Syntax

REGEXTRACT(<string to be examined>; <regular expression>)

The regular expression can't reference a workbook column.

Description

Extracts tokens that match a regular expression. When using the REGEXTRACT function on a column from the same worksheet, the records from the source column are removed to match the function results.

There is a difference in expressions between the Formula Builder and the Formula Bar.

With the Formula Builder, if you are writing regular expressions, you can use normal syntax. A backslash (\) is used to separate each expression.

With the Formula Bar, if you are writing regular expressions you need to include an extra backslash (\) between each expression. This extra backslash between expressions is due to Datameer X using the backslash as an escape character.

Examples

Column1	Regular expression	REGEXTRACT returns
hello world is out	\\wo\\w	hello, world, out
hello world is out	\\w1\\w	hello, world

Twitter example: Extracting #hashtags and @mentions

Column1	Regular expression	REGEXTRACT returns
Hey, @Datameer X I love how you are so #awesome	\\@\\w+	@Datameer
Hey, @Datameer X I love how you are so #awesome	\\#\\w+	#awesome

This function differs from the TOKENIZE function, which returns tokens by separators that match the regular expression.

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