import re
regex = re.compile(r"^(?<postcode>|(?<outward>(?<area>\w{1,2}))(?<district>\d\w|\d{1,2}))(?:\s)?(?<inward>(?<sector>\d)(?<unit>\w\w))?", flags=re.MULTILINE | re.IGNORECASE)
test_str = ("W1J 7NT\n"
"DE12 8HJ\n"
"SW1A 1AA\n"
"HD7 5UZ\n"
"CH5 3QW\n"
"W2 1JB \n"
"PL7 1RF\n"
"EH99 1SB\n"
"G58 1SB\n"
"JE3 1EP\n\n"
"GIR 0AA")
matches = regex.finditer(test_str)
for match_num, match in enumerate(matches, start=1):
print(f"Match {match_num} was found at {match.start()}-{match.end()}: {match.group()}")
for group_num, group in enumerate(match.groups(), start=1):
print(f"Group {group_num} found at {match.start(group_num)}-{match.end(group_num)}: {group}")
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