regex101: PCRE (Legacy) Match Workspace

Non-Capturing Group(?:^|\s)

1st Alternative^

^start of line

2nd Alternative\s

\sany whitespace character

Group 1(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|fe80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]+|::(ffff(:0{1,4})?:)?((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d))

1st Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

Group 2([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7}

{7}repeats the group contents below exactly 7 times:

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

2nd Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:

Group 3([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}

{1,7}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 7 times:

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

3rd Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

Group 4([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}

{1,6}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 6 times:

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

4th Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}

Group 5([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}

{1,5}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 5 times:

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Group 6(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}

{1,2}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 2 times:

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

5th Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}

Group 7([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}

{1,4}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 4 times:

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Group 8(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}

{1,3}repeats the group contents below between 1 and 3 times:

:the literal : (58₁₀ / 72₈ / 3A₁₆)

Character Class[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}

{1,4}matches between 1 and 4 characters from the set below:

0-9one character from 0 (48₁₀) to 9 (57₁₀)

a-fone character from a (97₁₀) to f (102₁₀) (case insensitive)

A-Fone character from A (65₁₀) to F (70₁₀) (case insensitive)

6th Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}

7th Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}

8th Alternative[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})

9th Alternative:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)

10th Alternativefe80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]+

11th Alternative::(ffff(:0{1,4})?:)?((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)

12th Alternative([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)

Positive Lookahead(?=\s|$)

the literal ↵ (10₁₀ / 12₈ / A₁₆)

Global pattern flags

i modifier: insensitive. Matches without distinguishing uppercase and lowercase letters

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

m modifier: multiline. Causes ^ and $ to match the start and end of each line, not only the start and end of the string

Search reference

Regular Expression

(?:^|\s)(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|fe80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]+|::(ffff(:0{1,4})?:)?((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d)\.){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{0,2}|[1-9]?\d))(?=\s|$)

New

{1: Initial address, regex should say valid/match}
2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329

{2: After removing all leading zeroes, regex should say valid/match}
2001:db8:0:0:0:ff00:42:8329

{3: After omitting consecutive sections of zeroes, regex should say valid/match}
2001:db8::ff00:42:8329

{4: The loopback address, regex should say valid/match}
0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001

{5: The loopback address be abbreviated to ::1 by using both rules, regex should say valid/match}
::1

{6: This should be valid, regex should say valid/match}
ABCD:ABCD:ABCD:ABCD:ABCD:ABCD:192.168.158.190

{7: This should NOT be valid/match}
::

{These two formats allows IPv6 applications to communicate directly with IPv4 applications, regex should say valid/match}
{8}
0:0:0:0:0:ffff:192.1.56.10
{9}
::ffff:192.1.56.10/96

{These next two formats are used for tunneling. It allows IPv6 nodes to communicate across an IPv4 infrastructure, regex should say valid/match}
{10}
0:0:0:0:0:0:192.1.56.10
{11}
::192.1.56.10/96

{These 4 should be valid/match}
{12}
::FFFF:129.144.52.38
{13}
::129.144.52.38
{14}
::FFFF:d
{15}
1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A

{These 4 should NOT be valid/match}
{16}
::FFFF:d.d.d
{17}
::FFFF:d.d
{18}
::d.d.d
{19}
::d.d