Regular Expressions 101

chipmunkthe literal text chipmunk (case sensitive)

Positive Lookahead(?=[^\)\(\\]*(?:\\.[^\)\(\\]*)*\))

Negated Character Class[^\)\(\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\)the literal ) (41₁₀ / 51₈ / 29₁₆)

\(the literal ( (40₁₀ / 50₈ / 28₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:\\.[^\)\(\\]*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

.any character (except for line terminators)

Negated Character Class[^\)\(\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

\)the literal ) (41₁₀ / 51₈ / 29₁₆)

\(the literal ( (40₁₀ / 50₈ / 28₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

\)the literal ) (41₁₀ / 51₈ / 29₁₆)

Global pattern flags

g modifier: global. Finds all matches instead of stopping after the first

Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.

Search reference

Regular Expression

chipmunk(?=[^\)\(\\]*(?:\\.[^\)\(\\]*)*\))

New

bar(alvin the chipmunk dude)
chipmunk(alvin the chipmunk dude)

I want to replace "chipmunk" on the first only (bar), could also be foo or any other beginning.