regexcompile

Compiles a regular expression for future use

regexmatch

Returns the number of matches found.

If no match were made, null is returned, otherwise true.

local re = regexcompile("([0-9]+)")
if (regexmatch("abc123xyz")) {
    print("found")
}

regexcapture

Captures matches in a previously compiled regex

Returns an array with all the matches or null if no matches are made.

local re = regexcompile("point\\(([0-9]+),[ \\t]*([0-9]+)\\)")
local a = regexcapture("point(100,200)")
if (a) {
    print(a[1]+","+a[2])
}

regexcaptureall

Capture all the matches in a string to an array

local re = regexcompile("([0-9]+)")
local a = regexcaptureall("123,456,789")
if (a) {
    foreach(num in a) {
        print(num)
    }
}

regexfree

Release a previously compiled regex

Compiled Regex expressions are not garbage collected, so it is up to the programmer to release them when done. They take up very little space and if they are reused often it's acceptable to compile them at boot and never release them.

local re = regexcompile("([0-9]+)")
...
re = regexfree(re)

By storing the null return from regexrelease it lower the risk that it will be used again after releasing.

Regular Expressions