# class Regex

- Regex
- Reference
- Object

##
Overview

A `Regex` represents a regular expression, a pattern that describes the contents of strings. A `Regex` can determine whether or not a string matches its description, and extract the parts of the string that match.

A `Regex` can be created using the literal syntax, in which it is delimited by forward slashes (`/`):

    /hay/ =~ "haystack"   # => 0
    /y/.match("haystack") # => Regex::MatchData("y")

See `Regex` literals in the language reference.

Interpolation works in regular expression literals just as it does in string literals. Be aware that using this feature will cause an exception to be raised at runtime, if the resulting string would not be a valid regular expression.

    x = "a"
    /#{x}/.match("asdf") # => Regex::MatchData("a")
    x = "("
    /#{x}/ # raises ArgumentError

When we check to see if a particular regular expression describes a string, we can say that we are performing a match or matching one against the other. If we find that a regular expression does describe a string, we say that it matches, and we can refer to a part of the string that was described as a match.

Here `"haystack"` does not contain the pattern `/needle/`, so it doesn't match:

    /needle/.match("haystack") # => nil

Here `"haystack"` contains the pattern `/hay/`, so it matches:

    /hay/.match("haystack") # => Regex::MatchData("hay")

Regex methods that perform a match usually return a truthy value if there was a match and `nil` if there was no match. After performing a match, the special variable `$~` will be an instance of `Regex::MatchData` if it matched, `nil` otherwise.

When matching a regular expression using `#=~` (either `String#=~` or `Regex#=~`), the returned value will be the index of the first match in the string if the expression matched, `nil` otherwise.

    /stack/ =~ "haystack"  # => 3
    "haystack" =~ /stack/  # => 3
    $~                     # => Regex::MatchData("stack")
    /needle/ =~ "haystack" # => nil
    "haystack" =~ /needle/ # => nil
    $~                     # raises Exception

When matching a regular expression using `#match` (either `String#match` or `Regex#match`), the returned value will be a `Regex::MatchData` if the expression matched, `nil` otherwise.

    /hay/.match("haystack")    # => Regex::MatchData("hay")
    "haystack".match(/hay/)    # => Regex::MatchData("hay")
    $~                         # => Regex::MatchData("hay")
    /needle/.match("haystack") # => nil
    "haystack".match(/needle/) # => nil
    $~                         # raises Exception

Regular expressions have their own language for describing strings.

Many programming languages and tools implement their own regular expression language, but Crystal uses PCRE2, a popular C library, with JIT compilation enabled for providing regular expressions. Here give a brief summary of the most basic features of regular expressions - grouping, repetition, and alternation - but the feature set of PCRE2 extends far beyond these, and we don't attempt to describe it in full here. For more information, refer to the PCRE2 documentation, especially the full pattern syntax or syntax quick reference.

NOTE Prior to Crystal 1.8 the compiler expected regex literals to follow the original PCRE pattern syntax. The following summary applies to both PCRE and PCRE2.

The regular expression language can be used to match much more than just the static substrings in the above examples. Certain characters, called metacharacters, are given special treatment in regular expressions, and can be used to describe more complex patterns. To match metacharacters literally in a regular expression, they must be escaped by being preceded with a backslash (`\`). `.escape` will do this automatically for a given String.

A group of characters (often called a capture group or subpattern) can be identified by enclosing it in parentheses (`()`). The contents of each capture group can be extracted on a successful match:

    /a(sd)f/.match("_asdf_")                     # => Regex::MatchData("asdf" 1:"sd")
    /a(sd)f/.match("_asdf_").try &.[1]           # => "sd"
    /a(?<grp>sd)f/.match("_asdf_")               # => Regex::MatchData("asdf" grp:"sd")
    /a(?<grp>sd)f/.match("_asdf_").try &.["grp"] # => "sd"

Capture groups are indexed starting from 1. Methods that accept a capture group index will usually also accept 0 to refer to the full match. Capture groups can also be given names, using the `(?&lt;name&gt;...)` syntax, as in the previous example.

