powered by CADENAS

Manual

Manual

6.1. Regular expression

With regular expressions certain sections of column values can be identified via a combination of signs.

Example:

The values in column Standards number consist of complex expressions (e.g. “xyz DIN 174jdfjd”). Within these strings the expressions for Standards numbers used in PARTdataManager tables (“DIN 174”) are to be found. To compare column values of text file and table, the relevant expressions must be extracted from the strings.

Solution:

Expression “DIN [0-9] * “.

So you filter the following string: “DIN“, followed by a blank and a number. The number consists of the digits 0 to 9, which can occur any often in this number.

Used Symbol in correspondence with regular expressions:

Signs in regular expressions

Description

* (star)

sign(s) left to the star can appear in any number or not at all

+ (plus)

sign(s) left to the plus can appear in any number but at least one time

? (question mark)

sign(s) left of the question mark can appear one time or not at all.

. (dot)

the dot replaces any sign which appears one time

[^] (cap with brackets)

signs within the brackets and behind the cap are excluded

^ (cap without brackets)

signs behind the cap are to position at the beginning of a string

$ (dollar sign)

signs followed by a Dollar sign are to position at the end of a string.

Possible regular expressions :

a prefixed backslash nullifies the function of all other signs in a regular expression

Possible regular expressions:

The following examples are based on character string ABCXYZDEF

Expression

Description

Example

XYZ

Reads out X and Z as well as the defined expression between X and Z.

ABC XYZ DEF

X . Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any expression between X and Z.

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XeZ DEF

ABC X4Z DEF

etc.

X .* Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any expression (in any number) or no sign between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XApZ DEF

etc.

X .+ Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any expression (in any number but at least one time) between X and Z.

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XrGZ DEF

etc.

X .? Z

Reads out X and Z as well as one or no expression between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC X8Z DEF

etc.

XA + Z

Selects X and Z as well as A (in any number but at least one time) between X and Z.

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XAAZ DEF

ABC XAAAZ DEF

etc.

XA ? Z

Reads out X and Z as well as one A or no A between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC XAZ DEF

X[AB] * Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any combination between A and B or no expression between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XBZ DEF

ABC XABZ DEF

ABC XBAZ DEF

ABC XAAZ DEF

ABC XBBZ DEF

ABC XABAZ DEF

ABC XBBAABAZ DEF

etc.

X[ ^ AB]Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any combination between X and Z, apart from A and B.

ABC X AB Z DEF

Expression

Description

Example

X[A-C]Z

Reads out X and Z as well as A, B or C between X and Z.

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XBZ DEF

ABC XCZ DEF

X[0-9] * Z

Reads out X and Z as well as any combination of numbers or no expression between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC X0Z DEF

ABC X1Z DEF

ABC X6372Z DEF

etc.

X[A-Z][a-z] * Z

Reads out X and Z as well as string starting with capital letter and continuing with lower case (in any number) or no String between X and Z.

ABC XZ DEF

ABC XAZ DEF

ABC XAaZ DEF

ABC XAgsagZ DEF

ABC XBZ DEF

etc.

^ ABC

Reads out a defined expression if it is positioned at the beginning of the string.

ABC XYZDEF

Not with:

XABCZDEF

ABC $

Reads out a defined expression if it is positioned at the end of the string.

XYZDEF ABC

Not with:

ABCXYZDEF

X \. Z

Nullifies the function of the dot within the regular expression, so a dot (also $, ^, \, etc.) can be read out of a string, too.

ABCX . ZDEF