[SOLVED] Match specific number of character sets using regexp in find
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(9-12 should match the entire filename including the .php and the ./ at the start of the path which I believe is correct:S)
Even without the .php on the end I can't get my command to return any files at all that match any character number I set in the curly brackets. I was using the default regex type but after extensive googling thought maybe the regex type needed to be changed.
command still didn't pickup character length parameter.
Works here, but as I mentioned, the {9,12} only applies to the [a-zA-Z] part. Furthermore, the leading .* basically means only the lower bound is enforced.
My solutions used a sample input file with numbers as a convenient way to demonstrate that the selection criteria had been satisfied. I might just as well have used
the leading .* basically means only the lower bound is enforced.
Why is this the case?
. means match anything, * means 0 or more. The .* will "eat" as many characters as it can while letting the next part succeed, so as long as there are more characters than the lower bound there will be a match, eg:
Code:
matching ./abcdefghijklm.php to .*[a-zA-Z]{9,12}.php
.* "eats" 4 of the letters leaving 9 for the next part
.* can't "eat" less than 0 characters, so if there are too few (less than the lower bound) the match fails. That's why only the lower bound has effect.
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