How can test I regular expressions using multiple RE engines? [closed]

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How can I test the same regex against different regular expression engines?

Nepean answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:35 Comment(9)

@Lasse: how is this not constructive again? – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 4:43

@DanDascalescu This question is far too broad. – Hungarian 26/2, 2014 at 5:7

@chrylis: Edited. I've narrowed it down to testing the same regexp against multiple engines. Please see @Shog9's comments on moderating tool recommendations as well. – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 5:17

@DanDascalescu You've completely misunderstood the original intent of the question but since I don't mind the question you're asking I don't see any point in editing it back. – Nepean 26/2, 2014 at 13:47

@OnorioCatenacci: you might not have noticed that the question as you asked it, was closed as "not constructive" - see its history. My edit managed to reopen it after almost two years. You're welcome. – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 14:12

@DanDascalescu - you're making a fool of yourself here - this question was asked in August 2008 - i.e. the first few days of SO's existence. Running around down-voting answers and resurrecting questions which are now into their second half decade just makes you look slightly unhinged. – Imray 26/2, 2014 at 16:4

I'm glad wanting to have outdated information makes you look better, @Will. Of course, regular expressions are a thing of the past, and the upvoted that this question has received are no indication of interest in it. – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 16:40

@DanDascalescu I don't really care if it's re-opened or not; I made it community wiki long before it closed. Mainly I was looking for some other regex tools--I wasn't looking to test the same regex against different regex engines. As I say, you've completely misunderstood the original intent of my question--regardless of whether or not the question should have been closed. – Nepean 26/2, 2014 at 21:10

@OnorioCatenacci: I understood your question perfectly but in its original form, it didn't abide by the StackOverflow guidelines against soliciting tool recommendations. – Boutonniere 27/2, 2014 at 0:0

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The most powerful free online regexp testing tool is by far http://regex101.com/ - lets you select the RE engine (PCRE, JavaScript, Python), has a debugger, colorizes the matches, explains the regexp on the fly, can create permalinks to the regex playground.

Other online tools:

http://regexpal.com/ - powered by the XRegExp JavaScript library
http://www.rubular.com/ - Ruby-based
Perl Regex Tutor - uses PCRE

Windows desktop tools:

The Regex Coach - free Windows application
RegexBuddy recommended by most, costs US$ 39.95

Jeff Atwood [wrote about regular expressions]( post:).

Other tools recommended by SO users include:

http://www.txt2re.com/ Online free tool to generate regular expressions for multiple language (@palmsey another thread)
The Added Bytes Regular Expressions Cheat Sheet (@GateKiller another thread)
http://regexhero.net/ - The Online .NET Regular Expression Tester. Not free.

Erskine answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:37 Comment(7)

rubular is great, online and free... – Iatrics 25/9, 2008 at 13:44

I love regex coach - it does dynamic searching as you type. The only thing is that it seems like it's gone into hibernation. – Silk 13/5, 2009 at 22:7

txt2re.com tool nice to start learn regular expression. – Informer 9/12, 2009 at 14:23

regexhero.net/tester is a very nice tool – Patriciate 10/12, 2010 at 18:13

+1 for regexpal.com it's my favorite. :D – Twiddle 28/11, 2011 at 22:32

Quickrex is really good for eclipse: bastian-bergerhoff.com/eclipse/features/web/QuickREx/… – Ferris 28/1, 2013 at 11:17

regexpal.com doesn't show the matching groups. Worthless! – Kettie 16/6, 2013 at 14:24

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RegexBuddy

Breach answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:36 Comment(0)

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I use Expresso (www.ultrapico.com). It has a lot of nice features for the developer. The Regulator used to be my favorite, but it hasn't been updated in so long and I constantly ran into crashes with complicated RegExs.

Burwell answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:40 Comment(1)

+1 Its all good now. Theres been an update in 09. Expresso 3.0, its pretty stable. – Morelli 9/12, 2010 at 8:40

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Here are some for the Mac: (Note: don't judge the tools by their websites)

RegExhibit - My Favorite, powerful and easy
Reggy - Simple and Clean
RegexWidget - A Dashboard Widget for quick testing

Drogin answered 28/8, 2008 at 14:17 Comment(1)

I will totally judge tools by their web sites, thank you very much. ;) – Haft 9/9, 2009 at 16:32

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If you are an Emacs user, the command re-builder lets you type an Emacs regex and shows on the fly the matching strings in the current buffer, with colors to mark groups. It's free as Emacs.

Nonnah answered 28/8, 2008 at 14:14 Comment(0)

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Rubular is free, easy to use and looks nice.

Placeman answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:39 Comment(0)

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RegexBuddy is a weapon of choice

Dispeople answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:36 Comment(1)

Care to expand on that? What was your experience with the tool? Maybe mention it's Windows only and costs $40? – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 4:51

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I use the excellent and free Rad Software Regular Expression Designer.

