!RegExTest

v0.16 (24 Mar 2018)

The RegExTest application is a small application which enables easy investigation and testing of Regular Expressions used for Searching. Regular Expressions are a way of defining complicated pattern matching for Search conditions, using a standard syntax for searching which is available on many platforms.

It was written in the hope that it will help to encourage the use of RegEx in the RISC OS Applications which support it - and that includes at least Pluto and AntiSpam - where it can be very useful to test what a Regular Expression will and will not match, before actually using it for real. Both those applications contain RegEx information in their help files.

Note that the current version is only Beta Test quality - it may contain bugs, but may still be useful!

The RegExTest application uses a RISC OS module called RegEx, which provides a SWI interface to a compiled version of most of the GNU Regular Expression Library. This C library is very flexible and is widely used, eg: in the Emacs Editor and Perl language. The RISC OS module is available from and supported by Stefan Bellon.

The RegExTest application was written with the help of the two StrongHelp manuals, written by Steve Drain, and they are recommended reading for anyone trying to use RegEx:

The RegEx manual documents the module and SWIs.
The RegExLib manual documents the library.

Many thanks to both Stefan and Steve!

There is also a general Regular Expressions website which may be useful, and many others.

Example Output

Change History

v0.16 (24 Mar 2018). Initial Beta release version

How to obtain RegExTest

To download please click on !RegExTest (35 kByte Zip Archive)