HumanReadableRegex

A simple command-line tool to perform text searches using a human-readable DSL (Domain-Specific Language).

How to Use

Run the script using Python:

python3 main.py -i

Or make it executable and run:

./main.py

For more information you can run:

python main.py --help

Example Usage

Enter your search query (in our DSL):
> FIND LINES THAT START WITH "abc" AND ENDS WITH "xyz" IGNORE CASE
Enter filename to search (or leave blank for stdin):
> myfile.txt

This will print all lines in myfile.txt that start with abc and end with xyz (case-insensitive).

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Commands

• FIND: Print each matching line or word.
• COUNT: Report the number of matching lines/words.
• EXTRACT: Use a capture pattern to extract parts of the matched lines/words.

Targets

• LINES (default): Treat each line as a separate unit.
• WORDS: Split each line into words and evaluate each word separately.

Conditions (Chainable)

• STARTS WITH "some text"
• ENDS WITH "some text"
• CONTAINS "some text"
• REGEX "some regex"
• AT LEAST X TIMES "some text"
• AT MOST X TIMES "some text"
• EXACTLY X TIMES "some text"
• BETWEEN X AND Y TIMES "some text"

Combine conditions with:

• AND / OR – Logical operators.
• BUT NOT / EXCEPT – Exclude specific patterns.

Modifiers

• IGNORE CASE – Case-insensitive search.
• MULTILINE – ^ and $ match line boundaries within a text block.
• DOTALL – . matches newline characters.
• WHOLE WORD – Wraps patterns with \b...\b (basic word boundary matching).

Examples

COUNT LINES THAT CONTAIN "error" OR CONTAIN "failed" IGNORE CASE
FIND WORDS THAT EXACTLY 2 TIMES "abc" BUT NOT "xyz"
EXTRACT REGEX "ID:(\d+)" FROM LINES THAT CONTAINS "ID:"
FIND LINES THAT STARTS WITH "abc" AND ENDS WITH "xyz" WHOLE WORD DOTALL