Regex in Python

Core module

import re

General Syntax

• .
• []
  a set of chars, common cases as follows:
  (1)chars list
  (2)chars range
  (3)special chars lose special meanings, like “[(+)]” will match “(” , “+” and “)”
  (4)not within chars range, like “[^5]” match any chars except “5”
• ()

• ?
  zero or one repetion of 前面一个RE或字符。
  Like “ab?” it indicates either “a” or “ab”

• +
  one or more repetions of 前面一个RE或字符。
  Like“ab+”, it indcates “a” can be followed by non-zero number of “b”.

• *
  zero or more repetions of 前面一个RE或字符。
  Like “ab*” , it indicates “a” can be followed by any number of “b”.

• *? , +? , ??
  add ? after * , + , ? will execute in non-greedy or minimal fashion
  Like “<.*?>” only match “<\a>” in “<\a>b<\c>”.(Note: “\” is an escaping character)

• \s
  match any whitesapce chars as “[ \t\r\n\f\v]” if UNICODE flag not specified.

Key Methods

• match : used for str match
• search : used for str search
• sub : used for str search and replace

这部分的关键点在于对于具体的应用需求，构建regex pattern.

Application Case and experience

(1)specific tag search in xml and update its value
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在匹配时,单个\s字符就可以匹配所有连续空格；

Note:多行匹配；方法中编译标识的掌握与灵活运用，如flags=re.S使得 “.”匹配任意字符包括新行(\n).

(2)similar str style match verification
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