Following a match, the special variables $N (e.g., $1, $2, $3, ...) can be used to access a capture group. Trying to access an invalid capture group will raise an exception. Note that it is possible to have a successful match with a nil capture:

    /(spice)(s)?/.match("spice") # => Regex::MatchData("spice" 1:"spice" 2:nil)
    $1                           # => "spice"
    $2                           # => raises Exception

This can be mitigated by using the nilable version of the above: $N?, (e.g., $1? $2?, $3?, ...). Changing the above to use `$2?` instead of `$2` would return `nil`. `$2?.nil?` would return `true`.

A character or group can be repeated or made optional using an asterisk (`*` - zero or more), a plus sign (`#+` - one or more), integer bounds in curly braces (`{n,m}`) (at least `n`, no more than `m`), or a question mark (`?`) (zero or one).

    /fo*/.match("_f_")         # => Regex::MatchData("f")
    /fo+/.match("_f_")         # => nil
    /fo*/.match("_foo_")       # => Regex::MatchData("foo")
    /fo{3,}/.match("_foo_")    # => nil
    /fo{1,3}/.match("_foo_")   # => Regex::MatchData("foo")
    /fo*/.match("_foo_")       # => Regex::MatchData("foo")
    /fo*/.match("_foooooooo_") # => Regex::MatchData("foooooooo")
    /fo{,3}/.match("_foooo_")  # => nil
    /f(op)*/.match("fopopo")   # => Regex::MatchData("fopop" 1:"op")
    /foo?bar/.match("foobar")  # => Regex::MatchData("foobar")
    /foo?bar/.match("fobar")   # => Regex::MatchData("fobar")

Alternatives can be separated using a vertical bar (`|`). Any single character can be represented by dot (`.`). When matching only one character, specific alternatives can be expressed as a character class, enclosed in square brackets (`[]`):

    /foo|bar/.match("foo")     # => Regex::MatchData("foo")
    /foo|bar/.match("bar")     # => Regex::MatchData("bar")
    /_(x|y)_/.match("_x_")     # => Regex::MatchData("_x_" 1:"x")
    /_(x|y)_/.match("_y_")     # => Regex::MatchData("_y_" 1:"y")
    /_(x|y)_/.match("_(x|y)_") # => nil
    /_(x|y)_/.match("_(x|y)_") # => nil
    /_._/.match("_x_")         # => Regex::MatchData("_x_")
    /_[xyz]_/.match("_x_")     # => Regex::MatchData("_x_")
    /_[a-z]_/.match("_x_")     # => Regex::MatchData("_x_")
    /_[^a-z]_/.match("_x_")    # => nil
    /_[^a-wy-z]_/.match("_x_") # => Regex::MatchData("_x_")

Regular expressions can be defined with these 3 optional flags:

- `i`: ignore case (`Regex::Options::IGNORE_CASE`)
- `m`: multiline (`Regex::Options::MULTILINE`)
- `x`: extended (`Regex::Options::EXTENDED`)

    /asdf/ =~ "ASDF"    # => nil
    /asdf/i =~ "ASDF"   # => 0
    /^z/i =~ "ASDF\nZ"  # => nil
    /^z/im =~ "ASDF\nZ" # => 5

PCRE2 supports other encodings, but Crystal strings are UTF-8 only, so Crystal regular expressions are also UTF-8 only (by default). Crystal strings are expected to contain only valid UTF-8 encodings, but that's not guaranteed. There's a chance that a string can contain invalid bytes. Especially data read from external sources must not be trusted to be valid encoding. The regex engine demands valid UTF-8, so it checks the encoding for every match. This can be unnecessary if the string is already validated (for example via `String#valid_encoding?` or because it has already been used in a previous regex match). If that's the case, it's profitable to skip UTF-8 validation via `MatchOptions::NO_UTF_CHECK` (or `CompileOptions::NO_UTF_CHECK` for the pattern).

PCRE2 optionally permits named capture groups (named subpatterns) to not be unique. Crystal exposes the name table of a `Regex` as a `Hash` of `String` => `Int32`, and therefore requires named capture groups to have unique names within a single `Regex`.

