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What is Regular Expression in C#?

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In C#, Regular Expression is a pattern which is used to parse and check whether the given input text is matching with the given pattern or not. In C#, Regular Expressions are generally termed as C# Regex. The .Net Framework provides a regular expression engine that allows the pattern matching. Patterns may consist of any character literals, operators or constructors. 
C# provides a class termed as Regex which can be found in System.Text.RegularExpression namespace. This class will perform two things:

  • Parsing the inputting text for the regular expression pattern.
  • Identify the regular expression pattern in the given text.

Example 1: Below example demonstrate the use of regex in Mobile Number Verification. Suppose you are making a form where you need to verify the user-entered mobile number then you can use regex. 

C#




// C# program to validate the Mobile
// Number using Regular Expressions
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Input strings to Match
        // valid mobile number
        string[] str = {"9925612824",
          "8238783138", "02812451830"};
         
        foreach(string s in str)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} a valid mobile number.", s,
                        isValidMobileNumber(s) ? "is" : "is not");
        }
         
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
     
    // method containing the regex
    public static bool isValidMobileNumber(string inputMobileNumber)
    {
        string strRegex = @"(^[0-9]{10}$)|(^\+[0-9]{2}\s+[0-9]
                {2}[0-9]{8}$)|(^[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{4}$)";
         
        // Class Regex Represents an
        // immutable regular expression.
        //   Format                Pattern
        // xxxxxxxxxx           ^[0 - 9]{ 10}$
        // +xx xx xxxxxxxx     ^\+[0 - 9]{ 2}\s +[0 - 9]{ 2}\s +[0 - 9]{ 8}$
        // xxx - xxxx - xxxx   ^[0 - 9]{ 3} -[0 - 9]{ 4}-[0 - 9]{ 4}$
        Regex re = new Regex(strRegex);
         
        // The IsMatch method is used to validate
        // a string or to ensure that a string
        // conforms to a particular pattern.
        if (re.IsMatch(inputMobileNumber))
            return (true);
        else
            return (false);
    }
}


Output:

9925612824 is a valid mobile number.
8238783138 is a valid mobile number.
02812451830 is not a valid mobile number.

Example 2: Below example demonstrate the use of regex in Email ID Verification. Suppose you are making a form where you need to verify the user-entered email id then you can use regex.

C#




// C# program to validate the Email
// ID using Regular Expressions
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
 
    // Main Method
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
  
        // Input strings for Match
        // valid E-mail address.
        string[] str = {"parth@gmail.com",
                  "parthmaniyargmail.com",
                            "@gmail.com"};
         
        foreach(string s in str)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} a valid E-mail address.", s,
                                isValidEmail(s) ? "is" : "is not");
        }
         
    }
     
    // Method to check the Email ID
    public static bool isValidEmail(string inputEmail)
    {
         
        // This Pattern is use to verify the email
        string strRegex = @"\A(?:[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+(?:\.[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+)*@(?:[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])?\.)+[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])?)\Z";
                           
        Regex re = new Regex(strRegex, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
         
        if (re.IsMatch(inputEmail))
            return (true);
        else
            return (false);
    }
}


Output:

parth@gmail.com is a valid E-mail address.
parthmaniyargmail.com is not a valid E-mail address.
@gmail.com is not a valid E-mail address.

 

Regex Syntax

There are many basic syntaxes like Quantifiers, Special Characters, Character Classes, Grouping & Alternatives are used for regular expressions.

Quantifiers:

Sub-expression(Greedy) Sub-expression(Lazy) Matches
* *? Used to match the preceding character zero or more times.
+ +? Used to match the preceding character one or more times.
? ?? Used to match the preceding character zero or one time.
{n} {n}? Used to match the preceding character exactly n times.
{n, } {n, }? Used to match the preceding character at least n times.
{n, m} {n, m}? Used to match the preceding character from n to m times.

Example 1:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the * Quantifier
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // This will return any
        // pattern b, ab, aab, ...
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"a*b");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("aaaabcd");
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: aaaab

Example 2:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the + Quantifier
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    public static void Main()
    {
         
        // this will return any pattern
        // like ab, aab, aaab, ....
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"a+b");
        Match match = regex.Match("aaabcd");
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: aaab

Example 3:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the ? Quantifier
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
         // This return any pattern like b, ab
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"a?b");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("aaaabcd");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: ab

Special Characters

Sub-expression Matches
^ Word after this element matches at the beginning of the string or line.
$ Word before this element matches at the end of the line or string.
.(Dot) Matches any character only once expect \n(new line).
\d It is use to match the digit character.
\D It is use to match the non-digit character.
\w It is use to match any alphanumeric and underscore character.
\W It is use to match the any non-word character.
\s It is use to match the white-space characters.
\S It is use to match the non white-space characters.
\n It is use to match a newline character.

Example 1:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the ^ Special Character
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will return if shyam exist
        // at the beginning of the line
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"^Shyam");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("Shyam is my pet name");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: Shyam

Example 2:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the $ Special Character
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    public static void Main()
    {
         
        // This return parth if it
        // exist at the end of the line
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"Parth$");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("My name is Parth");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: Parth

Example 3:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the .(Dot) Special Character
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         // This will return any word which
         // contains only one letter between
         // s and t
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"s..t");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("This is my seat");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: seat

Example 4:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the \d Special Character
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
        // This will the return
        // the one digit character
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"\d");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("I am 19 years old");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
         
    }
}


Output: 

Match Value: 1

Character Classes

Sub-expression Matches
[] It is used to match the range of character
[a-z] It is used to match any character in the range of a-z.
[^a-z] It is used to match any character not in the range of a-z.
\ It is used to match Escaped special character.

Example 1:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the [] character class
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will return one character either
        // a or b or c which will come first
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"[abc]");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("abcdef");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: a

Example 2:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the [a-z] character class
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will return any character
        // between x and z inclusive
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"[x-z]");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("xmax");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: x

Example 3:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the [^a-z] character class
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will return other x,
        // y and z character
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"[^x-z]");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("xmax");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: m

Grouping and Alternatives

Sub-expression Matches
() It is used for group expression
(a|b) | Operator is used for alternative either a or b.
(?(exp) yes|no) If expression is matched it gives yes otherwise it gives no.

Example 1:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the grouping in regex
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will return pattern
        // will cd, cdcd, cdcdcd, ...
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"(cd)+");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("cdcdde");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: cdcd

Example 2:

C#




// C# program to demonstrate
// the grouping in regex
using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
  
class GFG {
     
    // Main Method
    static void Main()
    {
         
        // This will either d or e
        // which ever comes first
        Regex regex = new Regex(@"d|e");
         
        Match match = regex.Match("edge");
         
        if (match.Success)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Match Value: " + match.Value);
        }
    }
}


Output:

Match Value: e

 



Last Updated : 02 Jul, 2021
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