Untitled Document
Table of Contents
@newindex {fn}
Regular expressions are patterns used in selecting text.
In addition to a specifying string literals, regular expressions can
represent classes of strings. Strings thus represented are said to be
matched by the corresponding regular expression. If it is possible for
a regular expression to match several strings in a line, then the
left-most longest match is the one selected.
The following symbols are used in constructing regular expressions:
c
-
Any character c not listed below, including `{', `}',
`(', `)', `<' and `>', matches itself.
\c
-
Any backslash-escaped character c, other than `{',
``}', `(', `)', `<', `>', `b', `B',
`w', `W', `+' and `?', matches itself.
Note that `\' also has special meaning in the read syntax of Lisp
strings, and must be quoted with `\'. For
example, the regular expression that matches the `\' character is
`\\'. To write a Lisp string that contains the characters
`\\', Lisp syntax requires you to quote each `\' with another
`\'. Therefore, the read syntax for a regular expression matching
`\' is
"\\\\".
.
-
Matches any single character.
[char-class]
-
Matches any single character in char-class. To include a `]'
in char-class, it must be the first character. A range of
characters may be specified by separating the end characters of the
range with a `-', e.g., `a-z' specifies the lower case
characters. The following literal expressions can also be used in
char-class to specify sets of characters:
[:alnum:] [:cntrl:] [:lower:] [:space:]
[:alpha:] [:digit:] [:print:] [:upper:]
[:blank:] [:graph:] [:punct:] [:xdigit:]
If `-' appears as the first or last character of char-class,
then it matches itself. All other characters in char-class match
themselves.
Patterns in
char-class
of the form:
[.col-elm.]
[=col-elm=]
where col-elm is a collating element are interpreted
according to locale (5) (not currently supported). See
regex (3) for an explanation of these constructs.
[^char-class]
-
Matches any single character, other than newline, not in
char-class. char-class is defined as above.
^
-
If `^' is the first character of a regular expression, then it
anchors the regular expression to the beginning of a line. Otherwise,
it matches itself.
$
-
If `$' is the last character of a regular expression, it anchors
the regular expression to the end of a line. Otherwise, it matches
itself.
\(re\)
-
Defines a (possibly null) subexpression re.
Subexpressions may be nested. A
subsequent backreference of the form `\n', where n is a
number in the range [1,9], expands to the text matched by the nth
subexpression. For example, the regular expression `\(a.c\)\1' matches
the string `abcabc', but not `abcadc'.
Subexpressions are ordered relative to their left delimiter.
*
-
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it zero or more times. If `*' is the first
character of a regular expression or subexpression, then it matches
itself. The `*' operator sometimes yields unexpected results. For
example, the regular expression `b*' matches the beginning of the
string `abbb', as opposed to the substring `bbb', since a
null match is the only left-most match.
\{n,m\}
-
\{n,\}
-
\{n\}
-
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it at least n and at most m times. If
m is omitted, then it matches at least n times. If the
comma is also omitted, then it matches exactly n times.
If any of these forms occurs first in a regular expression or subexpression,
then it is interpreted literally (i.e., the regular expression `\{2\}'
matches the string `{2}', and so on).
\<
-
\>
-
Anchors the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately following it to the beginning (in the case of `\<')
or ending (in the case of `\>') of
a word, i.e., in ASCII, a maximal string of alphanumeric characters,
including the underscore (_).
The following extended operators are preceded by a backslash `\' to
distinguish them from traditional ed syntax.
\`
-
\'
-
Unconditionally matches the beginning `\`' or ending `\'' of a line.
\?
-
Optionally matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it. For example, the regular expression `a[bd]\?c'
matches the strings `abc', `adc' and `ac'.
If `\?' occurs at the beginning
of a regular expressions or subexpression, then it matches a literal `?'.
\+
-
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it one or more times. So the regular expression
`a+' is shorthand for `aa*'. If `\+' occurs at the
beginning of a regular expression or subexpression, then it matches a
literal `+'.
\b
-
Matches the beginning or ending (null string) of a word. Thus the regular
expression `\bhello\b' is equivalent to `\<hello\>'.
However, `\b\b'
is a valid regular expression whereas `\<\>' is not.
