Get Example source ABAP code based on a different SAP table
ABAP_POSIX_REGEX - Single Character Patterns (obsolete) Single characters are represented by literal characters or operators. By prefixing a backslash , a special character of an operator is interpreted as a literal character. This applies in particular for the backslash itself, so that the regular expression is the same as the single character . If the backslash is followed by a literal character, the backslash is ignored as if it does not exist. ITOC
Literal Characters A literal character is a character that is not a special character, a special character preceded by a backslash , or enclosed between Q ... E. As a search pattern, a literal character matches the same single character exactly.
Latest notes: Case-sensitivity can be controlled using the respective statements or methods. NON_V5_HINTS ABAP_HINT_END
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results of a matching that is case-sensitive. Patterntext<(>match<)> AAX Aa- ..X AAB- ABABX The regular expression AB is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters. ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
Operators for Single Characters These operators are made up of the special characters ., [ , ], ^, and -. The last two are only effective as special characters in specific positions within [ ]. The special characters can be converted into literal characters using the prefix .
Placeholders for Single Characters The special character . is a placeholder for any single character. The operator C has the same effect as the special character .. A regular expression . or C matches exactly one single character.
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results of a matching that is not case-sensitive. PatternText<(>match<)> .AX CaX .AB- ..ABX The regular expression .. is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters. ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
User-Defined Sets for Single Characters The special characters [ ] can be placed around any number of literal characters or names for character classes (see below) and thus define a set of literal characters. A regular expression [ ...] matches exactly one single character that is listed as a literal character within the brackets or that is contained in a specified character class. At least one literal character or one name for a character class (see below) must be contained within the brackets. One of the characters [ or ], which is positioned directly after the opening bracket, is interpreted as a literal character. Some of the special characters that start with a backslash, such as A or Q, lose their special function within sets and are interpreted as the simple literal character A or Q.
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results from a matching . PatternText<(>match<)> [ABC]BX [ABC]ABC- [AB][CD]ADX [ d]9X The regular expression [AB][CD] is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters. ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
Negation of a User-Defined Set for Single Characters If the character ^ is listed as the first character in a user-defined set for single characters and is listed directly after [, ] it acts as a special character and negates the remaining set of literal characters or character classes. A regular expression [^ ...] matches exactly one single character not listed as a literal character within the brackets, or which is not contained in a specified character class. A character ^ that is not listed directly after [ acts as a literal character.
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results from a matching. PatternText<(>match<)> [^ABC]B- [^ABC]YX [^A][^B]BAX [A^B]^X The regular expression [^A][^B] is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters. ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
Ranges in a User-Defined Set for Single Characters If the character - is between two literal characters, it acts as a special character and defines a range between the literal characters. The range is the set of characters that is enclosed by literal characters in the code page of the current operating system. A regular expression [...-...] matches exactly one single character that is within the defined range. A character -, which is not between two literal characters, acts as a literal character. A literal character cannot be part of two ranges, for example, 'a-z-Z' is not a regular expression.
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results from a matching. PatternText<(>match<)> [A-Za-z0-9]BX [A-Za-z0-9]5X [A-Za-z0-9]#- [A-Za-z0-9]-- [A-Za-z0-9-]-X In the last expression, the closing - does not act as a special character. ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
Character Classes Within sets for single characters defined using [ ], predefined character classes can be specified for certain sets for single characters whose behavior can, however, depend on the language and platform.
[:alnum:] Set of all alphanumeric characters (union of [:alpha:] and [:digit:])
[:alpha:] Set of all uppercase and lowercase letters including language-specific special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs) but without digits.
[:blank:] Blank characters and horizontal tabs
[:cntrl:] Set of all control characters
[:digit:] Set of all digits 0 to 9
[:graph:] Set of all displayable characters except for blanks and horizontal tabs
[:lower:] Set of all lowercase characters including language-dependent special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs)
[:print:] Set of all displayable characters (union of [:graph:] and [:blank:])
[:punct:] Set of all punctuation characters
[:space:] Set of all blank characters, tabs, carriage returns and line feeds
[:unicode:] Set of all characters whose character representation is greater than 255
[:upper:] Set of all uppercase characters including language-dependent special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs)
[:word:] Set of all alphanumeric characters including the underscore _
[:xdigit:] Set of all hexadecimal digits (0-9, A -F, and a-f)
Latest notes:
Character classes only work within [ ] as specified. A regular expression [:digit:] does not define the set of all digits, but instead defines a character set consisting of :, d, g, i, and t. To specify the set of all digits, the regular expression [[:digit:]] should be used.
Due to their dependencies on language and platform, these character classes must be used with caution. NON_V5_HINTS ABAP_HINT_END
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results of a matching that is case-sensitive. PatternText<(>match<)> [[:alnum:]]aX [[:alnum:]];- [[:alpha:]]1- [[:punct:]].X [[:lower:]]âX [[:upper:]]ÄX [[:digit:][:alpha:]]+a1b2c3X ABAP_EXAMPLE_END
Abbreviations for Character Sets For frequently used character sets, specific operators are available as abbreviations: Character Set<(>Abbr.<)>Meaning [[:digit:]] dPlaceholder for a digit [^[:digit:]] DPlaceholder for a non-digit [[:lower:]] lPlaceholder for a lowercase letter [^[:lower:]] LPlaceholder for a character that is not a lowercase letter [[:space:]] sPlaceholder for a blank character [^[:space:]] SPlaceholder for a non-blank character [[:upper:]] uPlaceholder for an uppercase letter [^[:upper:]] UPlaceholder for a character that is not an uppercase letter [[:word:]] wPlaceholder for an alphanumeric character plus underscore _ [^[:word:]] WPlaceholder for an non-alphanumeric character without underscore _
Latest notes: If case is ignored by the ABAP statements FIND and REPLACE and when creating an object of the class CL_ABAP_REGEX, l and u are equivalent to [[:alpha:]] or L and U is equivalent to [^[:alpha:]]. The special characters w, u, l, d, and s can also be listed within sets [...]. The special characters W , U, L, D, and S cannot be used within sets and raise the exception CX_SY_INVALID_REGEX. NON_V5_HINTS ABAP_HINT_END
ABAP_EXAMPLES The following table shows some results of a matching that is case-sensitive. PatternText<(>match<)> d4X D;X luX lU- LSX s X S#X uUX U.X wAX w
