python regex first/shortest match

Question

trying to write an regex that can find all patterns

p = "q=http://.*\.doc" in 

text = "q=http://11111.doc,q=http://22222.doc"

when I did finall on text,

I get the whole thing, i.e. q=http://11111.doc,q=http://22222.doc

but not q=http://11111.doc and q=http://22222.doc

how do I fix it?

ki9 · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-31 19:19:07Z

105

That's because * is a greedy quantifier, trying to match as much as it can. Make it *?:

q=http://.*?\.doc

More information can be found in the Regular Expression HOWTO: Greedy versus Non-greedy

ki9

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answered Jul 2, 2012 at 21:25

Joey

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