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<title>4.2.4 Regular Expression Objects </title>
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<H2><A NAME="SECTION006240000000000000000"></A><A NAME="re-objects"></A>
<BR>
4.2.4 Regular Expression Objects
</H2>
<P>
Compiled regular expression objects support the following methods and
attributes:
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-891' xml:id='l2h-891' class="method">match</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>string</var><big>[</big><var>, pos</var><big>[</big><var>,
endpos</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
If zero or more characters at the beginning of <var>string</var> match
this regular expression, return a corresponding
<tt class="class">MatchObject</tt> instance. Return <code>None</code> if the string does not
match the pattern; note that this is different from a zero-length
match.
<P>
<span class="note"><b class="label">Note:</b>
If you want to locate a match anywhere in
<var>string</var>, use <tt class="method">search()</tt> instead.</span>
<P>
The optional second parameter <var>pos</var> gives an index in the string
where the search is to start; it defaults to <code>0</code>. This is not
completely equivalent to slicing the string; the
<code>'^'</code> pattern
character matches at the real beginning of the string and at positions
just after a newline, but not necessarily at the index where the search
is to start.
<P>
The optional parameter <var>endpos</var> limits how far the string will
be searched; it will be as if the string is <var>endpos</var> characters
long, so only the characters from <var>pos</var> to <code><var>endpos</var> -
1</code> will be searched for a match. If <var>endpos</var> is less than
<var>pos</var>, no match will be found, otherwise, if <var>rx</var> is a
compiled regular expression object,
<code><var>rx</var>.match(<var>string</var>, 0, 50)</code> is equivalent to
<code><var>rx</var>.match(<var>string</var>[:50], 0)</code>.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-892' xml:id='l2h-892' class="method">search</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>string</var><big>[</big><var>, pos</var><big>[</big><var>,
endpos</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Scan through <var>string</var> looking for a location where this regular
expression produces a match, and return a
corresponding <tt class="class">MatchObject</tt> instance. Return <code>None</code> if no
position in the string matches the pattern; note that this is
different from finding a zero-length match at some point in the string.
<P>
The optional <var>pos</var> and <var>endpos</var> parameters have the same
meaning as for the <tt class="method">match()</tt> method.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-893' xml:id='l2h-893' class="method">split</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>string</var><big>[</big><var>,
maxsplit<code> = 0</code></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Identical to the <tt class="function">split()</tt> function, using the compiled pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-894' xml:id='l2h-894' class="method">findall</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>string</var><big>[</big><var>, pos</var><big>[</big><var>,
endpos</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Identical to the <tt class="function">findall()</tt> function, using the compiled pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-895' xml:id='l2h-895' class="method">finditer</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>string</var><big>[</big><var>, pos</var><big>[</big><var>,
endpos</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Identical to the <tt class="function">finditer()</tt> function, using the compiled pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-896' xml:id='l2h-896' class="method">sub</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>repl, string</var><big>[</big><var>, count<code> = 0</code></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Identical to the <tt class="function">sub()</tt> function, using the compiled pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-897' xml:id='l2h-897' class="method">subn</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
<td><var>repl, string</var><big>[</big><var>,
count<code> = 0</code></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
Identical to the <tt class="function">subn()</tt> function, using the compiled pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-898' xml:id='l2h-898' class="member">flags</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
The flags argument used when the RE object was compiled, or
<code>0</code> if no flags were provided.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-899' xml:id='l2h-899' class="member">groupindex</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
A dictionary mapping any symbolic group names defined by
<tt class="regexp">(?P<<var>id</var>>)</tt> to group numbers. The dictionary is empty if no
symbolic groups were used in the pattern.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><tt id='l2h-900' xml:id='l2h-900' class="member">pattern</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
The pattern string from which the RE object was compiled.
</dl>
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.4.3, documentation updated on 29 March 2006.</span>
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