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

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Generated Code

import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class Example { public static void main(String[] args) { final String regex = "\\+?[\\d]?\\s*\\(?\\d{3}\\)?[\\s\\.-]?\\d{3}[\\s\\.-]?\\d{4}"; final String string = "Task: Return only the residents of Spencerport, NY who have phone numbers listed. Include the name, address and phone number of the individual(s).\n" + "----------------------------------------------------------------\n" + "Public Records and Phone Records Listings\n\n" + "DEFRANK, EDMUND\n" + "823 WASHINGTON ST, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-9703.\n" + "Phone Number 585-352-9218\n\n\n" + "ODELL, E\n" + "BRIGHTON, NY 12970.\n" + "Phone Number 585-327-3686\n\n\n" + "DEFRANCO, FRANK\n" + "6 REX LN, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-9700\n\n\n" + "DR. OBRECT, MICHAEL\n" + "200 RED CREEK DR, HENRIETTA, NY 14467\n" + "Phone Number +1 (585) 334-0352\n\n\n" + "FRANCIS, PAUL\n" + "37 TROTTER DR, HENRIETTA, NY 14467-9769.\n" + "Phone Number 585-334-7733\n\n\n" + "CARLSON, BRITA\n" + "1 BURKE LN #D, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-1546.\n" + "Phone Number +1 (585) 3529383\n\n\n" + "EDWARDS, SUSAN\n" + "4621 W RIDGE RD, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-1552.\n" + "Phone Number \n\n\n" + "CARLSON, JEFF\n" + "21 NEVINS RD, HENRIETTA, NY 14467-9307.\n" + "Phone Number 585-359-9545\n\n\n" + "FRANCIS, RICHARD\n" + "13 LINDA LN, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-1613. \n" + "Phone Number\n\n\n" + "DEFREZE, GREGORY\n" + "10 BIG RIDGE RD, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-1219.\n" + "Phone Number 5853520978\n\n\n" + "ENGLEHARDT, HERBERT\n" + "75 TOTTENHAM RD, BRIGHTON, NY 14610-2244.\n" + "Phone Number 585-482-2955\n\n\n" + "CARTER, GARY\n" + "204 PINE HILL RD, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-1010.\n" + "Phone Number (585)352-8826\n\n\n" + "DEGEN, MARK\n" + "27 COBRA DR, HENRIETTA, NY 14467-9512.\n" + "Phone Number 585-321-3524\n\n\n" + "DEGENNARO, VICTOR\n" + "537 WASHINGTON ST, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-9539.\n" + "Phone Number +1 (585) 352-3824\n\n\n" + "FRANCIS, THOMAS\n" + "4812 LYELL RD, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-2014.\n" + "Phone Number 585-352-4758\n\n\n" + "CARTER, LINDA\n" + "50 JORDACHE LN, SPENCERPORT, NY 14559-2059.\n" + "Phone Number 585-352-4913"; 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