The everyday expressions can be defined as the sequence of characters which are used to search for a pattern in a string. The module re presents the support to use regex in the python program. The re module throws an exception if there is some error whilst using the normal expression.
The re module should be imported to use the regex functionalities in python.
import re
Regex Functions
The following regex functions are used in the python.
| SN | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | match | This method matches the regex pattern in the string with the optional flag. It returns true if a match is found in the string otherwise it returns false. |
| 2 | search | This method returns the match object if there is a match found in the string. |
| 3 | findall | It returns a list that contains all the matches of a pattern in the string. |
| 4 | split | Returns a list in which the string has been split in each match. |
| 5 | sub | Replace one or many matches in the string. |
Forming a regular expression
A everyday expression can be shaped with the aid of using the mix of meta-characters, special sequences, and sets.
Meta-Characters
Metacharacter is a character with the exact meaning.
| Metacharacter | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [] | It represents the set of characters. | “[a-z]” |
| \ | It represents the special sequence. | “\r” |
| . | It signals that any character is present at some specific place. | “Ja.v.” |
| ^ | It represents the pattern present at the beginning of the string. | “^Java” |
| $ | It represents the pattern present at the end of the string. | “point” |
| * | It represents zero or more occurrences of a pattern in the string. | “hello*” |
| + | It represents one or more occurrences of a pattern in the string. | “hello+” |
| {} | The specified number of occurrences of a pattern the string. | “java{2}” |
| | | It represents either this or that character is present. | “java|point” |
| () | Capture and group |
Special Sequences
Special sequences are the sequences containing \ accompanied with the aid of one of the characters.
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| \A | It returns a match if the specified characters are present at the beginning of the string. |
| \b | It returns a match if the specified characters are present at the beginning or the end of the string. |
| \B | It returns a match if the specified characters are present at the beginning of the string but not at the end. |
| \d | It returns a match if the string contains digits [0-9]. |
| \D | It returns a match if the string doesn’t contain the digits [0-9]. |
| \s | It returns a match if the string contains any white space character. |
| \S | It returns a match if the string doesn’t contain any white space character. |
| \w | It returns a match if the string contains any word characters. |
| \W | It returns a match if the string doesn’t contain any word. |
| \Z | Returns a match if the specified characters are at the end of the string. |
Sets
A set is a group of characters given inner a pair of rectangular brackets. It represents the distinctive meaning.
| SN | Set | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [arn] | Returns a match if the string contains any of the specified characters in the set. |
| 2 | [a-n] | Returns a match if the string contains any of the characters between a to n. |
| 3 | [^arn] | Returns a match if the string contains the characters except a, r, and n. |
| 4 | [0123] | Returns a match if the string contains any of the specified digits. |
| 5 | [0-9] | Returns a match if the string contains any digit between 0 and 9. |
| 6 | [0-5][0-9] | Returns a match if the string contains any digit between 00 and 59. |
| 10 | [a-zA-Z] | Returns a match if the string contains any alphabet (lower-case or upper-case). |
The findall() function
This approach returns a listing containing a listing of all fits of a pattern within the string. It returns the patterns in the order they are found. If there are no matches, then an empty list is returned.
Consider the following example.
Example
import re
str = "How are you. How is everything"
matches = re.findall("How", str)
print(matches)
print(matches)
Output:
['How', 'How']The match object
The suit object carries the statistics about the search and the output. If there is no fit found, the None object is returned.
Example
import re
str = "How are you. How is everything"
matches = re.search("How", str)
print(type(matches))
print(matches) #matches is the search object
Output:
<class '_sre.SRE_Match'>
<_sre.SRE_Match object; span=(0, 3), match='How'>The Match object methods
There are the following strategies associated with the Match object.
span(): It returns the tuple containing the starting and end position of the match.
string(): It returns a string passed into the function.
group(): The part of the string is returned where the match is found.
Example
import re
str = "How are you. How is everything"
matches = re.search("How", str)
print(matches.span())
print(matches.group())
print(matches.string)
Output:
(0, 3)
How
How are you. How is everything