##
Included Modules

- Regex::PCRE2

##
Defined in:

json/any.cr
regex.cr
regex/match_data.cr
yaml/any.cr

##
Constant Summary

SPECIAL_CHARACTERS = `{' ', '.', '\\', '+', '*', '?', '[', '^', ']', '$', '(', ')', '{', '}', '=', '!', '<', '>', '|', ':', '-'}`

  List of metacharacters that need to be escaped.

  See `Regex.needs_escape?` and `Regex.escape`.

##
Constructors

- .literal(pattern : String, *, i : Bool = false, m : Bool = false, x : Bool = false) : self

  Creates a new `Regex` instance from a literal consisting of a pattern and the named parameter modifiers.

- .new(source : String, options : Options = Options::None)

  Creates a new `Regex` out of the given source `String`.

- .union(patterns : Enumerable(Regex | String)) : self

  Union.

- .union(*patterns : Regex | String) : self

  Union.

##
Class Method Summary

- .error?(source) : String | Nil

  Determines Regex's source validity.

- .escape(str) : String

  Returns a `String` constructed by escaping any metacharacters in str.

- .needs_escape?(char : Char) : Bool

  Returns `true` if char need to be escaped, `false` otherwise.

- .needs_escape?(str : String) : Bool

  Returns `true` if str need to be escaped, `false` otherwise.

- .supports_compile_options?(options : CompileOptions) : Bool

  Returns `true` if the regex engine supports all options flags when compiling a pattern.

- .supports_match_options?(options : MatchOptions) : Bool

  Returns `true` if the regex engine supports all options flags when matching a pattern.

##
Instance Method Summary

- #+(other) : Regex

  Union.

- #==(other : Regex)

  Equality.

- #===(other : String)

  Case equality.

- #===(other : JSON::Any)
- #===(other : YAML::Any)
- #=~(other : String) : Int32 | Nil

  Match.

- #=~(other) : Nil

  Match.

- #capture_count : Int32

  Returns the number of (named & non-named) capture groups.

- #clone
- #dup

  Returns a shallow copy of this object.

- #hash(hasher)

  See `Object#hash(hasher)`

- #inspect(io : IO) : Nil

  Prints to io an unambiguous string representation of this regular expression object.

- #match(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at character index.

- #match(str, pos, _options) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at character index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #match(str, pos = 0, *, options) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at character index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #match!(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, *, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData

  Matches a regular expression against str.

- #match_at_byte_index(str : String, byte_index : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at byte index.

- #match_at_byte_index(str, byte_index, _options) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at byte index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #match_at_byte_index(str, byte_index = 0, *, options) : MatchData | Nil

  Match at byte index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #matches?(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : Bool

  Match at character index.

- #matches?(str, pos, _options) : Bool

  Match at character index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #matches?(str, pos = 0, *, options) : Bool

  Match at character index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #matches_at_byte_index?(str : String, byte_index : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : Bool

  Match at byte index.

- #matches_at_byte_index?(str, byte_index, _options) : Bool

  Match at byte index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #matches_at_byte_index?(str, byte_index = 0, *, options) : Bool

  Match at byte index.

  DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

- #name_table : Hash(Int32, String)

  Returns a `Hash` where the values are the names of capture groups and the keys are their indexes.

- #options : Options

  Returns a `Regex::CompileOptions` representing the optional flags applied to this `Regex`.

- #source : String

  Returns the original `String` representation of the `Regex` pattern.

- #to_s(io : IO) : Nil

  Convert to `String` in subpattern format.

