Can anyone recommend an online primer for regex please? I've found a
few myself but I really want something that's suitable for a very raw
beginner. TIA.

--
Cheers, Alan

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Sn!pe <snipeco.2@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Can anyone recommend an online primer for regex please? I've found a
few myself but I really want something that's suitable for a very raw beginner. TIA.

The regex chapter (no.11) of the MacSOUP manual is good.
In case you get no recommendations for a more accessible
primer, I'd be happy to copy the manual for you.

I've got MacSOUP installed on my Mojave VM which I've not run for ages.
Anyway runnng it now and have exracted the manual as a PDF via MacSOUP
Help. Thanks for the info :)

--
Cheers, Alan

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Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Sn!pe <snipeco.2@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Can anyone recommend an online primer for regex please? I've found a
few myself but I really want something that's suitable for a very raw beginner. TIA.

The regex chapter (no.11) of the MacSOUP manual is good.
In case you get no recommendations for a more accessible
primer, I'd be happy to copy the manual for you.

I've got MacSOUP installed on my Mojave VM which I've not run for ages. Anyway runnng it now and have exracted the manual as a PDF via MacSOUP
Help. Thanks for the info :)

You may want to search on 'regex cheat sheet'.
These things give all the useful abbreviations on a single page.
(which is suitable for printing)

Jan

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 28 Mar 2024 at 10:04:00 GMT, "J. J. Lodder" <J. J. Lodder> wrote:

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Sn!pe <snipeco.2@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Can anyone recommend an online primer for regex please? I've found a
few myself but I really want something that's suitable for a very raw
beginner. TIA.

The regex chapter (no.11) of the MacSOUP manual is good.
In case you get no recommendations for a more accessible
primer, I'd be happy to copy the manual for you.

I've got MacSOUP installed on my Mojave VM which I've not run for ages.
Anyway runnng it now and have exracted the manual as a PDF via MacSOUP
Help. Thanks for the info :)

You may want to search on 'regex cheat sheet'.
These things give all the useful abbreviations on a single page.
(which is suitable for printing)

Yes, thank you for that - I've found several promising links :)

--
Cheers, Alan

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On 28 Mar 2024, Alan B wrote
(in article<uu3hlf$3h9i1$1@alanrichardbarker.eternal-september.org>):

On 28 Mar 2024 at 10:04:00 GMT, "J. J. Lodder" <J. J. Lodder> wrote:

Alan B<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Sn!pe <snipeco.2@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan B<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Can anyone recommend an online primer for regex please? I've found a few myself but I really want something that's suitable for a very raw beginner. TIA.

The regex chapter (no.11) of the MacSOUP manual is good.
In case you get no recommendations for a more accessible
primer, I'd be happy to copy the manual for you.

I've got MacSOUP installed on my Mojave VM which I've not run for ages. Anyway runnng it now and have exracted the manual as a PDF via MacSOUP Help. Thanks for the info :)

You may want to search on 'regex cheat sheet'.
These things give all the useful abbreviations on a single page.
(which is suitable for printing)

Yes, thank you for that - I've found several promising links :)

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a newbie playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

MST

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On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor" <correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a newbie playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've started.

--
Cheers, Alan

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On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a newbie >>> playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember its name!

There are free alternatives e.g <https://regexr.com>

--
Bruce Horrocks
Surrey, England

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On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor" <correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember its name!
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email

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Chris Ridd <chrisridd@mac.com> wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:35, Bruce Horrocks wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a
newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've
started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember
its
name!

There are free alternatives e.g <https://regexr.com>

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

I already use BBEdit as an alternative to TextEdit but never thought of investigating its regex support! Doh ;-)

--
Cheers, Alan

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 28/03/2024 22:35, Bruce Horrocks wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a
newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've
started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember
its
name!

There are free alternatives e.g <https://regexr.com>

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is
online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

--
Chris

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On 29/03/2024 09:43, Chris Ridd wrote:
[....]

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

*AND* ........ BBEdit is available from the Apple App Store! 🙂

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 29 Mar 2024, Chris Ridd wrote
(in article <uu62fl$79c0$1@dont-email.me>):

On 28/03/2024 22:35, Bruce Horrocks wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor" <correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember its
name!

There are free alternatives e.g<https://regexr.com>

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

I'm quite good at using regex to find strings, but is there a regex standard for 'replace'?

For example, if I want to replace all occurrences of

<anydigit1><somecharacterstring><anydigit2>

with

<samedigit1>"xyz"<samecharacterstring><samedigit2>

is there a standard syntax to do this, and where can I learn it?

MST

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 29/03/2024 12:55, Martin S Taylor wrote:

On 29 Mar 2024, Chris Ridd wrote
(in article <uu62fl$79c0$1@dont-email.me>):

On 28/03/2024 22:35, Bruce Horrocks wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a >>>>>> newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've
started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember >>>> its
name!

There are free alternatives e.g<https://regexr.com>

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is
online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

I'm quite good at using regex to find strings, but is there a regex standard for 'replace'?

For example, if I want to replace all occurrences of

<anydigit1><somecharacterstring><anydigit2>

with

<samedigit1>"xyz"<samecharacterstring><samedigit2>

is there a standard syntax to do this, and where can I learn it?

Yes, there's a common notation for capturing text in the "find"
expression, and there's a common notation for using those in the
replacement text.

You'd do something like search for:

<any(digit1>)(<somecharacterstring>)<any(digit2>)

and replace with:

<same\1"xyz"\2<same\3

The capture groups can obviously contain expressions etc.

There are also regex extensions to associate a name with a capture
group, but that's the simplest usage.

--
Chris

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On 2024-03-30, Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

Yes the Pattern Playground feature is proving very educational. I don't think I'll ever become a competent regex-er but its improving my understanding quite a bit :)

... its -> it's ...

--
Cheers, Alan

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 2024-03-29, Chris Ridd <chrisridd@mac.com> wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:35, Bruce Horrocks wrote:

On 28/03/2024 22:29, TimH wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 7:27:25 pm GMT, "Alan B"
<alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Mar 2024 at 18:36:49 GMT, "Martin S Taylor"
<correspondence@mRaErMtOiVnEsTtHaIySlor.com> wrote:

This is useful, not so much as a primer but as a useful tool for a
newbie
playing with regex:

https://www.apptorium/com/expressions

Link corrected: <https://www.apptorium.com/expressions>

Thanks and only $/£7.99 to purchase after 7-day trial which I've
started.

+1 thanks - I wanted to recommend this to the OP but couldn't remember
its
name!

There are free alternatives e.g <https://regexr.com>

BBEdit uses a good regex engine, and automatically highlights all
matching text as you write a regex - rather neat. Their manual (PDF) is online at https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/index.html#docs and
has a decent chapter on regexes.

Yes the Pattern Playground feature is proving very educational. I don't think I'll ever become a competent regex-er but its improving my understanding
quite a bit :)

--
Cheers, Alan

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