:09pm\n\n" "Florin Hossu Octavia Durus,\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:48pm\n\n" "Victor Zota Rose Marya\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:47pm\n\n" "Ileana Lala Catalin Cozma\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:40pm\n\n" "Petrina Mani Eva Darla\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:39pm\n\n" "Tiberiu Petrica Veronik Ungurean\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:24pm\n\n" "Melinceanu Adrian Tea Ada Hari Ioakeimidis\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:20pm\n\n" "Tea Ada Hari Ioakeimidis Melinceanu Adrian\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:18pm\n\n" "Elena Maria Veronik Ungurean\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:09pm\n\n" "Mara Pia Giorgiana Gio\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 10:02pm\n\n" "Ioana Alexandrescu Ion Oprea\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:56pm\n\n" "Adriana Lautarescu Ungureanu Gabriela\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:53pm\n\n" "Catalin Cozma Ileana Lala\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:49pm\n\n" "Steluta Norocoasa Miti Miky\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:43pm\n\n" "Ion Oprea Ioana Alexandrescu\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:42pm\n\n" "Skill Zoor Mihai Raliu\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:39pm\n\n" "Dragos Victor Rose Marya\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:17pm\n\n" "Ioan C. Ioan Daff Dan\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:11pm\n\n" "Antonio Bogdan Cioroiu Flori Mimi\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:11pm\n\n" "Stredie Lydia Mogos Rusalina\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:07pm\n\n" "Flory Maddy Alex Cîrstocea\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 9:04pm\n\n" "Mariana Baroiu Antonio Bogdan\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 8:55pm\n\n" "Dany Grasu Raisa Georgiana\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 8:48pm\n\n" "Ella Dan Adriana Chereches\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 8:41pm\n\n" "Rose Marya Dragos Victor\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 8:19pm\n\n" "Veronik Ungurean Tiberiu Petrica\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 7:57pm\n\n" "Giorgiana Gio Mara Pia\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 7:43pm\n\n" "Maria Ille Mircea Mircea\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 7:24pm\n\n" "Ungureanu Gabriela Adriana Lautarescu\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 6:40pm\n\n" "Mada Madalynutza Madalina Caty Catyp\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 5:56pm\n\n" "Iliana Mihaela Ionut Cretu\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 4:59pm · Edited\n\n" "Dragos Zota Marioara Zota\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 4:52pm\n\n" "Gela Geluta Stefan Stefan\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 4:19pm\n\n" "Mada Madutza Bogdan Bobo\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 4:08pm\n\n" "Toni Pre Mona Simu\n" "Like · Reply · March 27 at 4:03pm") matches = re.finditer(regex, test_str, re.MULTILINE) 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