Please keep this on the list. scsoce wrote: > Steve Holden wrote: >> scsoce wrote: >> >>> say, when I try to search and match every char from variable length >>> string, such as string '123456', i tried re.findall( r'(\d)*, '12346' ) >>> >> >> I think you will find you missed a quote out there. Always better to >> copy and paste ... >> >> >>> , but only get '6' and Python doc indeed say: "If a group is contained >>> in a part of the pattern that matched multiple times, the last match is >>> returned." >>> >> >> So use >> >> r'(\d*)' >> >> instead and then the group includes all the digits you match. >> >> >>> cause the regx engine cannot remember all the past history then ? is it >>> nature to all regx engine or only to Python ? >>> >> >> Different regex engines have different capabilities, so I can't speak to >> them all. If you wanted *all* the matches of *all* groups, how would you >> have them returned? As a list? That would make the case where there was >> only one match much tricker to handle. And what would you do with >> >> r'((\w)*\d)*)' >> >> Also, what about named groups? I can see enough potential implementation >> issues that I can perfectly understand why Python works the way it does, >> so I'd be interested to know why it doesn't makes sense to you, and what >> you would prefer it to do. >> >> regards >> Steve >> > maybe my expression was not clear. I want to capture every matched part > in a repeated pattern, not only the last, say, for string '123456', I > want to back reference any one char, not only the '6'. and i know the > example is very simple, so we can got the whole string using regx and > get every char using other python statements, but if the pattern in > group is complex? > and I test in VIM, it can do the 'back reference': > ==you text in vim: > 123456 > == pattern: > :%s/\(\d\)*/$2 > text will turn to be: > 2 > 'Fraid the Python re implementers just decided not to do it that way.
regards Steve -- Steve Holden +1 571 484 6266 +1 800 494 3119 Holden Web LLC http://www.holdenweb.com/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
