Regular expression examples
Examples of common regular expressions show you how you can set up regular expressions to find text patterns or to find patterns and replace parts of the returned strings. You can use these sample patterns and adapt them to your needs.
Matches regular expressions
The following table contains examples of regular expressions that can be used in match mode.| Purpose | Regular expression | Sample text | Sample match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match a string of numbers of fixed length. | \d{3} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | 345 |
| Match a string of any characters of a specific length. The string can consist of the characters a-z and the digits 0 - 9. | \w{8} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | Contract |
| Match a string of any characters of a specific length at the beginning. The string can consist of the characters a - z and the digits 0 - 9. | ^\w{6} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | Contra |
| Match a string of any two characters of fixed length followed by two digits. | \w{2}\d{2} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | AB12 |
| Match a word that is of fixed length with the assumption that the word is followed by a space. | \w{8}\s |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | Contract |
| Match a string of numbers of fixed length that also contains specific characters, for example, a contract number that consists of six characters with a hyphen after the second number. | \d{2}-\d{3} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | 12-345 |
| Match a string of at least three numbers. | \d{3,} |
Contract Number 12-345 AB12 | 345 |
| Match the first folder in a path. | ^([[:word:]]|\s)*(\\|\/) |
Folder 1\Folder 2\Folder 3\Folder 4 | Folder 1 |
Replacement regular expressions
The following table shows examples of regular expressions that can be used in replacement mode.| Purpose | Regular expression | Replacement string | Sample text | Sample result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Get a folder path without a drive letter. | ^[^\\]* |
$1 |
C:\folder 1\folder 2 | \folder 1\folder 2 |
| Get a drive letter from a folder path. | (\\.*) |
C:\folder 1\folder 2 | C: | |
| Get a specific folder
in a path with a drive letter. For each section in a path with a
drive letter in it, repeat the expression: Use |
([^\\]*)\\?.* |
$1 |
C:\one\two\three | C: |
([^\\]*)\\?([^\\]*)\\?.* |
$2 |
C:\one\two\three | one | |
([^\\]*)\\?([^\\]*)\\?([^\\]*)\\?.* |
$3 |
C:\one\two\three | two | |
| Get the second folder in a path. | ^[\\/]?[^\\/]+[\\/]([^\\/]+)([\\/][^\\/]+)* |
$1 |
Folder 1\Folder 2\Folder 3\Folder 4 | Folder 2 |
| Get the last two folders in a path. | ((\\|\/)([[:word:]]|\s*)*){2}$ |
$1 |
Folder 1\Folder 2\Folder 3\Folder 4 | Folder 3\Folder 4 |
Get all email with a case number matching the
pattern "eight digits followed by a hyphen followed by three
uppercase letters." Replace the case number with the phrase Automobile
claim. |
(.*)(\d{8}-[A-Z]{3})(.*) |
$1Automobile claim$3 |
98765432-DEF, your email dated August 17, 2008 | Automobile claim, your email dated August 17, 2008 |
| Get all email with specific originator addresses and add the respective company name. | (.?\Q@example.\E)(com|org|net) |
$1$2 (Example Company) |
Message forwarded by X@example.org |
Message forwarded by X@example.org (Example
Company) |
Search for IDs starting with AB and
replace them with the department title Controlling. |
AB\w{2,4}@example\.com |
Controlling |
Sent by AB12@example.com |
Sent by Controlling |
| Remove any strings that match the pattern "four or more digits enclosed in parentheses." | \(\d{4,}\) |
Item number (12345) 6789 | Item number 6789 | |
Delete the forward prefix Fw: or
the reply prefix Re: from the subject. |
^(Fw:|Re:)(.*) |
$2 |
Fw: Your email regarding case number 98765432-DEF, dated August 17, 2008 | Your email regarding case number 98765432-DEF, dated August 17, 2008 |
| Truncate the value of the selected property to 80 characters, for example, the subject of an email. | ^(.{0,80}).*$ |
$1 |
Network maintenance - Service interrupt Wednesday Feb. 6, 2008 - Monthly service interrupt February | Network maintenance - Service interrupt Wednesday Feb. 6, 2008 - Monthly service |