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Day-13 Python Regx

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
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Day-13 Python Regx

Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Python RegEx

A RegEx, or Regular Expression, is a sequence of characters that forms a


search pattern.

RegEx can be used to check if a string contains the specified search pattern.

RegEx Module
Python has a built-in package called re, which can be used to work with Regular
Expressions.

Import the re module:

import re

RegEx in Python
When you have imported the re module, you can start using regular
expressions:

Example
Search the string to see if it starts with "The" and ends with "Spain":

import re

txt = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search("^The.*Spain$", txt)

Run example »
RegEx Functions
The re module offers a set of functions that allows us to search a string for a
match:

Function Description

findall Returns a list containing all matches

search Returns a Match object if there is a match anywhere in the string

split Returns a list where the string has been split at each match

sub Replaces one or many matches with a string

Metacharacters
Metacharacters are characters with a special meaning:

Character Description Example

[] A set of characters "[a-m]"

\ Signals a special sequence (can also be used to escape special "\d"


characters)
. Any character (except newline character) "he..o"

^ Starts with "^hello"

$ Ends with "world$"

* Zero or more occurrences "aix*"

+ One or more occurrences "aix+"

{} Excactly the specified number of occurrences "al{2}"

| Either or "falls|stay

() Capture and group

Special Sequences
A special sequence is a \ followed by one of the characters in the list below, and
has a special meaning:

Character Description Example


\A Returns a match if the specified characters are at the beginning "\AThe"
of the string

\b Returns a match where the specified characters are at the r"\bain"


beginning or at the end of a word r"ain\b"

\B Returns a match where the specified characters are present, but r"\Bain"
NOT at the beginning (or at the end) of a word r"ain\B"

\d Returns a match where the string contains digits (numbers from "\d"
0-9)

\D Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain digits "\D"

\s Returns a match where the string contains a white space "\s"


character

\S Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain a white "\S"
space character

\w Returns a match where the string contains any word characters "\w"
(characters from a to Z, digits from 0-9, and the underscore _
character)
\W Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain any word "\W"
characters

\Z Returns a match if the specified characters are at the end of the "Spain\Z"
string

Sets
A set is a set of characters inside a pair of square brackets [] with a special
meaning:

Set Description

[arn] Returns a match where one of the specified characters ( a, r, or n) are presen

[a-n] Returns a match for any lower case character, alphabetically between a and

[^arn] Returns a match for any character EXCEPT a, r, and n

[0123] Returns a match where any of the specified digits ( 0, 1, 2, or 3) are present

[0-9] Returns a match for any digit between 0 and 9


[0-5][0-9] Returns a match for any two-digit numbers from 00 and 59

[a-zA-Z] Returns a match for any character alphabetically between a and z, lower cas
OR upper case

[+] In sets, +, *, ., |, (), $,{} has no special meaning, so [+] means: return a
match for any + character in the string

The findall() Function


The findall() function returns a list containing all matches.

Example
Print a list of all matches:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.findall("ai", str)
print(x)

Run example »

The list contains the matches in the order they are found.

If no matches are found, an empty list is returned:

Example
Return an empty list if no match was found:
import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.findall("Portugal", str)
print(x)

Run example »

The search() Function


The search() function searches the string for a match, and returns a Match
object if there is a match.

If there is more than one match, only the first occurrence of the match will be
returned:

Example
Search for the first white-space character in the string:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search("\s", str)

print("The first white-space character is located in position:",


x.start())

Run example »

If no matches are found, the value None is returned:

Example
Make a search that returns no match:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search("Portugal", str)
print(x)

Run example »

The split() Function


The split() function returns a list where the string has been split at each
match:

Example
Split at each white-space character:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.split("\s", str)
print(x)

Run example »

You can control the number of occurrences by specifying


the maxsplit parameter:

Example
Split the string only at the first occurrence:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.split("\s", str, 1)
print(x)

Run example »
The sub() Function
The sub() function replaces the matches with the text of your choice:

Example
Replace every white-space character with the number 9:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.sub("\s", "9", str)
print(x)

Run example »

You can control the number of replacements by specifying


the count parameter:

Example
Replace the first 2 occurrences:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.sub("\s", "9", str, 2)
print(x)

Run example »

Match Object
A Match Object is an object containing information about the search and the
result.
Note: If there are no match, the value None will be returned, instead of the
Match Object.

Example
Do a search that will return a Match Object:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search("ai", str)
print(x) #this will print an object

Run example »

The Match object has properties and methods used to retrieve information about
the search, and the result:

.span() returns a tuple containing the start-, and end positions of the match.
.string returns the string passed into the function
.group() returns the part of the string where there was a match

Example
Print the position (start- and end-position) of the first match occurrence.

The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.span())

Run example »

Example
Print the string passed into the function:

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.string)

Run example »

Example
Print the part of the string where there was a match.

The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":

import re

str = "The rain in Spain"


x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", str)
print(x.group())

Run example »

Note: If there are no match, the value None will be returned, instead of the
Match Object.

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