From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Drew Adams" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: RE: Regex reference Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 11:15:44 -0800 Message-ID: References: <2010020407591216807-tsd@tsdyecom> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1265311028 2887 80.91.229.12 (4 Feb 2010 19:17:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:17:08 +0000 (UTC) To: "'Tom Dye'" , Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Feb 04 20:17:05 2010 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Nd7CG-00041t-57 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:17:00 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:53650 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Nd7CF-0001SE-A8 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:59 -0500 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Nd7Bq-0001Rw-Qy for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:34 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=45318 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Nd7Bq-0001Ro-Gb for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:34 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Nd7Bn-00020G-F4 for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:34 -0500 Original-Received: from acsinet12.oracle.com ([141.146.126.234]:32067) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Nd7Bm-0001zm-G3 for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:30 -0500 Original-Received: from acsinet15.oracle.com (acsinet15.oracle.com [141.146.126.227]) by acsinet12.oracle.com (Switch-3.4.2/Switch-3.4.2) with ESMTP id o14JGNQf014805 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=OK); Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:16:24 GMT Original-Received: from acsmt353.oracle.com (acsmt353.oracle.com [141.146.40.153]) by acsinet15.oracle.com (Switch-3.4.2/Switch-3.4.1) with ESMTP id o146XuLw022484; Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:16:22 GMT Original-Received: from abhmt018.oracle.com by acsmt353.oracle.com with ESMTP id 11674381265310944; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:15:44 -0800 Original-Received: from dradamslap1 (/130.35.178.194) by default (Oracle Beehive Gateway v4.0) with ESMTP ; Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:15:44 -0800 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 In-Reply-To: <2010020407591216807-tsd@tsdyecom> Thread-Index: AcqlyVjIu7h5L0QbQcWPH8XI2IapWAAAo+tw X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 X-Source-IP: acsmt353.oracle.com [141.146.40.153] X-Auth-Type: Internal IP X-CT-RefId: str=0001.0A090204.4B6B1D06.01E9:SCFMA4539814,ss=1,fgs=0 X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:71686 Archived-At: Aloha. > Aloha all, > > I'm able to use regular expressions in LISP strings fairly regularly > for simple situations. I'd like to get better at this, so that it is > easier for me to conceptualize possible solutions to more complex > problems. Can anyone offer either print or on-line references that > might help me think about regular expressions in LISP strings more > effectively? I need something more than a concise > description of each character, something that will help me find the > right frame of mind (so to speak). This might help: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/RegularExpression#LearningRegexps The more you use regexps in Emacs, the more you will learn about them. Using them interactively is a great way to practice. Many Emacs commands let you use regexps. You can get used to using regexps in Emacs commands by starting with simple patterns. The important thing is to get in the practice of using them. And remember that an ordinary string of chars that does not have any regexp special chars is itself a (very simple) regexp. If you want to learn more about regexps, including some of the theory, some background on implementation and algorithms, and some comparison of regexp features and syntax in different languages, I know of no better book than this - I (and many others) recommend it strongly. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9781565922570 Have fun.