Get Example source ABAP code based on a different SAP table
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ARTICLE
Single Character Patterns Single characters are represented by literal characters or operators. If preceded by a backslash , a special character of an operator is interpreted as a literal character. This applies in particular for the backslash itself, so that the regular expression \ is the same as the single character . If the backslash is followed by a literal character, the backslash is ignored as if it does not exist. ITOC
Literal Characters A literal character is a character that is not a special character, or a special character preceded by a backslash , or enclosed between Q ... E. As a search string, a literal character matches the same single character exactly.
Note Case-sensitivity can be controlled using the appropriate commands or methods.
Examples The following table shows some results of a test that is case-sensitive. Patterntextmatch AAX Aa- ..X AAB- ABABX The regular expression AB is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters.
Operators for Single Characters These operators are made up of the special characters . , [ , ], ^, and -. The last two are only effective as special characters in specific positions within [ ]. The special characters can be made into literal characters using the prefix .
Placeholders for Single Characters The special character . is a placeholder for any single character. The operator C has the same effect as the special character .. A regular expression . or C matches exactly one single character.
Examples The following table shows some results of a test that is not case-sensitive. PatternTextmatch .AX CaX .AB- ..ABX The regular expression .. is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters.
Self-Defined Sets for Single Characters The special characters [ ] can be placed around any number of literal characters or names for character classes (see below), and thus define a set of literal characters. A regular expression [... ] matches exactly one single character listed as a literal character within the brackets, or which is contained in a specified character class. At least one literal character or one name for a character class (see below) must be contained within the brackets. A character [ or ], which is positioned directly after the opening bracket, is interpreted as a literal character. Some of the special characters that start with a backslash, such as A or Q, lose their special function within sets, and are interpreted as the simple literal character A or Q.
Examples The following table shows some results from the test . PatternTextmatch [ABC]BX [ABC]ABC- [AB][CD]ADX [d]9X The regular expression [AB][CD] is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters.
Negation of a Self-Defined Set for Single Characters If the character ^ is the first character in a self-defined set for single characters and is listed directly after [, it acts as a special character and negates the rest of the set of literal characters or character classes. A regular expression [^...] matches precisely one single character that is not specified as a literal character within the square brackets or that is not in a specified character class. A character ^ that is not listed directly after [ acts as a literal character.
Examples The following table shows some results from the test . PatternTextmatch [^ABC]B- [^ABC]YX [^A][^B]BAX [A^B]^X The regular expression [^A][^B] is a concatenation of two expressions for single characters.
Ranges in a Self-Defined Set for Single Characters If the character - is between two literal characters, it acts as a special character and defines a range between the literal characters. The range is the set of characters that is enclosed by literal characters in the code page of the current operating system. A regular expression [...-...] matches exactly one single character that is within the defined range. A character -, which is not between two literal characters, acts as a literal character. A literal character cannot be part of two ranges, for example, 'a-z-Z' is not a regular expression.
Examples The following table shows some results from the test . PatternTextmatch [A-Za-z0-9]BX [A-Za-z0-9]5X [A-Za-z0-9]#- [A-Za-z0-9]-- [A-Za-z0-9-]-X In the last expression, the closing - does not act as a special character.
Character Classes Within sets for single characters defined using [ ], predefined character classes can be specified for certain sets for single characters whose behavior can, however, depend on the language and platform.
[:alnum:] Set of all alphanumeric characters (union of [:alpha:] and [:digit:])
[:alpha:] Set of all uppercase and lowercase letters including language-specific special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs) without numbers.
[:blank:] Blank characters and horizontal tabs
[:cntrl:] Set of all control characters
[:digit:] Set of all digits 0 to 9
[:graph:] Set of all displayable characters except for blanks and horizontal tabs
[:lower:] Set of all lowercase letters including language-dependent special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs)
[:print:] Set of all displayable characters (union of [:graph:] and [:blank:])
[:punct:] Set of all punctuation characters
[:space:] Set of all blank characters, tabs, and carriage feeds
[:unicode:] Set of all characters with a character representation larger than 255 (only in Unicode systems)
[:upper:] Set of all uppercase letters including language-dependent special characters (umlauts, accents, diphthongs)
[:word:] Set of all alphanumeric characters including underscore _
[:xdigit:] Set of all hexadecimal digits ('0'-'9', 'A'-'F' , and 'a'-'f')
Notes
Character classes only act within [ ] as specified. A regular expression [:digit:] does not define the set of all digits, but instead defines a character set consisting of ':', 'd', 'g', 'i', and 't'. To specify the set of all digits, use the regular expression [[:digit:]].
Due to their dependencies on language and platform, these character classes must be used with care.
Examples The following table shows some results of a test that is case-sensitive. PatternTextmatch [[:alnum:]]aX [[:alnum:]];- [[:alpha:]]1- [[:digit:][:punct:]]X4X [[:digit:][:punct:]].X [[:lower:]]âX [[:upper:]]ÄX
Abbreviations for Character Sets For frequently used character sets, specific operators are available as abbreviations: Character SetAbbr.Meaning [[:digit:]]dPlaceholder for a digit [^[:digit:]]DPlaceholder for a non-digit [[:lower:]]lPlaceholder for a lowercase letter [^[:lower:]]LPlaceholder for a character that is not a lowercase letter [[:space:]]sPlaceholder for a blank character [^[:space:]]SPlaceholder for a non-blank character [[:upper:]]uPlaceholder for an uppercase letter [^[:upper:]]UPlaceholder for a character that is not an uppercase letter [[:word:]]wPlaceholder for an alphanumeric character plus underscore _ [^[:word:]]WPlaceholder for an non-alphanumeric character without underscore _
Note If case is ignored by the ABAP statements FIND and REPLACE and when generating an object of the class CL_ABAP_REGEX, then l and u are equivalent to [[:alpha:]] or L and U is equivalent to [^[:alpha:]]. The special characters w, u, l, d, and s can also be listed within sets [...]. Use of the special characters W, U, L, D, and S within sets is not permitted and raises the exception CX_SY_INVALID_REGEX.
Examples The following table shows some results of a test that is case-sensitive. PatternTextmatch d4X D;X luX lU- LSX s X S#X uUX U.X wAX w8X W:X W_-
Equivalence Classes The operators [..] and [==] are reserved for future language enhancements and currently raise the exception CX_SY_INVALID_REGEX if used in sets. ]
