PyRegexBuilder

Build regular expressions swiftly in Python.

Features

🧩 Simple yet powerful DSL: PyRegexBuilder allows you to build regular expressions using a DSL similar to that of Swift RegexBuilder. This makes it easier to compose and maintain regexes while still harnessing their many features.

from pyregexbuilder import Character, Regex, Capture, ZeroOrMore, OneOrMore
import regex as re

word = OneOrMore(Character.WORD)
email_pattern = Regex(
    Capture(
        ZeroOrMore(
            word,
            ".",
        ),
        word,
    ),
    "@",
    Capture(
        word,
        OneOrMore(
            ".",
            word,
        ),
    ),
).compile()

text = "My email is my.name@example.com."

if match := re.search(email_pattern, text):
    name, domain = match.groups()

🔎 Extensive regular expression support: PyRegexBuilder is made possible thanks to the feature-rich regex module.
Danger
- 🛠️ This is still a work in progress, and the API may change.
- 🐛 If you find a bug or have a suggestion, please open an issue or pull request.

Quickstart

Install PyRegexBuilder and the Regex library in a virtual environment using your favourite package manager.
pipuv
pip install git+https//github.com/jsquaredosquared/PyRegexBuilder regex
uv add "pyregexbuilder @ git+https://github.com/jsquaredosquared/PyRegexBuilder" regex
regex or re?
- PyRegexBuilder uses the regex module under the hood, with regex.DEFAULT_VERSION = re.V1. This is required if you want to use all the features.
- You can use regex with regex.DEFAULT_VERSION = re.V0 or the built-in re module if you really want to, but some features may not work as expected.

Compose regular expressions.

from pyregexbuilder import *
import regex as re

text = ... # This is the text that you want to use.

pattern = Regex(
    # Build up your pattern here.
    # Don't forget to compile it!
).compile()


# Now you can use the pattern in regex operations.
result = re.search(pattern, text)

Tip

Strings that begin and end with forward slashes (r"/.../") will be treated as regex literals.
All other strings will be escaped with re.escape().

See the tutorial for an example of how to use PyRegexBuilder.

Documentation

This documentation assumes familiarity with regex features.

To learn how to use regular expressions in Python, see the docs and how-to.
To see which additional features are provided by the regex module, see the regex GitHub page.
To see all the features PyRegexBuilder has to offer, check out the API reference. The API is inspired by Swift RegexBuilder and TS Regex Builder.

Contributing

See this page.