Understanding the regex [\s\S-[<>]]*

Question

I have this regex: [\s\S-[<>]]*

Could you please help me understand what does this expression stand for? From what I see it means a character class formed of spaces and a range from non-space characters to < or >?

It doesn't make much sense..

Thanks!

it's for Java, it applies in a XSD validator pattern: – Dan L. May 24 '12 at 13:53 — Dan L., May 24 '12 at 13:53

Tim Pietzcker · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-24T14:05:24.693

10

This is a variant only supported by a few regex engines (.NET, JGSoft, XML Schema and XPath but not for example native Java regex), and it's called character class substraction.

For example,

[A-Z-[EFG]]

matches any letter from A to Z except E, F or G.

But in your case, it really doesn't make much sense because [\s\S] matches any character - the same result (in any regex flavor) can be achieved by

[^<>]*

edited May 24 '12 at 14:05

answered May 24 '12 at 13:53

Tim Pietzcker

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Thanks! But if I would write [A\S-[<>]] - would this mean: "the character A or any non space character without <>"? – Dan L. May 24 '12 at 13:57
Or even simpler, would [\S-[<>]] mean all non space characters without <>? – Dan L. May 24 '12 at 13:58
@leadgy: Yes, but you can always write it differently, for example `[^\s<>]`. – Tim Pietzcker May 24 '12 at 14:00
This answer has been added to the [Stack Overflow Regular Expression FAQ](http://stackoverflow.com/a/22944075/2736496), under "Character Classes". – aliteralmind Apr 10 '14 at 00:17

Understanding the regex [\s\S-[<>]]*

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