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Character
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Description
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\
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Marks the next character as either a special character or
escapes a literal. For example, "n" matches the character
"n". "\n" matches a newline character. The sequence
"\\" matches "\" and "\(" matches
"(".
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Note: double quotes may be escaped by doubling them:
"<a href=""...>"
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^
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Depending on whether the MultiLine option is set, matches the
position before the first character in a line, or the first character in the
string.
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$
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Depending on whether the MultiLine option is set, matches the
position after the last character in a line, or the last character in the
string.
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*
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Matches the preceding character zero or more times. For example, "zo*"
matches either "z" or "zoo".
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+
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Matches the preceding character one or more times. For
example, "zo+" matches "zoo" but not "z".
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?
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Matches the preceding character zero or one time. For example,
"a?ve?" matches the "ve" in "never".
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.
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Matches any single character except a newline character.
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(pattern)
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Matches pattern and remembers the match. The matched substring can be retrieved from the
resulting Matchescollection, using Item [0]...[n]. To
match parentheses characters ( ), use "\(" or "\)".
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(?<name>pattern)
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Matches pattern and gives the match a name.
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(?:pattern)
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A non-capturing group
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(?=...)
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A positive lookahead
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(?!...)
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A negative lookahead
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(?<=...)
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A positive lookbehind .
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(?<!...)
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A negative lookbehind .
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x|y
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Matches either x or y. For
example, "z|wood" matches "z" or "wood".
"(z|w)oo" matches "zoo" or "wood".
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{n}
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n is a non-negative integer. Matches exactly n times.
For example, "o{2}" does not match the "o" in
"Bob," but matches the first two o's in "foooood".
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{n,}
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n is a non-negative integer. Matches at least n times.
For example, "o{2,}" does not match the "o" in
"Bob" and matches all the o's in "foooood."
"o{1,}" is equivalent to "o+". "o{0,}" is
equivalent to "o*".
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{n,m}
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m and n are non-negative integers.
Matches at least n and at most m times. For
example, "o{1,3}" matches the first three o's in
"fooooood." "o{0,1}" is equivalent to "o?".
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[xyz]
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A character set. Matches any one of the enclosed characters.
For example, "[abc]" matches the "a" in
"plain".
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[^xyz]
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A negative character set. Matches any character not enclosed.
For example, "[^abc]" matches the "p" in
"plain".
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[a-z]
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A range of characters. Matches any character in the specified
range. For example, "[a-z]" matches any lowercase alphabetic
character in the range "a" through "z".
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[^m-z]
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A negative range characters. Matches any character not in the
specified range. For example, "[m-z]" matches any character not in
the range "m" through "z".
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\b
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Matches a word boundary, that is, the position between a word
and a space. For example, "er\b" matches the "er" in
"never" but not the "er" in "verb".
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\B
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Matches a non-word boundary. "ea*r\B" matches the
"ear" in "never early".
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\d
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Matches a digit character. Equivalent to [0-9].
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\D
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Matches a non-digit character. Equivalent to [^0-9].
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\f
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Matches a form-feed character.
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\k
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A back-reference to a named group.
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\n
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Matches a newline character.
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\r
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Matches a carriage return character.
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\s
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Matches any white space including space,
tab, form-feed, etc. Equivalent to "[ \f\n\r\t\v]".
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\S
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Matches any nonwhite space character. Equivalent to
"[^ \f\n\r\t\v]".
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\t
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Matches a tab character.
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\v
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Matches a vertical tab character.
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\w
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Matches any word character including underscore. Equivalent to
"[A-Za-z0-9_]".
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\W
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Matches any non-word character. Equivalent to
"[^A-Za-z0-9_]".
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\num
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Matches num, where num is a
positive integer. A reference back to remembered matches. For example,
"(.)\1" matches two consecutive identical characters.
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\n
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Matches n, where n is an octal
escape value. Octal escape values must be 1, 2, or 3 digits long. For
example, "\11" and "\011" both match a tab character.
"\0011" is the equivalent of "\001" & "1".
Octal escape values must not exceed 256. If they do, only the first two
digits comprise the expression. Allows ASCII codes to be used in regular
expressions.
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\xn
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Matches n, where n is a
hexadecimal escape value. Hexadecimal escape values must be exactly two
digits long. For example, "\x41" matches "A".
"\x041" is equivalent to "\x04" & "1".
Allows ASCII codes to be used in regular
expressions.
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\un
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Matches a Unicode character expressed in
hexadecimal notation with exactly four numeric digits. "\u0200"
matches a space character.
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\A
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Matches the position before the first character in a string.
Not affected by the MultiLine setting
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\Z
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Matches the position after the last character of a string. Not
affected by the MultiLine setting.
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\G
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Specifies that the matches must be consecutive, without any
intervening non-matching characters.
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