Regular Expression Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

Supported Metacharacters

java.util.regex supports the metacharacters and metasequences listed in Table 11 through Table 15. For expanded definitions of each metacharacter, see "Regex Metacharacters, Modes, and Constructs.”

Table 1-11. Java character representations

Sequence	Meaning
\a	Alert (bell).
\b	Backspace, \x08, supported only in character class.
\e	Esc character, \x1B.
\n	Newline, \x0A.
\r	Carriage return, \x0D.
\f	Form feed, \x0C.
\t	Horizontal tab, \x09.
\0octal	Character specified by a one-, two-, or three-digit octal code.
\xhex	Character specified by a two-digit hexadecimal code.
\uhex	Unicode character specified by a four-digit hexadecimal code.
\cchar	Named control character.

Table 1-12. Java character classes and class-like constructs

Class	Meaning
[...]	A single character listed or contained in a listed range.
[^...]	A single character not liste and not contained within a listed range.
.	Any character, except a line terminator (unless DOTALL mode).
\w	Word character, [a-zA-Z0-9_].
\W	Nonword character, [^a-zA-Z0-9_].
\d	Digit, [0-9].
\D	Nondigit, [^0-9].
\s	Whitespace character, [ \t\n\f\r\x0B].
\S	Nonwhitespace character, [^ \t\n\f\r\x0B].
\p{prop}	Character contained by given POSIX character class, Unicode property, or Unicode block.
\P{prop}	Character not contained by given POSIX character class, Unicode property, or Unicode block.

Table 1-13. Java anchors and other zero-width tests

Sequence	Meaning
^	Start of string, or the point after any newline if in MULTILINE mode.
\A	Beginning of string, in any match mode. ...