Table of contents

  1. Python regular expressions OR
  2. Python regular expressions return true/false
  3. Extracting email addresses using regular expressions in Python
  4. Validating Bank Account Number Using Regular Expressions in python

Python regular expressions OR

In Python regular expressions, you can use the | (pipe) symbol to represent logical OR between different patterns. This allows you to match text that matches either one pattern or another. Here's how you can use the | operator for OR in regular expressions:

import re

# Define a regular expression pattern with OR using the pipe symbol (|)
pattern = r"apple|banana"

# Test strings
text1 = "I love apples."
text2 = "Bananas are delicious."
text3 = "Oranges are great."

# Search for the pattern in the test strings
match1 = re.search(pattern, text1)
match2 = re.search(pattern, text2)
match3 = re.search(pattern, text3)

# Check if the pattern was found in each test string
if match1:
    print("Match found in text1:", match1.group())
else:
    print("No match found in text1")

if match2:
    print("Match found in text2:", match2.group())
else:
    print("No match found in text2")

if match3:
    print("Match found in text3:", match3.group())
else:
    print("No match found in text3")

In this example:

  • We define a regular expression pattern r"apple|banana" that looks for either "apple" or "banana."

  • We use the re.search() function to search for the pattern in three test strings (text1, text2, and text3).

  • For each test string, we check if a match was found using the match object and print the result.

When you run this code, you'll see that it successfully matches "apple" in text1 and "banana" in text2, demonstrating the use of the OR operator in regular expressions.


Python regular expressions return true/false

In Python, you can use regular expressions with the re module to check if a string matches a pattern and return True or False. Here's how to do it:

import re

# Define a regular expression pattern
pattern = r'\d+'  # Match one or more digits

# Test string
test_string = '12345'

# Use re.match() to check if the pattern matches at the beginning of the string
match = re.match(pattern, test_string)

# Check if the match is not None (indicating a match)
if match:
    print("Pattern matched!")
else:
    print("Pattern did not match.")

In this example:

  • We import the re module.

  • We define a regular expression pattern r'\d+', which matches one or more digits.

  • We have a test string test_string containing the string '12345'.

  • We use re.match(pattern, test_string) to check if the pattern matches at the beginning of the test string. If there's a match, it returns a match object; otherwise, it returns None.

  • We check if the match object is not None, which indicates that the pattern matched, and print an appropriate message.

You can modify the pattern and test_string to suit your specific use case and check for matches in different ways using functions like re.search() or re.findall(), depending on your needs.


Extracting email addresses using regular expressions in Python

To extract email addresses from a text using regular expressions in Python, you can use the re module.

Here's a simple example to demonstrate the process:

import re

def extract_emails(text):
    # Define the email pattern
    pattern = r"[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}"
    
    # Use findall() to get all matches
    return re.findall(pattern, text)

# Test the function
text = "Please contact [email protected] for more information. Alternatively, you can also reach out to [email protected]."
emails = extract_emails(text)
print(emails)

The above script will output:

['[email protected]', '[email protected]']

A few things to note:

  1. The regex pattern used in the above example is relatively simple and will match most standard email addresses. However, the full specification for email addresses (as per the Internet standard RFC 5322) is much more complex, and crafting a perfect regex for it is tricky. The provided pattern should cover many common use cases, but may not cover all edge cases.

  2. The regex pattern assumes email addresses with top-level domains of 2 to 3 characters (like .com, .net, .org). If you expect longer TLDs (like .photography or .international), you should adjust the {2,3} quantifier accordingly.

  3. Remember that using regular expressions to validate email addresses is not always recommended due to the complexity of the full specification. For extraction purposes from known good sources, it's generally fine, but be wary of relying on regex for robust email validation.


Validating Bank Account Number Using Regular Expressions in python

Validating bank account numbers using regular expressions (regex) in Python can vary significantly depending on the country and bank's specific rules for account number formats. However, a common feature among many bank account numbers is that they are usually a series of digits, but they may include hyphens, spaces, or other delimiters.

Let's assume a simplistic case where a bank account number is defined as having exactly 10 digits with no delimiters. Here is a simple regular expression to match such a case:

import re

def validate_account_number(account_number):
    # This regex will match exactly 10 digits
    pattern = r'^\d{10}$'

    if re.match(pattern, account_number):
        return True
    else:
        return False

# Example usage:
account_numbers = ["1234567890", "0001234567", "12345", "123-456-7890"]

for number in account_numbers:
    is_valid = validate_account_number(number)
    print(f"Account Number: {number}, Valid: {is_valid}")

If bank account numbers can have optional hyphens or spaces, the regex needs to be adjusted:

def validate_account_number(account_number):
    # This regex allows optional hyphens or spaces after every 2-4 digits
    pattern = r'^(\d{2,4}[-\s]?){3,5}\d{2,4}$'

    if re.fullmatch(pattern, account_number):
        return True
    else:
        return False

You would need to know the exact rules for the bank account numbers you want to validate to create a proper regular expression. For example, some countries use a combination of bank codes and account numbers, and others have checksums that could also be validated using regex in conjunction with other computational checks.

Keep in mind that regex is powerful, but it should be used responsibly, especially with sensitive data like bank account numbers. Always ensure that you're complying with any relevant regulations or laws regarding the handling of such information. Also, regex validation for bank account numbers should be combined with checksum validation (like the Luhn algorithm) for better accuracy, as regex alone cannot ensure the account number is valid, just that it matches a pattern.


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