Anchors Sample Patterns

^ Start of line + ([A-Za-z0-9-]+) Letters, numbers and hyphens

\A Start of string + (\d{1,2}\/\d{1,2}\/\d{4}) Date (e.g. 21/3/2006)
$ End of line + ([^\s]+(?=\.(jpg|gif|png))\.\2) jpg, gif or png image
\Z End of string + (^[1-9]{1}$|^[1-4]{1}[0-9]{1}$|^50$) Any number from 1 to 50 inclusive
\b Word boundary + (#?([A-Fa-f0-9]){3}(([A-Fa-f0-9]){3})?) Valid hexadecimal colour code
\B Not word boundary + ((?=.*\d)(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z]).{8,15}) 8 to 15 character string with at least one
\< Start of word upper case letter, one lower case letter,
\> End of word and one digit (useful for passwords).
(\w+@[a-zA-Z_]+?\.[a-zA-Z]{2,6}) Email addresses
(\<(/?[^\>]+)\>) HTML Tags
Character Classes

\c Control character These patterns are intended for reference purposes and have not been extensively tested.
Note Please use with caution and test thoroughly before use.
\s White space
\S Not white space
\d Digit
Quantifiers Ranges
\D Not digit
\w Word * 0 or more + . Any character except
\W Not word *? 0 or more, ungreedy + new line (\n) +
\xhh Hexadecimal character hh + 1 or more + (a|b) a or b +
\Oxxx Octal character xxx +? 1 or more, ungreedy + (...) Group +
? 0 or 1 + (?:...) Passive Group +
?? 0 or 1, ungreedy + [abc] Range (a or b or c) +
POSIX Character Classes
{3} Exactly 3 + [^abc] Not a or b or c +
[:upper:] Upper case letters {3,} 3 or more + [a-q] Letter between a and q +
[:lower:] Lower case letters {3,5} 3, 4 or 5 + [A-Q] Upper case letter +
[:alpha:] All letters {3,5}? 3, 4 or 5, ungreedy + between A and Q +
[:alnum:] Digits and letters [0-7] Digit between 0 and 7 +
[:digit:] Digits \n nth group/subpattern +
Special Characters
[:xdigit:] Hexadecimal digits
[:punct:] Punctuation \ Escape Character +
Note Ranges are inclusive.
[:blank:] Space and tab \n New line +
[:space:] Blank characters \r Carriage return +
[:cntrl:] Control characters \t Tab +
Pattern Modifiers
[:graph:] Printed characters \v Vertical tab +
[:print:] Printed characters and \f Form feed + g Global match
spaces \a Alarm i Case-insensitive
[:word:] Digits, letters and [\b] Backspace m Multiple lines
underscore \e Escape s Treat string as single line
\N{name} Named Character x Allow comments and

Assertions white space in pattern

e Evaluate replacement
String Replacement (Backreferences)
?= Lookahead assertion + U Ungreedy pattern
?! Negative lookahead + $n nth non-passive group
?<= Lookbehind assertion + $2 "xyz" in /^(abc(xyz))$/
Metacharacters (must be escaped)
?!= or ?<! Negative lookbehind + $1 "xyz" in /^(?:abc)(xyz)$/
?> Once-only Subexpression $` Before matched string ^ [ .
?() Condition [if then] $' After matched string $ { *
?()| Condition [if then else] $+ Last matched string ( \ +
?# Comment $& Entire matched string ) | ?
$_ Entire input string < >
Items marked + should work in most $$ Literal "$"
Note regular expression implementations. Available free from
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