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Regex replace¤

Description¤

The regexReplace plugin replaces all occurrences of a regular expression.

This plugin is a replace transformer plugin. This means that if the regular expression does not match the input value, it will be replaced with an empty string, i.e. deleted.

Notes on regular expressions¤

The most commonly used examples of regular expressions are "\\s*" for representing whitespace characters, [^0-9]* for numbers, and [a-z]* for the usual English characters between a and z. The star (*) represents an arbitrary number of occurrences (zero included), whereas the plus sign (+) indicates a strictly positive number of occurrences (zero excluded).

An uppercase version of the predefined character classes means negation, such as "\\S*" for non-whitespace characters, or "\\D*" for non-digits. Similarly, the hat sign ^ can be used for negating (arbitrary) character classes, such as [^xyz] for any character except x, y or z.

Attention: Slashes in regular expressions have to be escaped, e.g. instead of \s we need to escape it as \\s.

Note for advanced users¤

A compilation of the available constructs for building regular expressions is available in the API of the Java Pattern.

Relation to other plugins¤

Additionally to the regexReplace plugin, there are related plugins such as validateRegex, ifMatchesRegex and regexExtract.

The distinctive feature of each of these plugins lies in what happens whenever the regular expression matches the input value(s): the regexReplace plugin is used for replacing the input, validateRegex is useful for validating the input, ifMatchesRegex conditionally distinguishes which input to take, and regexExtract extracts all occurrences of the matching.

Examples¤

Notation: List of values are represented via square brackets. Example: [first, second] represents a list of two values “first” and “second”.

Removes all digits by replacing them with an empty string:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [^0-9]*

  • Input values:

    1. [a0b1c2]

  • Returns: [012]

Removes all letters by replacing them with an empty string:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [a-z]*

  • Input values:

    1. [abcdef1]

  • Returns: [1]

Removes all vowels by replacing them with an empty string:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [aeyiuoAEYIUO]*

  • Input values:

    1. [Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin]

  • Returns: [Dwln, Bln, Kl, Fl, Dr, Nr, r, n, Gln, Bfr, Bfr, Bmbr, Thrn]

Removes all consonants by replacing them with an empty string:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [^aeyiuoAEYIUO]*

  • Input values:

    1. [Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin]

  • Returns: [ai, ai, ii, ii, oi, oi, Oi, Oi, oi, iu, ou, ou, oi]

Replaces all vowels with a common vowel:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [aeyiuoAEYIUO]{1}
    • replace: a

  • Input values:

    1. [Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin]

  • Returns: [Dwalan, Balan, Kala, Fala, Dara, Nara, ara, aan, Glaan, Bafar, Bafar, Bambar, Tharan]

Replaces all vowels with a common double vowel:

  • Parameters

    • regex: [aeyiuoAEYIUO]{1}
    • replace: aa

  • Input values:

    1. [Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin]

  • Returns: [Dwaalaan, Baalaan, Kaalaa, Faalaa, Daaraa, Naaraa, aaraa, aaaan, Glaaaan, Baafaar, Baafaar, Baambaar, Thaaraan]

Parameter¤

Regex¤

The regular expression to match

  • ID: regex
  • Datatype: string
  • Default Value: None

Replace¤

The replacement of each match

  • ID: replace
  • Datatype: string
  • Default Value: None

Advanced Parameter¤

None

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