Alt ( *args )

exp1, exp2, ... -> match exp1 or (if that fails) match exp2 or ...

Any ( s )

(s) -> match any character in s

AnyBut ( s )

s -> match any character not in s

DelimitedFields (
        name=None,
        sep=None,
        attrs=None,
        )

match 0 or more fields seperated by the given seperator(s)

This is useful for parsing space, tab, color, or other character delimited fields. There is no default seperator.

If name is not None, the delimited text, excluding the seperator, will be put inside groups of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes. The seperator character is consumed, but not accessible using a group.

Neither "\r" nor "\n" may be used as a seperator. The line as a whole is not included in a group.

Digits ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match one or more decimal digits

This is the same as (?P<name?attrs>\d+).

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

Float ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match floating point numbers like 6, 6., -.1, 2.3, +4E-5, ...

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside of a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

Group (
        name,
        expr,
        attrs=None,
        )

name, expr -> use name to describe a successful match of the expression

Integer ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match an integer (digits w/ optional leading + or - sign)

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

MaxRepeat (
        expr,
        min_count,
        max_count=Expression.MAXREPEAT,
        )

expr, min_count, max_count = 65535 -> match between min- and max_count times

If max_count == 65535 (which is Expression.MAXREPEAT) then there is no upper limit.

Opt ( expr )

expr -> match expr 1 or 0 times

Punctuation ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match a punctuation character (characters in string.punctuation)

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside of a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

Re ( pattern,  fix_newlines=0 )

pattern -> the expression tree for the regexp pattern string

Rep ( expr )

expr -> match expr as many times as possible, even 0 time

Rep1 ( expr )

expr -> match expr as many times as possible, but at least once

RepN ( expr,  count )

expr, count -> match the expression count number of time

This option is handy for named group repeats since you don't have to use the name twice; for the min_count and max_count fields.

Seq ( *args )

exp1, exp2, ... -> match exp1 followed by exp2 followed by ...

SkipLinesTo ( expr )

read and ignore lines up to and including, the line matching expr

SkipLinesUntil ( expr )

read and ignore lines up to, but excluding, the line matching expr

Spaces ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match one or more whitespace (except newline)

"Spaces" is defined as [\t\v\f\r ]+, which is not the same as \s+. (It's missing the \n, which is useful since you almost never mean for whitespace to go beyond the newline.)

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside of a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

Str ( *args )

(s1, s2, ...) -> match s1 or s2 or ...

Str1 ( s )

(s) -> match the literal string

ToEol ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match everything up to and including the end of line

If name is not None, the matching text, except for the newline, will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

ToSep (
        name=None,
        sep=None,
        attrs=None,
        )

match all characters up to the given seperator(s)

This is useful for parsing space, tab, color, or other character delimited fields. There is no default seperator character.

If name is not None, the matching text, except for the seperator will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes. The seperator character will also be consumed.

Neither "\r" nor "\n" may be used as a seperator

Unprintable ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match an unprintable character (characters not in string.printable)

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside of a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

UntilEol ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match everything up to but not including the end of line

If name is not None, the matching text, except for the newline, will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

UntilSep (
        name=None,
        sep=None,
        attrs=None,
        )

match all characters up to the given seperators(s)

This is useful for parsing space, tab, color, or other character delimited fields. There is no default seperator.

If name is not None, the matching text, except for the seperator will be put inside a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes. The seperator character will not be consumed.

Neither "\r" nor "\n" may be used as a seperator.

Word ( name=None,  attrs=None )

match a word

A word is defined as \w+, and \w is [a-zA-Z0-9_].

If name is not None, the matching text will be put inside of a group of the given name. You can optionally include group attributes.

In other words, this is the short way to write (?P<name>\w+).

_group (
        name,
        exp,
        attrs,
        )

helper function

select_names ( expression,  names )

Use this to prune out group names you aren't interested in seeing, which reduces the number of method calls back to the parser.