If you just want to write a regular expression, have a little help with the syntax and test the RE's matching and replacing then this fairly light-footprint tool is ideal.

Hatty answered 25/9, 2008 at 13:39 Comment(0)

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couple of eclipse plugins for those using eclipse,
http://www.brosinski.com/regex/

http://www.bastian-bergerhoff.com/eclipse/features/web/QuickREx/toc.html

Forewing answered 28/8, 2008 at 17:53 Comment(0)

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Kodos of course. Cause it's Pythonic. ;)

Eyestalk answered 15/5, 2009 at 20:10 Comment(0)

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RegexBuddy is great!!!

Saddlebacked answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:38 Comment(0)

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I agree on RegExBuddy, but if you want free or when I'm working somewhere and not on my own system RegExr is a great online (Flash) tool that has lots of pre-built regex segments to work with and does real-time pattern matching for your testing.

Lyonnaise answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:49 Comment(2)

You could carry around a portable installation of RegexBuddy on a USB stick whenever you're not on your own system. – Puduns 23/11, 2009 at 14:32

Flash tools suck. I'm glad RegExr is dead. – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 4:52

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In the standard Python installation there is a "Tools/scripts" directory containing redemo.py.

This creates an interactive Tkinter window in which you can experiment with regexs.

Presuppose answered 24/3, 2009 at 15:53 Comment(0)

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In the past I preferred The Regex Coach for its simplistic layout, instantaneous highlighting and its price (free).

Every once in awhile though I run into an issue with it when trying to test .NET regular expressions. For that, it turns out, it's better to use a tool that actually uses the .NET regular expression engine. That was my whole reason to build Regex Hero last year. It runs in Silverlight, and as such, runs off of the .NET Regex Class library directly.

Neckerchief answered 8/5, 2009 at 21:57 Comment(2)

RegexBuddy does not use the .NET regex engine. It uses the JGSoft engine, which is just as good, but with a slightly different feature set. For example, it doesn't have .NET's "balanced matching" feature, but it does support unrestricted, variable-length lookbehind expressions--the only regex flavor besides .NET to do so. As for Regex Hero, it's not really free; the online version is a demo that constantly nags you to buy the "professional" version. – Moorland 10/12, 2010 at 22:1

@Alan - Thanks for the correction. I wrote this answer a long time ago when Regex Hero was completely free and light on features. I started charging for the professional version last December. – Neckerchief 10/12, 2010 at 22:39

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This regex tester able to test javascript, php and python http://www.piliapp.com/regex-tester/

Sondra answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:35 Comment(0)

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Check out Regex Master which is free and open source regular expression tester

Histogen answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:35 Comment(0)

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I like http://regexhero.net/tester/ a lot

Patriciate answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:35 Comment(0)

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Also this regex plugin can be useful for eclipse and idea users.

Informer answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:35 Comment(0)

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Regexbuddy does all this. http://www.regexbuddy.com/

Imray answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:37 Comment(0)

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see the accepted answer to this question: Learning Regular Expressions

Convoke answered 28/8, 2008 at 13:38 Comment(0)

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I'll add to the vote of Reggy for the Mac, gonna try out some of the other ones that Joseph suggested and upvote that post tomorrow when my limit gets reset.

Excide answered 28/8, 2008 at 14:25 Comment(0)

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for online: http://regexpal.com/ for desktop: The Regex Coach

Fornication answered 28/8, 2008 at 15:29 Comment(0)

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+1 For Regex Coach here. Free and does the job really well.

http://www.weitz.de/regex-coach/

Depriest answered 28/8, 2008 at 15:50 Comment(0)

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I am still a big The Regulator fan.
There are some stability problems but these can be fixed by disableing the Intellisense. It gets mad with some expressions and typos in building an expression.

Would love it if Roy Osherove updated, but looks like he is busy with other things.

Scag answered 28/8, 2008 at 17:50 Comment(0)

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I like to use this online one: http://www.cuneytyilmaz.com/prog/jrx/ Of course, it'll be javascript regexp, but I've never yet done anything clever enough to notice the difference.

Classless answered 16/9, 2008 at 11:15 Comment(0)

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I personally like the Regular Expression Tester.

It's a free firefox plugin, so always on!

Tarazi answered 18/11, 2009 at 12:3 Comment(0)

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RegExr for testing with the Actionscript 3 (whichever standard that may be)

Lille answered 28/8, 2008 at 18:12 Comment(1)

Flash-based tools suck. I'm glad RegExr is dead. – Boutonniere 26/2, 2014 at 4:52

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How much is your time worth? Pay the $40 and get RegexBuddy. I did, and I even upgraded from 2.x version to 3.x. It has paid for itself many times over.

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