re = /^(?=(?:\b:?\w)*$)A?:?B?:?C?:?D?$/m
str = 'These should all match:
A
B
C
D
A:B
A:C
A:D
B:C
B:D
C:D
A:B:C
A:B:D
A:C:D
B:C:D
A:B:C:D
Meanwhile, these should not match.
A:
:C
ABC
A:BC
A::B
'
# 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