\B
-
Matches (a null string) inside a word.
\w
-
Matches any character in a word.
\W
-
Matches any character not in a word.
A regular expression (regexp, for short) is a pattern that
denotes a (possibly infinite) set of strings. Searching for matches for
a regexp is a very powerful operation. This section explains how to write
regexps; the following section says how to search for them.
Regular expressions have a syntax in which a few characters are special
constructs and the rest are ordinary. An ordinary character is a
simple regular expression which matches that character and nothing else.
The special characters are `$', `^', `.', `*',
`[', `]' and `\'; no new special
characters will be defined in the future. Any other character appearing
in a regular expression is ordinary, unless a `\' precedes it.
For example, `f' is not a special character, so it is ordinary, and
therefore `f' is a regular expression that matches the string
`f' and no other string. (It does not match the string
`ff'.) Likewise, `o' is a regular expression that matches
only `o'.
Any two regular expressions a and b can be concatenated. The
result is a regular expression which matches a string if a matches
some amount of the beginning of that string and b matches the rest of
the string.
As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions `f'
and `o' to get the regular expression `fo', which matches only
the string `fo'. Still trivial. To do something more powerful, you
need to use one of the special characters. Here is a list of them:
- . (Period)
-
is a special character that matches any single character.
Using concatenation, we can make regular expressions like `a.b', which
matches any three-character string that begins with `a' and ends with
`b'.
- *
-
is not a construct by itself; it is a suffix operator that means to
repeat the preceding regular expression as many times as possible. In
`fo*', the `*' applies to the `o', so `fo*' matches
one `f' followed by any number of `o's. The case of zero
`o's is allowed: `fo*' does match `f'.
`*' always applies to the smallest possible preceding
expression. Thus, `fo*' has a repeating `o', not a
repeating `fo'.
The matcher processes a `*' construct by matching, immediately,
as many repetitions as can be found. Then it continues with the rest
of the pattern. If that fails, backtracking occurs, discarding some
of the matches of the `*'-modified construct in case that makes
it possible to match the rest of the pattern. For example, in matching
`ca*ar' against the string `caaar', the `a*' first
tries to match all three `a's; but the rest of the pattern is
`ar' and there is only `r' left to match, so this try fails.
The next alternative is for `a*' to match only two `a's.
With this choice, the rest of the regexp matches successfully.
- [ ... ]
-
`[' begins a character set, which is terminated by a
`]'. In the simplest case, the characters between the two brackets
form the set. Thus, `[ad]' matches either one `a' or one
`d', and `[ad]*' matches any string composed of just `a's
and `d's (including the empty string), from which it follows that
`c[ad]*r' matches `cr', `car', `cdr',
`caddaar', etc.
The usual regular expression special characters are not special inside a
character set. A completely different set of special characters exists
inside character sets: `]', `-' and `^'.
`-' is used for ranges of characters. To write a range, write two
characters with a `-' between them. Thus, `[a-z]' matches any
lower case letter. Ranges may be intermixed freely with individual
characters, as in `[a-z$%.]', which matches any lower case letter
or `$', `%' or a period.
The following literal expressions can also be used in
char-class to specify sets of characters:
[:alnum:] [:cntrl:] [:lower:] [:space:]
[:alpha:] [:digit:] [:print:] [:upper:]
[:blank:] [:graph:] [:punct:] [:xdigit:]
To include a `]' in a character set, make it the first character.
For example, `[]a]' matches `]' or `a'. To include a
`-', write `-' as the first character in the set, or put
immediately after a range. (You can replace one individual character
c with the range `c-c' to make a place to put the
`-'). There is no way to write a set containing just `-' and
`]'.
To include `^' in a set, put it anywhere but at the beginning of
the set.
- [^ ... ]
-
`[^' begins a complement character set, which matches any
character except the ones specified. Thus, `[^a-z0-9A-Z]'
matches all characters except letters and digits.
`^' is not special in a character set unless it is the first
character. The character following the `^' is treated as if it
were first (thus, `-' and `]' are not special there).
Note that a complement character set can match a newline, unless
newline is mentioned as one of the characters not to match.
