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
Processing...

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class Example { public static void main(String[] args) { final String regex = "^(?:(?:\\(?(?:0(?:0|11)\\)?[\\s-]?\\(?|\\+)44\\)?[\\s-]?(?:\\(?0\\)?[\\s-]?)?)|(?:\\(?0))(?:(?:\\d{5}\\)?[\\s-]?\\d{4,5})|(?:\\d{4}\\)?[\\s-]?(?:\\d{5}|\\d{3}[\\s-]?\\d{3}))|(?:\\d{3}\\)?[\\s-]?\\d{3}[\\s-]?\\d{3,4})|(?:\\d{2}\\)?[\\s-]?\\d{4}[\\s-]?\\d{4}))(?:[\\s-]?(?:x|ext\\.?|\\#)\\d{3,4})?$"; final String string = "# Using patterns from here:\n" + "# http://www.area-codes.org.uk/formatting.php\n" + "# Regex found here:\n" + "# https://stackoverflow.com/a/31589527/863062\n\n" + "01999 99999\n" + "01999 999999\n" + "0119 999 9999\n" + "0191 999 9999\n" + "013873 99999\n" + "015242 99999\n" + "015394 99999\n" + "015395 99999\n" + "015396 99999\n" + "016973 99999\n" + "016974 99999\n" + "016977 9999\n" + "016977 99999\n" + "017683 99999\n" + "017684 99999\n" + "017687 99999\n" + "019467 99999\n" + "029 9999 9999\n" + "0399 999 9999\n" + "05999 999999\n" + "07999 999999\n" + "0800 999999\n" + "0899 999 9999\n" + "0999 999 9999\n\n" + "+441999 99999\n" + "+441999 999999\n" + "+44119 999 9999\n" + "+44191 999 9999\n" + "+4413873 99999\n" + "+4415242 99999\n" + "+4415394 99999\n" + "+4415395 99999\n" + "+4415396 99999\n" + "+4416973 99999\n" + "+4416974 99999\n" + "+4416977 9999\n" + "+4416977 99999\n" + "+4417683 99999\n" + "+4417684 99999\n" + "+4417687 99999\n" + "+4419467 99999\n" + "+4429 9999 9999\n" + "+44399 999 9999\n" + "+445999 999999\n" + "+447999 999999\n" + "+44800 999999\n" + "+44899 999 9999\n" + "+44999 999 9999\n\n" + "+44 1999 99999\n" + "+44 1999 999999\n" + "+44 119 999 9999\n" + "+44 191 999 9999\n" + "+44 13873 99999\n" + "+44 15242 99999\n" + "+44 15394 99999\n" + "+44 15395 99999\n" + "+44 15396 99999\n" + "+44 16973 99999\n" + "+44 16974 99999\n" + "+44 16977 9999\n" + "+44 16977 99999\n" + "+44 17683 99999\n" + "+44 17684 99999\n" + "+44 17687 99999\n" + "+44 19467 99999\n" + "+44 29 9999 9999\n" + "+44 399 999 9999\n" + "+44 5999 999999\n" + "+44 7999 999999\n" + "+44 800 999999\n" + "+44 899 999 9999\n" + "+44 999 999 9999\n\n" + "00441999 99999\n" + "00441999 999999\n" + "0044119 999 9999\n" + "0044191 999 9999\n" + "004413873 99999\n" + "004415242 99999\n" + "004415394 99999\n" + "004415395 99999\n" + "004415396 99999\n" + "004416973 99999\n" + "004416974 99999\n" + "004416977 9999\n" + "004416977 99999\n" + "004417683 99999\n" + "004417684 99999\n" + "004417687 99999\n" + "004419467 99999\n" + "004429 9999 9999\n" + "0044399 999 9999\n" + "00445999 999999\n" + "00447999 999999\n" + "0044800 999999\n" + "0044899 999 9999\n" + "0044999 999 9999\n\n" + "0044 1999 99999\n" + "0044 1999 999999\n" + "0044 119 999 9999\n" + "0044 191 999 9999\n" + "0044 13873 99999\n" + "0044 15242 99999\n" + "0044 15394 99999\n" + "0044 15395 99999\n" + "0044 15396 99999\n" + "0044 16973 99999\n" + "0044 16974 99999\n" + "0044 16977 9999\n" + "0044 16977 99999\n" + "0044 17683 99999\n" + "0044 17684 99999\n" + "0044 17687 99999\n" + "0044 19467 99999\n" + "0044 29 9999 9999\n" + "0044 399 999 9999\n" + "0044 5999 999999\n" + "0044 7999 999999\n" + "0044 800 999999\n" + "0044 899 999 9999\n" + "0044 999 999 9999"; final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.MULTILINE); 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