Regex Extract
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RegexExtract Documentation

A step-by-step developer manual to scrape unstructured text logs, parse datasets locally, and export tables.

1. Named Capture Group Parsing

Named capture groups allow you to assign descriptive headers to regex matching blocks, which are then compiled directly into data table columns:

  • Syntax: Use the notation (?<name>pattern) inside your regular expression. For example, (?<ip>\d3\.\d3\.\d3\.\d3) extracts matches into a column named 'ip'.
  • Dynamic Headers: The extraction grid reads all named capture groups from your regex and maps them dynamically. Non-named capture groups default to indexed column names (e.g. Group 1).
  • Real-time Parsing: As you paste text logs or change the expression pattern, the matches compile on-the-fly under a millisecond.

2. Greedy & Lazy Filtering

Control regex greediness and filter matched results in real-time without writing complex SQL or code wrappers:

  • Greedy Quantifiers: Use standard greedy quantifiers like .* (matches as much text as possible) or lazy counterparts like .*? (matches as little as possible) to scope matched boundaries.
  • Multiline & dotAll Flags: Enable the m flag (Multiline) to parse inputs line-by-line, or the s flag (Singleline / dotAll) to match across line breaks greedily.
  • Live Search Filter: The "Greedy Filtering" utility on the dashboard lets you type values to instantly filter parsed rows. You can filter all columns greedily, or target a specific column.

3. Local CSV & JSON Export

Download extracted tabular data directly to your computer:

  • UTF-8 BOM CSV Export: Export your data table to a CSV file. We automatically prepend a UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (BOM) so that special characters and format structures render flawlessly in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
  • Clean JSON Export: Download all matches serialized into a neat JSON array of structured objects. Perfect for loading into databases or pipeline scripts.

4. Prebuilt Boilerplate Templates

Click the "Select Template" dropdown inside the workspace to instantly boot standard scraping scenarios:

  • Apache/Nginx Web Logs: Parses raw server access logs into columns: ip, timestamp, method, url, status, bytes, and referrer.
  • Email Harvester: Extracts standard usernames and domains from bulk messy text sheets.
  • Connection DB Urls: Parses database config strings into protocol, user, host, port, and dbname.
  • Dotenv Config Files: Extracts key-value settings parameters.

5. Secure Privacy Standards

Note: Privacy is key. All logs, source databases, and regular expressions are processed 100% locally in your browser sandbox memory. No text data ever leaves your computer.