re = /^(?=\# ?\d+\.)/m
str = '# This is a comment <-beacuse it starts at the begining of the file
# This is a comment <- see above
# 1. Item one <- not a comment because it starts with 1.
# Description of Item 1 <- not a comment as it is after a line that starts with a number
data point 1
data point 2
data point etc
3 <-- represents number of data points under Item one
# 2. Item two <-- not a comment
# Description of item 2 <-- not a comment
data point 1
data point ..
data point 100
100
#3. Item three <--- not a comment
# Item three description
0'
# 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