- ^
-
is a special character that matches the empty string, but only at
the beginning of a line in the text being matched. Otherwise it fails
to match anything. Thus, `^foo' matches a `foo' which occurs
at the beginning of a line.
When matching a string, `^' matches at the beginning of the string
or after a newline character `\n'.
- $
-
is similar to `^' but matches only at the end of a line. Thus,
`x+$' matches a string of one `x' or more at the end of a line.
When matching a string, `$' matches at the end of the string
or before a newline character `\n'.
- \
-
has two functions: it quotes the special characters (including
`\'), and it introduces additional special constructs.
Because `\' quotes special characters, `\$' is a regular
expression which matches only `$', and `\[' is a regular
expression which matches only `[', and so on.
Note that `\' also has special meaning in the read syntax of Lisp
strings, and must be quoted with `\'. For
example, the regular expression that matches the `\' character is
`\\'. To write a Lisp string that contains the characters
`\\', Lisp syntax requires you to quote each `\' with another
`\'. Therefore, the read syntax for a regular expression matching
`\' is
"\\\\".
For the most part, `\' followed by any character matches only
that character. However, there are several exceptions: characters
which, when preceded by `\', are special constructs. Such
characters are always ordinary when encountered on their own. Here
is a table of `\' constructs:
- \+
-
is a suffix operator similar to `*' except that the preceding
expression must match at least once. So, for example, `ca+r'
matches the strings `car' and `caaaar' but not the string
`cr', whereas `ca*r' matches all three strings.
- \?
-
is a suffix operator similar to `*' except that the preceding
expression can match either once or not at all. For example,
`ca?r' matches `car' or `cr', but does not match anyhing
else.
- \|
-
specifies an alternative.
Two regular expressions a and b with `\|' in
between form an expression that matches anything that either a or
b matches.
Thus, `foo\|bar' matches either `foo' or `bar'
but no other string.
`\|' applies to the largest possible surrounding expressions. Only a
surrounding `\( ... \)' grouping can limit the grouping power of
`\|'.
Full backtracking capability exists to handle multiple uses of `\|'.
- \( ... \)
-
is a grouping construct that serves three purposes:
-
To enclose a set of `\|' alternatives for other operations.
Thus, `\(foo\|bar\)x' matches either `foox' or `barx'.
-
To enclose an expression for a suffix operator such as `*' to act
on. Thus, `ba\(na\)*' matches `bananana', etc., with any
(zero or more) number of `na' strings.
-
To record a matched substring for future reference.
This last application is not a consequence of the idea of a
parenthetical grouping; it is a separate feature which happens to be
assigned as a second meaning to the same `\( ... \)' construct
because there is no conflict in practice between the two meanings.
Here is an explanation of this feature:
- \digit
-
matches the same text which matched the digitth occurrence of a
`\( ... \)' construct.
In other words, after the end of a `\( ... \)' construct. the
matcher remembers the beginning and end of the text matched by that
construct. Then, later on in the regular expression, you can use
`\' followed by digit to match that same text, whatever it
may have been.
The strings matching the first nine `\( ... \)' constructs
appearing in a regular expression are assigned numbers 1 through 9 in
the order that the open parentheses appear in the regular expression.
So you can use `\1' through `\9' to refer to the text matched
by the corresponding `\( ... \)' constructs.
For example, `\(.*\)\1' matches any newline-free string that is
composed of two identical halves. The `\(.*\)' matches the first
half, which may be anything, but the `\1' that follows must match
the same exact text.
- \w
-
matches any word-constituent character.
- \W
-
matches any character that is not a word-constituent.
These regular expression constructs match the empty string--that is,
they don't use up any characters--but whether they match depends on the
context.
- \`
-
matches the empty string, but only at the beginning
of the buffer or string being matched against.
- \'
-
matches the empty string, but only at the end of
the buffer or string being matched against.
- \b
-
matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or
end of a word. Thus, `\bfoo\b' matches any occurrence of
`foo' as a separate word. `\bballs?\b' matches
`ball' or `balls' as a separate word.
- \B
-
matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or
end of a word.
- \<
-
matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a word.
- \>
-
matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
Not every string is a valid regular expression. For example, a string
with unbalanced square brackets is invalid (with a few exceptions, such
as `[]]', and so is a string that ends with a single `\'. If
an invalid regular expression is passed to any of the search functions,
an invalid-regexp error is signaled.