### Instance methods inherited from module `Regex::PCRE2`

finalize finalize

### Class methods inherited from module `Regex::PCRE2`

jit_stack jit_stack, match_context : Pointer(LibPCRE2::MatchContext) match_context, supports_compile_flag?(options) supports_compile_flag?, supports_match_flag?(options) supports_match_flag?, version : String version, version_number : Tuple(Int32, Int32) version_number

### Instance methods inherited from class `Reference`

==(other : self)
==(other : JSON::Any)
==(other : YAML::Any)
==(other) ==, dup dup, hash(hasher) hash, initialize initialize, inspect(io : IO) : Nil inspect, object_id : UInt64 object_id, pretty_print(pp) : Nil pretty_print, same?(other : Reference) : Bool
same?(other : Nil) same?, to_s(io : IO) : Nil to_s

### Constructor methods inherited from class `Reference`

new new, unsafe_construct(address : Pointer, *args, **opts) : self unsafe_construct

### Class methods inherited from class `Reference`

pre_initialize(address : Pointer) pre_initialize

### Instance methods inherited from class `Object`

! : Bool !, !=(other) !=, !~(other) !~, ==(other) ==, ===(other : JSON::Any)
===(other : YAML::Any)
===(other) ===, =~(other) =~, as(type : Class) as, as?(type : Class) as?, class class, dup dup, hash(hasher)
hash hash, in?(collection : Object) : Bool
in?(*values : Object) : Bool in?, inspect(io : IO) : Nil
inspect : String inspect, is_a?(type : Class) : Bool is_a?, itself itself, nil? : Bool nil?, not_nil!(message)
not_nil! not_nil!, pretty_inspect(width = 79, newline = "\n", indent = 0) : String pretty_inspect, pretty_print(pp : PrettyPrint) : Nil pretty_print, responds_to?(name : Symbol) : Bool responds_to?, tap(&) tap, to_json(io : IO) : Nil
to_json : String to_json, to_pretty_json(indent : String = " ") : String
to_pretty_json(io : IO, indent : String = " ") : Nil to_pretty_json, to_s(io : IO) : Nil
to_s : String to_s, to_yaml(io : IO) : Nil
to_yaml : String to_yaml, try(&) try, unsafe_as(type : T.class) forall T unsafe_as

### Class methods inherited from class `Object`

from_json(string_or_io : String | IO, root : String)
from_json(string_or_io : String | IO) from_json, from_yaml(string_or_io : String | IO) from_yaml

### Macros inherited from class `Object`

class_getter(*names, &block) class_getter, class_getter!(*names) class_getter!, class_getter?(*names, &block) class_getter?, class_property(*names, &block) class_property, class_property!(*names) class_property!, class_property?(*names, &block) class_property?, class_setter(*names) class_setter, def_clone def_clone, def_equals(*fields) def_equals, def_equals_and_hash(*fields) def_equals_and_hash, def_hash(*fields) def_hash, delegate(*methods, to object) delegate, forward_missing_to(delegate) forward_missing_to, getter(*names, &block) getter, getter!(*names) getter!, getter?(*names, &block) getter?, property(*names, &block) property, property!(*names) property!, property?(*names, &block) property?, setter(*names) setter

##
Constructor Detail

def self.literal(pattern : String, *, i : Bool = false, m : Bool = false, x : Bool = false) : self #

Creates a new `Regex` instance from a literal consisting of a pattern and the named parameter modifiers.

def self.new(source : String, options : Options = Options::None) #

Creates a new `Regex` out of the given source `String`.

    Regex.new("^a-z+:\\s+\\w+")                          # => /^a-z+:\s+\w+/
    Regex.new("cat", Regex::CompileOptions::IGNORE_CASE) # => /cat/i
    options = Regex::CompileOptions::IGNORE_CASE | Regex::CompileOptions::EXTENDED
    Regex.new("dog", options) # => /dog/ix

def self.union(patterns : Enumerable(Regex | String)) : self #

Union. Returns a `Regex` that matches any of patterns.

All capture groups in the patterns after the first one will have their indexes offset.

    re = Regex.union([/skiing/i, "sledding"])
    re.match("Skiing")   # => Regex::MatchData("Skiing")
    re.match("sledding") # => Regex::MatchData("sledding")
    re = Regex.union({/skiing/i, "sledding"})
    re.match("Skiing")   # => Regex::MatchData("Skiing")
    re.match("sledding") # => Regex::MatchData("sledding")

def self.union(*patterns : Regex | String) : self #

Union. Returns a `Regex` that matches any of patterns.

