List of Regular Expressions

+List of Regular Expressions + + + + Character + + + Result/Use + + + + + Any character + + + Represents the given character unless otherwise specified. + + + + + . + + + Represents any single character except for a line break or paragraph break. For example, the search term "sh.rt" returns both "shirt" and "short". + + + + + ^ + + + Only finds the search term if the term is at the beginning of a paragraph. Special objects such as empty fields or character-anchored frames, at the beginning of a paragraph are ignored. Example: "^Peter". + + + + + $ + + + Only finds the search term if the term appears at the end of a paragraph. Special objects such as empty fields or character-anchored frames at the end of a paragraph are ignored. Example: "Peter$". + $ on its own matches the end of a paragraph. This way it is possible to search and replace paragraph breaks. + + + + + * + + + Finds zero or more of the characters in front of the "*". For example, "Ab*c" finds "Ac", "Abc", "Abbc", "Abbbc", and so on. + + + + + + + + + Finds one or more of the characters in front of the "+". For example, "AX.+4" finds "AXx4", but not "AX4". + The longest possible string that matches this search pattern in a paragraph is always found. If the paragraph contains the string "AX 4 AX4", the entire passage is highlighted. + + + + + ? + + + Finds zero or one of the characters in front of the "?". For example, "Texts?" finds "Text" and "Texts" and "x(ab|c)?y" finds "xy", "xaby", or "xcy". + + + + + \ + + + Search interprets the special character that follows the "\" as a normal character and not as a regular expression (except for the combinations \n, \t, \>, and \<). For example, "tree\." finds "tree.", not "treed" or "trees". + + + + + \n + + + Represents a line break that was inserted with the Shift+Enter key combination. To change a line break into a paragraph break, enter \n in the Find and Replace boxes, and then perform a search and replace. + \n in the Find text box stands for a line break that was inserted with the Shift+Enter key combination. + \n in the Replace text box stands for a paragraph break that can be entered with the Enter or Return key. + + + + + \t + + + Represents a tab. You can also use this expression in the Replace box. + + + + + \b + + + Match a word boundary. For example, "\bbook" finds "bookmark" but not "checkbook" whereas "book\b" finds "checkbook" but not "bookmark". The discrete word "book" is found by both search terms. + + + + + ^$ + + + Finds an empty paragraph. + + + + + ^. + + + Finds the first character of a paragraph. + + + + + & or $0 + + + Adds the string that was found by the search criteria in the Find box to the term in the Replace box when you make a replacement. + For example, if you enter "window" in the Find box and "&frame" in the Replace box, the word "window" is replaced with "windowframe". + You can also enter an "&" in the Replace box to modify the Attributes or the Format of the string found by the search criteria. + + + + + [abc123] + + + Represents one of the characters that are between the brackets. + + + + + [a-e] + + + Represents any of the characters that are between a and e, including both start and end characters. + The characters are ordered by their code numbers. + + + + + [a-eh-x] + + + Represents any of the characters that are between a-e and h-x. + + + + + [^a-s] + + + Represents everything that is not between a and s. + + + + + \uXXXX + \UXXXXXXXX + + + Represents a character based on its four-digit hexadecimal Unicode code (XXXX). + For obscure characters there is a separate variant with capital U and eight hexadecimal digits (XXXXXXXX). + For certain symbol fonts the code for special characters may depend on the used font. You can view the codes by choosing Insert - Special Character. + + + + + | + + + Finds the terms that occur before the "|" and also finds the terms that occur after the "|". For example, "this|that" finds "this" and "that". + + + + + {2} + + + Defines the number of times that the character in front of the opening bracket occurs. For example, "tre{2}" finds and selects "tree". + + + + + {1,2} + + + Defines the minimum and maximum number of times that the character in front of the opening bracket can occur. For example, "tre{1,2}" finds and selects "tre" and "tree". + + + + + {1,} + + + Defines the minimum number of times that the character in front of the opening bracket can occur. For example, "tre{2,}" finds "tree", "treee", and "treeeee". + + + + + ( ) + + + In the Find box: + Defines the characters inside the parentheses as a reference. You can then refer to the first reference in the current expression with "\1", to the second reference with "\2", and so on. + For example, if your text contains the number 13487889 and you search using the regular expression (8)7\1\1, "8788" is found. + You can also use () to group terms, for example, "a(bc)?d" finds "ad" or "abcd". + In the Replace box:i83322 + Use $ (dollar) instead of \ (backslash) to replace references. Use $0 to replace the whole found string. + + + + + [:alpha:] + + + Represents an alphabetic character. Use [:alpha:]+ to find one of them. + + + + + [:digit:] + + + Represents a decimal digit. Use [:digit:]+ to find one of them. + + + + + [:alnum:] + + + Represents an alphanumeric character ([:alpha:] and [:digit:]). + + + + + [:space:] + + + Represents a space character (but not other whitespace characters).UFI: see #i41706# + + + + + [:print:] + + + Represents a printable character. + + + + + [:cntrl:] + + + Represents a nonprinting character. + + + + + [:lower:] + + + Represents a lowercase character if Match case is selected in Options. + + + + + [:upper:] + + + Represents an uppercase character if Match case is selected in Options. + + +

+Examples + e([:digit:])? -- finds 'e' followed by zero or one digit. Note that currently all named character classes like [:digit:] must be enclosed in parentheses.issue 64368 and 113035 + ^([:digit:])$ -- finds lines or cells with exactly one digit. + You can combine the search terms to form complex searches. +To find three-digit numbers alone in a paragraph + ^[:digit:]{3}$ + ^ means the match has to be at the start of a paragraph, + [:digit:] matches any decimal digit, + {3} means there must be exactly 3 copies of "digit", + $ means the match must end a paragraph. +

Wiki page about regular expressions in Writer - Wiki page about regular expressions in Calc -

- +Wiki page about regular expressions in Calc +