Here is a complicated regexp, used by Emacs to recognize the end of a
sentence together with any whitespace that follows. It is the value of
the variable sentence-end.
First, we show the regexp as a string in C syntax to distinguish
spaces from tab characters. The string constant begins and ends with a
double-quote. `\"' stands for a double-quote as part of the
string, `\\' for a backslash as part of the string, `\t' for a
tab and `\n' for a newline.
"[.?!][]\"')}]*\\($\\| $\\|\t\\| \\)[ \t\n]*"
In contrast, in Lisp, you have to type the tab as Ctrl-V Ctrl-I, producing
the following:
sentence-end
=>
"[.?!][]\"')}]*\\($\\| $\\| \\| \\)[
]*"
In this output, tab and newline appear as themselves.
This regular expression contains four parts in succession and can be
deciphered as follows:
[.?!]
-
The first part of the pattern consists of three characters, a period, a
question mark and an exclamation mark, within square brackets. The
match must begin with one of these three characters.
[]\"')}]*
-
The second part of the pattern matches any closing braces and quotation
marks, zero or more of them, that may follow the period, question mark
or exclamation mark. The
\" is C or Lisp syntax for a double-quote in
a string. The `*' at the end indicates that the immediately
preceding regular expression (a character set, in this case) may be
repeated zero or more times.
\\($\\| \\|\t\\| \\)
-
The third part of the pattern matches the whitespace that follows the
end of a sentence: the end of a line, or a tab, or two spaces. The
double backslashes mark the parentheses and vertical bars as regular
expression syntax; the parentheses mark the group and the vertical bars
separate alternatives. The dollar sign is used to match the end of a
line.
[ \t\n]*
-
Finally, the last part of the pattern matches any additional whitespace
beyond the minimum needed to end a sentence.
This section describes some common regular expressions
used for certain purposes in editing:
Page delimiter:
This is the regexp describing line-beginnings that separate pages. A good
value is (string #\Page).
Paragraph separator:
This is the regular expression for recognizing the beginning of a line
that separates paragraphs. A good value is (in C syntax) "^[
\t\f]*$", which is a line that consists entirely of spaces, tabs, and
form feeds.
Paragraph start:
This is the regular expression for recognizing the beginning of a line
that starts or separates paragraphs. A good value is (in C syntax)
"^[ \t\n\f]", which matches a line starting with a space, tab,
newline, or form feed.
Sentence end:
This is the regular expression describing the end of a sentence. (All
paragraph boundaries also end sentences, regardless.) A good value
is (in C syntax, again):
"[.?!][]\"')}]*\\($\\|\t\\| \\)[ \t\n]*"
This means a period, question mark or exclamation mark, followed by a
closing brace, followed by tabs, spaces or new lines.
- Function: match regexp string &key start end
-
This function returns as first value a
match structure containing
the indices of the start and end of the first match for
the regular expression regexp in string, or nil if
there is no match. If start is non-nil, the search starts
at that index in string. If end is non-nil, only
(subseq string start end) is considered.
For example,
(match "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly.")
=> #S(match :start 4 :end 9)
(match "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly." :start 8)
=> #S(match :start 27 :end 32)
(match "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly."
:start 8 :end 30)
=> nil
The index of the first character of the
string is 0, the index of the second character is 1, and so on.
The next values are match structures for every `\( ... \)'
contruct in regexp, in the order that the open parentheses appear
in regexp.
- Function: match-start match
-
Extracts the start index of match.
- Function: match-end match
-
Extracts the end index of match.
- Function: match-string string match
-
Extracts the substring of string corresponding to a given pair of
start and end indices. The result is shared with string. If you want
a freshly consed string, use
copy-string or
(coerce (match-string ...) 'simple-string).
- Function: regexp-quote string
-
This function returns a regular expression string that matches exactly
string and nothing else. This allows you to request an exact
string match when calling a function that wants a regular expression.
(regexp-quote "^The cat$")
=> "\\^The cat\\$"
One use of regexp-quote is to combine an exact string match with
context described as a regular expression.
This document was generated on 12 September 2001 using
texi2html 1.56k.