Find Pattern

Search text for the first match to a specified pattern using regular expressions.

Input

Field	Definition	Type	Required
look in	String value within which a search for a text pattern is performed.	String	TRUE
look for	Specified text pattern. A pattern must use a regular expression.	String	TRUE

Output

Field Definition Type

position

Field	Definition	Type
position	Position of the first match found, where `0` is the first position. Returns `-1` if no match is found.	Number

Position of the first match found, where 0 is the first position.

Returns -1 if no match is found.

Number

Regular Expressions

Unlike the Find function card, Find Pattern supports regular expressions.

Regular Expression	Definition
`\w`	Finds any alphanumeric character (for example, a letter or number).
`\s`	Finds any whitespace character (for example, a blank or tab).
`\d`	Finds any digit.
`[1-5]`	Finds a number between 1 and 5.
`[aeiou]`	Finds `a`, `e`, `i`, `o`, or `u`.
`hello\|test`	Finds `hello` or `test`. Either side of the `\|` operator is a regular expression.
`colou?r`	Finds `color` or `colour`. The `?` signifies that there can be zero or one of the preceding element.
`\d{5}`	Finds five consecutive digits. The `{number}` signifies a number of consecutive instances of the preceding element.
`[^\w]`	Finds any character that is not an alphanumeric character. You can add the negative operator `^` before any other pattern. For example: `[^a]` to find anything other than `a`. `[^\d{3}]` to find anything that is not three digits in a row.

Many characters have special meaning in regular expressions, such as ., +, *, and \. To search for any such characters, place \ before the character. For example, \. - finds a period.

You can combine any of the above patterns and fixed text. For example, test\.\d{3} finds the word test followed by a period followed by three consecutive digits.

Example

For simple searches, the Find Pattern function card performs like the Find.

If the look in field contains testing_123, the following input values in the look for produce these results:

look for	position	Explanation
`test`	0	String found at beginning of input value.
`ing`	4	String appears after the 4th position and starts in the 5th position.
`hello`	-1	No match found.
`\d`	8	First digit found.
`\w_\d`	6	Any character found that is followed by an underscore then a digit.
`esting_\d{3}`	1	String "esting" followed by any three digits.

The Find Pattern card is often used in combination with Text Segment to get the text that matched the pattern.