Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 September 22

= September 22 =

Which version of PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions engine) is used in Notepad++ v7.5 (32 bit) ?
I am trying to learn Regex, so now I wonder: Which version of PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions engine) is used in Notepad++ v7.5 (32 bit) ? --178.232.237.179 (talk) 02:03, 22 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I can't answer your question, but I can recommend Jeffrey Friedl's book "Mastering Regular Expressions". It helped me no end. --TrogWoolley (talk) 12:49, 22 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Notepad++ doesn't have regular expressions that I've seen. It is an option. You can add boost:regex. Therefore, it is the boost implementation as documented here. That claims to based on Perl 5.8. Please correct me if I'm wrong and Notepad++ actually does have built-in regex and not just a compiler option to include boost. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 14:02, 22 September 2017 (UTC)
 * The search option in Notepad++ (ctrl-F) has an option to look for regexp. I actually had to use it once for a non-trivial look-ahead expression, so it does more than "* matches everything". My doc on v5.3 says Notepad++ makes use of the Scintilla regex engine, it is the same as with SciTE [with posix mode on], but I have no 7.5 to check (unbelievably, Notepad++'s website does not link to any documentation). If it is still correct, then describes how it works.  Tigraan Click here to contact me 14:25, 22 September 2017 (UTC)


 * I recommend RegexMagic and RegexBuddy. See http://www.regexbuddy.com/ and http://www.regexmagic.com/ &#40;&#40;&#40;The Quixotic Potato&#41;&#41;&#41; (talk) 21:08, 22 September 2017 (UTC)


 * http://docs.notepad-plus-plus.org/index.php/Regular_Expressions says "Notepad++ regular expressions use the standard PCRE (Perl) syntax, only departing from it in very minor ways. Complete documentation on the precise implementation is to be found on the implementer's website."


 * Another great tutorial is provided online at http://www.regular-expressions.info . More advanced material, specially about recursion, is to be found on the various pages of http://www.rexegg.com &#40;&#40;&#40;The Quixotic Potato&#41;&#41;&#41; (talk)  21:27, 22 September 2017 (UTC)
 * You should also look at ; be aware that there are multiple, incompatible regex flavors out there, so be sure you know what flavor your tool uses. I've seen numerous people putting PCREs into things like grep and then asking why it doesn't work. Conveniently, that page also links to The Open Group standards defining POSIX BRE and EREs. --47.138.161.183 (talk) 03:47, 24 September 2017 (UTC)