1

Here is my expression:

(setq myregexp (rx bol
                   "####"
                   (one-or-more anything)
                   "."))

This should match any string starting with "####", spanning over zero or mode new lines, and stop at the first found "." right?

This is my test buffer:

#### This.
#### This too.
#### And also
this.
#### Oh, and this too.
But not this.

And here is the fn that I use to test it:

(defun regtest ()
  "search"
  (interactive)
  (save-excursion
    (while
        (re-search-forward myregexp nil t nil)
      (message "Found [%s] and [%s]" (match-string 0) (match-string 1)))))

But here is what it returns:

Found [#### This.
#### This too.
#### And also
this.
#### Oh, and this too.] and [nil]

How can I make the regexp stop at the first found match of the last rx expression? And more generally, how to properly use anything?

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4
  • 1
    In general when I use regular expressions, if I want to match everything up to the first ".", I replace "anything" by "[^.]". With rx, have you tried "minimal-match"? – John Palmieri Aug 23 '17 at 15:25
  • @JohnPalmieri minimal-match worked ; you should make it an answer so I can accept it ; it's a big deal, I mean, that was my last gripe about rx.el and I think everybody wants to know about this one, you do realize there is no rx.el documentation apart from the very lib header? :) Thanks! – yPhil Aug 23 '17 at 15:35
  • Her is the expression that worked, you can use it in your answer: ` (setq myregexp-interactive (rx bol "####" (minimal-match (and (one-or-more anything) ".")) )) ` – yPhil Aug 23 '17 at 15:38
  • Regarding the documentation: Have you checked C-h f rx? – Erik Aug 26 '17 at 17:05
2

In general when I use regular expressions, if I want to match everything up to the first ".", I replace anything by "[^.]". With rx, if you want to use anything, I suggest using minimal-match. This apparently succeeds (worked out by @yPhil):

(setq myregexp-interactive (rx bol 
                               "####" 
                               (minimal-match (and (one-or-more anything) ".")) ))

Note that I discovered minimal-match by reading the source code, not because of any documentation for rx.

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3
  • 1
    minimal-match is also in the rx docstring. Other possibly relevant things in the docstring: rx-greedy-flag and +? which is described as "like one-or-more, but always produces a non-greedy regexp." – npostavs Aug 23 '17 at 16:20
  • 1
    Good to know. I think in a perfect world, rx would be covered in the Elisp info page. I couldn't find it there. – John Palmieri Aug 23 '17 at 17:15
  • The rx equivalent for [^.] is (not (any ".")), so the whole regex would be (rx bol "####" (one-or-more (not (any "."))) "."). – Erik Aug 26 '17 at 17:07

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