Source: RegExLib.com Regular Expression Cheat Sheet (.NET)
metacharacters
instructions
^
Matches the starting position of the string
$
Matches the end of the string
.
Match any single character (except newline \n)
|
alternate
{... }
Specifies the amount to be qualified
[...]
Specify the character set to match
(...).
Logical grouping of expressions
*
Matches zero or more of the preceding expressions
+
Matches 1 or more of the preceding expressions
?
Matches zero or one of the preceding expressions
\
Placed before any of the above 1 character to indicate a match against the character itself. Placed after other special characters to indicate character escape (see below)
Character escaping
instructions
The original character
Divide by. $^ {[(|)]} * +? All characters except \ match themselves
\a
Matching ring tone (alarm) \u0007
\b
Match 1 space \u0008 in [], otherwise match word boundaries (between \w and \W characters)
\t
Match the TAB character \u0009
\r
Roll return character \u000D
\v
Matches the vertical TAB character \u000B
\f
Match the page break character \u000C
\n
Match newline \u000A
\e
Match exit key (character) \u001B
\040
Matches ASCII characters (up to 3 digits) in base 8; In the absence of leading zeros, if there is only one digit or the corresponding digit corresponds to the number of a capture group, it is a backreference (backreference). The character \040 represents 1 space.
\x20
Matches the ASCII character (two digits) in base 106
\cC
Matches the ASCII control, for example \cC matches Ctrl+C
\u0020
Matches the Unicode character in base 106
\*
If the backslash is not followed by an escaped character, it matches the character itself. For example, \* is equivalent to \x2A
Character classes
instructions
.
Matches any character other than \n.
[aeiou]
Matches any one character contained in a particular character set
[^aeiou]
Matches any one character not included in a particular character set
[0-9a-fA-F]
The hyphen (-) is used to specify the range of consecutive characters
\p{name}
Matches any character in the named character class specified by {name}
\P{name}
Matches text not contained in the group or block range specified by {name}
\w
Matching an alphanumeric character, equivalent to [a-zA-Z0-9] if ECMAScript compatibility is specified
\W
Matching non-alphanumeric characters is equivalent to [^ a-zA-Z0-9] if ECMAScript compatibility is specified
\s
Matching any white space character, equivalent to [\f\n\r\t\v]
\S
Match any non-white space character, equivalent to [^\f\n\r\t\v] when specified to be ECMAScript compatible
\d
Matching numeric characters, in the case of ECMAScript compatibility, is equivalent to [0-9]
\D
Matching non-numeric characters, in the case of ECMAScript compatibility, is equivalent to [^0-9]
English version:
Metacharacters Defined
MChar
Definition
^
Start of a string.
$
End of a string.
.
Any character (except \n newline)
|
Alternation.
{...}
Explicit quantifier notation.
[...]
Explicit set of characters to match.
(...)
Logical grouping of part of an expression.
*
0 or more of previous expression.
+
1 or more of previous expression.
?
0 or 1 of previous expression; also forces minimal matching when an expression might match several strings within a search string.
\
Preceding one of the above, it makes it a literal instead of a special character. Preceding a special matching character, see below.
Metacharacter Examples
Pattern
Sample Matches
^abc
abc, abcdefg, abc123, ...
abc$
abc, endsinabc, 123abc, ...
a.c
abc, aac, acc, adc, aec, ...
bill|ted
ted, bill
ab{2}c
abbc
a[bB]c
abc, aBc
(abc){2}
abcabc
ab*c
ac, abc, abbc, abbbc, ...
ab+c
abc, abbc, abbbc, ...
ab?c
ac, abc
a\sc
a c
Character Escapes http://tinyurl.com/5wm3wl
Escaped Char
Description
ordinary characters
Characters other than . $ ^ { [ ( | ) ] } * + ? \ match themselves.
\a
Matches a bell (alarm) \u0007.
\b
Matches a backspace \u0008 if in a []; otherwise matches a word boundary (between \w and \W characters).
\t
Matches a tab \u0009.
\r
Matches a carriage return \u000D.
\v
Matches a vertical tab \u000B.
\f
Matches a form feed \u000C.
\n
Matches a new line \u000A.
\e
Matches an escape \u001B.
\040
Matches an ASCII character as octal (up to three digits); numbers with no leading zero are backreferences if they have only one digit or if they correspond to a capturing group number. (For more information, see Backreferences.) For example, the character \040 represents a space.
\x20
Matches an ASCII character using hexadecimal representation (exactly two digits).
\cC
Matches an ASCII control character; for example \cC is control-C.
\u0020
Matches a Unicode character using a hexadecimal representation (exactly four digits).
\*
When followed by a character that is not recognized as an escaped character, matches that character. For example, \* is the same as \x2A.
Character Classes http://tinyurl.com/5ck4ll
Char Class
Description
.
Matches any character except \n. If modified by the Singleline option, a period character matches any character. For more information, see Regular Expression Options.
[aeiou]
Matches any single character included in the specified set of characters.
[^aeiou]
Matches any single character not in the specified set of characters.
[0-9a-fA-F]
Use of a hyphen (wok) allows specification of contiguous character ranges.
\p{name}
Matches any character in the named character class specified by {name}. Supported names are Unicode groups and block ranges. For example, Ll, Nd, Z, IsGreek, IsBoxDrawing.
\P{name}
Matches text not included in groups and block ranges specified in {name}.
\w
Matches any word character. Equivalent to the Unicode character categories [\p{Ll}\p{Lu}\p{Lt}\p{Lo}\p{Nd}\p{Pc}]. If ECMAScript-compliant behavior is specified with the ECMAScript option, \w is equivalent to [a-zA-Z_0-9].
\W
Matches any nonword character. Equivalent to the Unicode categories [^\p{Ll}\p{Lu}\p{Lt}\p{Lo}\p{Nd}\p{Pc}]. If ECMAScript-compliant behavior is specified with the ECMAScript option, \W is equivalent to [^a-zA-Z_0-9].
\s
Matches any white-space character. Equivalent to the Unicode character categories [\f\n\r\t\v\x85\p{Z}]. If ECMAScript-compliant behavior is specified with the ECMAScript option, \s is equivalent to [ \f\n\r\t\v].
\S
Matches any non-white-space character. Equivalent to the Unicode character categories [^\f\n\r\t\v\x85\p{Z}]. If ECMAScript-compliant behavior is specified with the ECMAScript option, \S is equivalent to [^ \f\n\r\t\v].
\d
Matches any decimal digit. Equivalent to \p{Nd} for Unicode and [0-9] for non-Unicode, ECMAScript behavior.
\D
Matches any nondigit. Equivalent to \P{Nd} for Unicode and [^0-9] for non-Unicode, ECMAScript behavior.