All capture groups in the patterns after the first one will have their indexes offset.

    re = Regex.union(/skiing/i, "sledding")
    re.match("Skiing")   # => Regex::MatchData("Skiing")
    re.match("sledding") # => Regex::MatchData("sledding")

##
Class Method Detail

def self.error?(source) : String | Nil #

Determines Regex's source validity. If it is, `nil` is returned. If it's not, a `String` containing the error message is returned.

    Regex.error?("(foo|bar)") # => nil
    Regex.error?("(foo|bar")  # => "missing ) at 8"

def self.escape(str) : String #

Returns a `String` constructed by escaping any metacharacters in str.

    string = Regex.escape("*?{}.") # => "\\*\\?\\{\\}\\."
    /#{string}/                    # => /\*\?\{\}\./

def self.needs_escape?(char : Char) : Bool #

Returns `true` if char need to be escaped, `false` otherwise.

    Regex.needs_escape?('*') # => true
    Regex.needs_escape?('@') # => false

def self.needs_escape?(str : String) : Bool #

Returns `true` if str need to be escaped, `false` otherwise.

    Regex.needs_escape?("10$") # => true
    Regex.needs_escape?("foo") # => false

def self.supports_compile_options?(options : CompileOptions) : Bool #

Returns `true` if the regex engine supports all options flags when compiling a pattern.

def self.supports_match_options?(options : MatchOptions) : Bool #

Returns `true` if the regex engine supports all options flags when matching a pattern.

##
Instance Method Detail

def +(other) : Regex #

Union. Returns a `Regex` that matches either of the operands.

All capture groups in the second operand will have their indexes offset.

    re = /skiing/i + /sledding/
    re.match("Skiing")   # => Regex::MatchData("Skiing")
    re.match("sledding") # => Regex::MatchData("sledding")

def ==(other : Regex) #

Equality. Two regexes are equal if their sources and options are the same.

    /abc/ == /abc/i  # => false
    /abc/i == /ABC/i # => false
    /abc/i == /abc/i # => true

def ===(other : String) #

Case equality. This is equivalent to `#match` or `#=~` but only returns `true` or `false`. Used in `case` expressions. The special variable `$~` will contain a `Regex::MatchData` if there was a match, `nil` otherwise.

    a = "HELLO"
    b = case a
        when /^[a-z]*$/
          "Lower case"
        when /^[A-Z]*$/
          "Upper case"
        else
          "Mixed case"
        end
    b # => "Upper case"

def ===(other : JSON::Any) #
def ===(other : YAML::Any) #
def =~(other : String) : Int32 | Nil #

Match. Matches a regular expression against other and returns the starting position of the match if other is a matching `String`, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain a `Regex::MatchData` if there was a match, `nil` otherwise.

    /at/ =~ "input data" # => 7
    /ax/ =~ "input data" # => nil

def =~(other) : Nil #

Match. When the argument is not a `String`, always returns `nil`.

    /at/ =~ "input data" # => 7
    /ax/ =~ "input data" # => nil

def capture_count : Int32 #

Returns the number of (named & non-named) capture groups.

    /(?:.+)/.capture_count     # => 0
    /(?<foo>.+)/.capture_count # => 1
    /(.)/.capture_count        # => 1
    /(.)|(.)/.capture_count    # => 2

def clone #
def dup #
Description copied from class Reference

Returns a shallow copy of this object.

This allocates a new object and copies the contents of `self` into it.

def hash(hasher) #

See `Object#hash(hasher)`

def inspect(io : IO) : Nil #

Prints to io an unambiguous string representation of this regular expression object.

Uses the regex literal syntax with basic option flags if sufficient (i.e. no other options than `IGNORE_CASE`, `MULTILINE`, or `EXTENDED` are set). Otherwise the syntax presents a `Regex.new` call.

