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<a name = "hj-top"> </a><table class = "table1" id = "table11"><tr><td><table class = "DocHeader"><tr><td class = "DocHeader1" colspan = "2"><h1>Reference Information: Regular Expression Syntax</h1></td></tr><tr><td class = "DocHeader4" colspan = "2"/></tr><tr><td class = "DocHeader3" colspan = "2"><table class = "DocThemeIntro" id = "table12"><tr><td class = "Intro1Only"><p class = "header"><p class = "abstract"><span class = "shortdesc">Regular expressions can be used in the Filters workshop and the Search pane, as well as for the <span class = "ph uicontrol">DisableMatchingProperties</span> advanced setting. This topic lists the regular expression syntax and abbreviations.</span>

    
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<p>This page discusses: </p><ul><li><a href = "#r-RegularExpressionSyntax" id = "toc_rg" title = "This table lists the meta-characters that you can use as regular expressions.">Regular Expression Syntax</a></li><li><a href = "#r-Abbreviations" id = "toc_rg" title = "This table lists supported abbreviations, such as \d instead of [0-9].">Abbreviations</a></li></ul>
</p></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>
  

  

  

  

  <article class = "topic reference nested1" aria-labelledby = "ariaid-title2" id = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax">
    <h2 class = "title topictitle2">Regular Expression Syntax</h2>

    
    <div class = "body refbody"><p class = "abstract"><span class = "shortdesc">This table lists the meta-characters that you can use as regular expressions.
      </span>

      
    </p>


      

      
    <table class = "table frame-none"><caption/><colgroup><col style = "width:50%"/><col style = "width:50%"/></colgroup><thead class = "thead">
            <tr class = "row">
              <th class = "entry" id = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">Metacharacter 	 </th>
              <th class = "entry" id = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">
                Meaning
              </th>
            </tr>
          </thead><tbody class = "tbody">
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">
                .

              </td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Matches any single character.
</td>
            </tr>
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">[ ]
</td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Indicates a character class. Matches any character inside the
brackets (for example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[abc]</kbd> matches "a", "b", and "c").
</td>
            </tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">^
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">If this meta-character occurs at the start of a character class, it
negates the character class. A negated character class matches any
character except those inside the brackets (for example,
<kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[^abc]</kbd> matches all characters except "a", "b", and "c").
<p>If ^ is at the beginning of the regular expression, it
matches the beginning of the input (for example,<kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">^[abc]</kbd>
will only match input that begins with "a", "b", or "c").
</p></td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">-
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">In a character class, indicates a range of characters (for example,
<kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]</kbd> matches any of the digits "0" through "9").
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">?
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Indicates that the preceding expression is optional: it matches
once or not at all (for example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9][0-9]?</kbd> matches "2"
and "12").
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">+</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Indicates that the preceding expression matches one or more times
(for example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]+</kbd> matches "1", "13", "456", and so on).
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">*</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Indicates that the preceding expression matches zero or more times.
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">??, +?, *?
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Non-greedy versions of ?, +, and *.
These match as little as possible, unlike the greedy versions that
match as much as possible (for example, given the input
"&lt;abc&gt;&lt;def&gt;", <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">&lt;.*?&gt;</kbd> matches
"&lt;abc&gt;" while <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">&lt;.*&gt;</kbd> matches
"&lt;abc&gt;&lt;def&gt;").
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">( )
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Grouping operator. Example: <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">(\d+,)*\d+</kbd> matches a list of
numbers separated by commas (for example, "1" or "1,23,456").
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">{ }
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Indicates a match group.
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">\
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2"><p>Escape character: interpret the next character literally (for
example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]+</kbd> matches one or more digits, but <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]\+</kbd> matches a digit followed by a plus character).
Also used for abbreviations (such as <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">\a</kbd> for any
alphanumeric character; see the following table).</p><p>If \ is followed by a number n, it matches the nth match group (starting from 0). Example: <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">&lt;{.*?}&gt;.*&lt;/\0&gt;</kbd> matches "&lt;head&gt;Contents&lt;/head&gt;".</p></td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">$
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">At the end of a regular expression, this character matches the end
of the input (for example,<kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]$</kbd> matches a digit at the
end of the input).
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">|
</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Alternation operator: separates two expressions, exactly one of
which matches (for example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">T|the</kbd> matches "The" or "the").
</td></tr>
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__1">!
</td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-RegularExpressionSyntax__entry__2">Negation operator: the expression following ! does not
match the input (for example, <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">a!b</kbd> matches "a" not followed
by "b").
</td>
            </tr>
          </tbody></table></div>

  </article>

  <article class = "topic reference nested1" aria-labelledby = "ariaid-title3" id = "r-Abbreviations">
    <p><map name = "FPMap1"><area href = "#hj-top" title = "Back to Top" shape = "rect" coords = "416, 0, 435, 10"/></map><span class = "itemsprite"/></p><h2 class = "title topictitle2">Abbreviations</h2>

    
    <div class = "body refbody"><p class = "abstract"><span class = "shortdesc">This table lists supported abbreviations, such as <kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">\d</kbd> instead of
<kbd class = "ph userinput userinput">[0-9]</kbd>.</span>


    	
    </p>

      <table class = "table frame-none"><caption/><colgroup><col style = "width:50%"/><col style = "width:50%"/></colgroup><thead class = "thead">
            <tr class = "row">
              <th class = "entry" id = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">
                Abbreviation
              </th>
              <th class = "entry" id = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Matches</th>
            </tr>
          </thead><tbody class = "tbody">
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">
                \a
              </td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Any alphanumeric character: ([a-zA-Z0-9])</td>
            </tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\b</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">White space (blank): ([ \\t])
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\c</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Any alphabetic character: ([a-zA-Z]) </td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\d</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Any decimal digit: ([0-9])
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\h</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Any hexadecimal digit: ([0-9a-fA-F])
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\n</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">Newline: (\r|(\r?\n))
</td></tr><tr class = "row"><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\q</td><td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">A quoted string: (\"[^\"]*\")|(\'[^\']*\')
</td></tr>
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\w</td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">A simple word: ([a-zA-Z]+)
</td>
            </tr>
            <tr class = "row">
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__1">\z</td>
              <td class = "entry" headers = "r-Abbreviations__entry__2">An integer: ([0-9]+)
</td>
            </tr>
          </tbody></table>
    </div>

  </article>
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