Regular Expression Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

Supported Metacharacters

The re module supports the metacharacters and metasequences listed in Table 27 through Table 31. For expanded definitions of each metacharacter, see "Regex Metacharacters, Modes, and Constructs.”

Table 1-27. Python character representations

Sequence	Meaning
\a	Alert (bell), \x07.
\b	Backspace, \x08, supported only in character class.
\n	Newline, \x0A.
\r	Carriage return, \x0D.
\f	Form feed, \x0C.
\t	Horizontal tab, \x09.
\v	Vertical tab, \x0B.
\octal	Character specified by up to three octal digits.
\xhh	Character specified by a two-digit hexadecimal code.
\uhhhh	Character specified by a four-digit hexadecimal code.
\Uhhhhhhhh	Character specified by an eight-digit hexadecimal code.

Table 1-28. Python character classes and class-like constructs

Class	Meaning
[...]	Any character listed, or contained within a listed range.
[^...]	Any character that is not listed, and is not contained within a listed range.
.	Any character, except a newline (unless DOTALL mode).
\w	Word character, [a-zA-z0-9_] (unless LOCALE or UNICODE mode).
\W	Nonword character, [^a-zA-z0-9_] (unless LOCALE or UNICODE mode).
\d	Digit character, [0-9].
\D	Nondigit character, [^0-9].
\s	Whitespace character, [ \t\n\r\f\v].
\S	Nonwhitespace character, [ \t\n\r\f\v].

Table 1-29. Python anchors and zero-width tests

Sequence	Meaning
^	Start of string, or the point after any newline if in MULTILINE match mode.
\A	Start of search string, in all match modes.
$	End of search string, or the point before a string-ending newline, or before any newline ...