    /ab+c/ix.inspect                     # => "/ab+c/ix"
    Regex.new("ab+c", :anchored).inspect # => Regex.new("ab+c", Regex::Options::ANCHORED)

def match(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at character index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the character index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ル"

def match(str, pos, _options) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at character index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the character index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ル"

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def match(str, pos = 0, *, options) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at character index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the character index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ル"

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def match!(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, *, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData #

Matches a regular expression against str. This starts at the character index pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise raises `Regex::Error`. `$~` will contain the same value if matched.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match!("abc")[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match!("abc", 1)[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(タ)/.match!("クリスタル", 3)[2] # raises Exception

def match_at_byte_index(str : String, byte_index : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at byte index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the byte index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ス"

def match_at_byte_index(str, byte_index, _options) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at byte index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the byte index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ス"

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def match_at_byte_index(str, byte_index = 0, *, options) : MatchData | Nil #

Match at byte index. Matches a regular expression against `String` str. Starts at the byte index given by pos if given, otherwise at the start of str. Returns a `Regex::MatchData` if str matched, otherwise `nil`. `$~` will contain the same value that was returned.

    /(.)(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc").try &.[2]   # => "b"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("abc", 1).try &.[2]   # => "c"
    /(.)(.)/.match_at_byte_index("クリスタル", 3).try &.[2] # => "ス"

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def matches?(str : String, pos : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : Bool #

Match at character index. It behaves like `#match`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

    /foo/.matches?("bar") # => false
    /foo/.matches?("foo") # => true

    # `$~` is not set even if last match succeeds.
    $~ # raises Exception

def matches?(str, pos, _options) : Bool #

Match at character index. It behaves like `#match`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

    /foo/.matches?("bar") # => false
    /foo/.matches?("foo") # => true

    # `$~` is not set even if last match succeeds.
    $~ # raises Exception

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def matches?(str, pos = 0, *, options) : Bool #

Match at character index. It behaves like `#match`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

    /foo/.matches?("bar") # => false
    /foo/.matches?("foo") # => true

    # `$~` is not set even if last match succeeds.
    $~ # raises Exception

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def matches_at_byte_index?(str : String, byte_index : Int32 = 0, options : Regex::MatchOptions = :none) : Bool #

Match at byte index. It behaves like `#match_at_byte_index`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

def matches_at_byte_index?(str, byte_index, _options) : Bool #

Match at byte index. It behaves like `#match_at_byte_index`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def matches_at_byte_index?(str, byte_index = 0, *, options) : Bool #

Match at byte index. It behaves like `#match_at_byte_index`, however it returns `Bool` value. It neither returns `MatchData` nor assigns it to the `$~` variable.

DEPRECATED Use the overload with `Regex::MatchOptions` instead.

def name_table : Hash(Int32, String) #

Returns a `Hash` where the values are the names of capture groups and the keys are their indexes. Non-named capture groups will not have entries in the `Hash`. Capture groups are indexed starting from `1`.

    /(.)/.name_table                         # => {}
    /(?<foo>.)/.name_table                   # => {1 => "foo"}
    /(?<foo>.)(?<bar>.)/.name_table          # => {2 => "bar", 1 => "foo"}
    /(.)(?<foo>.)(.)(?<bar>.)(.)/.name_table # => {4 => "bar", 2 => "foo"}

def options : Options #

Returns a `Regex::CompileOptions` representing the optional flags applied to this `Regex`.

    /ab+c/ix.options      # => Regex::CompileOptions::IGNORE_CASE | Regex::CompileOptions::EXTENDED
    /ab+c/ix.options.to_s # => "IGNORE_CASE | EXTENDED"

def source : String #

Returns the original `String` representation of the `Regex` pattern.

    /ab+c/x.source # => "ab+c"

def to_s(io : IO) : Nil #

Convert to `String` in subpattern format. Produces a `String` which can be embedded in another `Regex` via interpolation, where it will be interpreted as a non-capturing subexpression in another regular expression.

    re = /A*/i                 # => /A*/i
    re.to_s                    # => "(?i-msx:A*)"
    "Crystal".match(/t#{re}l/) # => Regex::MatchData("tal")
    re = /A*/                  # => "(?-imsx:A*)"
    "Crystal".match(/t#{re}l/) # => nil