Syntax for Regular Expressions

To create a regular expression, you must use specific syntax—that is, special characters and construction rules. For example, the following is a simple regular expression that matches any 10-digit telephone number, in the pattern nnn-nnn-nnnn:

\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}

The following table describes some of the most common special characters for use in regular expressions. These characters are categorized as follows:

Characters Description
Anchors
^ (caret) Matches the start of the line or string of text that the regular expression is searching. For example, a content rule with a location Subject line and the following regular expression:

^abc

captures any email message that has a subject line beginning with the letters abc
$ (dollar) Matches the end of the line or string of text that the regular expression is searching. For example, a content rule with a location Subject line and the following regular expression:

xyz$

captures any email message that has a subject line ending with the letters xyz
Metacharacters
. (dot) Matches any single character, except a new line.
| (pipe) Indicates alternation—that is, an “or.” For example:

cat|dog matches the word cat or dog
\ Indicates that the next character is a literal rather than a special character. For example:

\. matches a literal period, rather than any character (dot character)
Character Classes
[...] Matches any character from a set of characters. Separate the first and last character in a set with a dash. For example:

[123] matches the digit 1, 2, or 3

[a-f] matches any letter from a to f

Note: Regular expressions in Content Compliance policies are case sensitive.
[^...] Matches any character not in the set of characters. For example:

[^a-f]matches any character that’s not a letter from a to f

Note: Regular expressions in Content Compliance policies are case sensitive.
[:alnum:] Matches alphanumeric characters (letters or digits):

a-z, A-Z, or 0-9

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:alnum:]].
[:alpha:] Matches alphabetic characters (letters):

a-z or A-Z

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:alpha:]].
[:digit:] Matches digits:

0-9

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:digit:]].
[:graph:] Matches visible characters only—that is, any characters except spaces, control characters, and so on.

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:graph:]].
[:punct:] Matches punctuation characters and symbols:

! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , \ -. / : ; < = > ? @ [ ] ^ _ ` { | }

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:punct:]].
[:print:] Matches visible characters and spaces.

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:print:]].
[:space:] Matches all whitespace characters, including spaces, tabs, and line breaks.

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:space:]].
[:word:] Matches any word character—that is, any letter, digit, or underscore:

a-z, A-Z, 0-9, or _

Note: This character class must be surrounded with another set of square brackets when you use it in a regular expression, for example: [[:word:]].
Shorthand Character Classes
\w Matches any word character—that is, any letter, digit, or underscore:

a-z, A-Z, 0-9, or _

Equivalent to [:word:]
\W Matches any non-word character—that is, any character that’s not a letter, digit, or underscore.

Equivalent to [^[:word:]]
\s Matches any whitespace character. For example, use this character to specify a space between words in a phrase:

stock\stips matches the phrase stock tips

Equivalent to [:space:]
\S Matches any character that’s not a whitespace.

Equivalent to [^[:space:]]
\d Matches any digit from 0-9.

Equivalent to [:digit:]
\D Matches any character that’s not a digit from 0-9.

Equivalent to [^[:digit:]]
Group
(...) Groups parts of an expression. Use grouping to apply a quantifier to a group or to match a character class before or after a group.
Quantifiers
{n} Match the preceding expression exactly n times. For example:

[a-c]{2} matches any letter from a to c only if two letters occur in a row. Thus, the expression would match ab and bc but not abc or aabbc.
{n,m} Match the preceding expression a minimum of n times and a maximum of m times. For example:

[a-c]{2,4} matches any letter from a to c only if the letters occur a minimum of 2 times and a maximum of 4 times in a row. Thus, the expression would match ab and abc but not aabbc.
? Indicates that the preceding character or expression can match 0 or 1 times. Equivalent to the range {0,1}. For example, the following regular expression:

colou?r

matches either colour or color, because the ? makes the letter u optional.
 

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