RegEx : Expressions and
Parsing Examples
Overview
 What is RegEx
 Purpose of RegEx
 How it Works
 Advantages
 Demonstration
 Q&A

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Introduction to RegEx
 RegEx is a sequence of characters for a search to match a
pattern.
 Arose in the 1950 by Stephen Kleene, an American
Mathematician.
 Regular expressions are composed of characters,
metacharacters and quantifiers.

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Purpose of RegEx
 To match the pieces of text within a larger document.
 To capture the string.
 RegEx is used in PERL, Java and other programming
languages.

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How it Works
 Regular Expressions: Exact Matches
regular expression

cks
rocks.
match
is okay.
no match

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How it Works
 Regular Expressions: Multiple Matches

regular expression

a p p l e

Scrapple from the apple.
match 1

match 2

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Metacharacters of RegEx
.

- Matches any single character.

 d - Matches a digit character.
 s - Matches any whitespace character including space, tab,
form-feed, etc.
 w - Matches any word character including underscore.
 n

- Matches a newline character.

^

- The beginning of a line

$

- The end of a line
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Metacharacters of RegEx
 abc

- Exactly this sequence of three letters

 [abc]

- Any one of the letters a, b, or c

 [^abc]

- Any character except one of the letters a, b, or c

 [a-z]

- Any one character from a through z

 [a-zA-Z0-9]-Any one letter or digit.

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Quantifier
Quantifier specify the number of string pattern should
occur in matching string.
*

- Zero or more times.

+

- One or more times.

?

- Zero or one time

 {m,n}

- Matches for atleast m times and atmost n times.

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Advantages
 The regular expression syntax is declarative: The pattern
"looks like" what you want to match.
 Easily compatible with different programing languages.
 Easier for non-programmers than code.
 Less error prone than code.
 Use in Compiler Construction.

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Questions ?

Email Us @ support@zeteoconsulting.com
11
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RegEx : Expressions and Parsing Examples

  • 1.
    RegEx : Expressionsand Parsing Examples
  • 2.
    Overview  What isRegEx  Purpose of RegEx  How it Works  Advantages  Demonstration  Q&A 2
  • 3.
    Introduction to RegEx RegEx is a sequence of characters for a search to match a pattern.  Arose in the 1950 by Stephen Kleene, an American Mathematician.  Regular expressions are composed of characters, metacharacters and quantifiers. 3
  • 4.
    Purpose of RegEx To match the pieces of text within a larger document.  To capture the string.  RegEx is used in PERL, Java and other programming languages. 4
  • 5.
    How it Works Regular Expressions: Exact Matches regular expression cks rocks. match is okay. no match 5
  • 6.
    How it Works Regular Expressions: Multiple Matches regular expression a p p l e Scrapple from the apple. match 1 match 2 6
  • 7.
    Metacharacters of RegEx . -Matches any single character.  d - Matches a digit character.  s - Matches any whitespace character including space, tab, form-feed, etc.  w - Matches any word character including underscore.  n - Matches a newline character. ^ - The beginning of a line $ - The end of a line 7
  • 8.
    Metacharacters of RegEx abc - Exactly this sequence of three letters  [abc] - Any one of the letters a, b, or c  [^abc] - Any character except one of the letters a, b, or c  [a-z] - Any one character from a through z  [a-zA-Z0-9]-Any one letter or digit. 8
  • 9.
    Quantifier Quantifier specify thenumber of string pattern should occur in matching string. * - Zero or more times. + - One or more times. ? - Zero or one time  {m,n} - Matches for atleast m times and atmost n times. 9
  • 10.
    Advantages  The regularexpression syntax is declarative: The pattern "looks like" what you want to match.  Easily compatible with different programing languages.  Easier for non-programmers than code.  Less error prone than code.  Use in Compiler Construction. 10
  • 11.
    Questions ? Email Us@ support@zeteoconsulting.com 11
  • 12.
    Worldwide Offices: USA (Dallas) India(Pune) Partner Offices: Monterrey (Mexico) Frankfurt (Germany) Stockholm (Sweden) Email: support@zeteoconsulting.com Corporate URL: www.zeteoconsulting.com

Editor's Notes