Regular Expressions

Regular expressions are a way of defining patterns in information by using special symbols. These expressions can be used to identify or extract information.

The following types of regular expressions can be used in Workflow.

• Character Classes
• Quantifiers
• Character Escapes
• Metacharacters
• Alternations
• The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) website lists more supported language elements, best practices, and examples.

To test your regular expression

• To test a regular expression in the Pattern Matching activity, select Click here to test the pattern in the New Pattern dialog box.
• To test a regular expression outside of the Pattern Matching activity, click the regular expressions button and select Test Expression.
• In the Test Regular Expression dialog box, type a regular expression in the Pattern text box or click the regular expression button to select a pattern from the menu. Type a sample input value in the Test Input text box. The information your regular expression extracted from the sample input value will appear under Result.