easy to use Regex creator tool? [closed]

Question

I tried some regex tools like Regulator, Regulazy & RegexBuddy. They don't do what I want and they expect the user to know regular expressions.

I want a tool for dummies. You tell the tool I need a regex for something like "match anything that ends with the word 'yes' and it contains at least one occurrence of the phrase '/test/'" and it creates the regex for you.

So I either enter my request in plain English or semi plain English or the tool has all kinds of ready made selections and I choose between them to create what I want ad hoc.

Is there such a tool which is geared towards non developers? I am not looking for a regex tester.

Answer 1

I have been a fan of Ultrapico's Expresso application. There is a builder section that helps you (a little) in building fragments of the expression. More importantly it will explain an existing expression (either your own or from the built in expression library) section by section.

It also includes a testing and replacement section to see and test your expressions. Lastly it will generate the expression formatted for either C#, C++, or VB.NET so that you know exactly how to insert the expression into your project.

Best of all it's free. I have been using this tool to help learn how regular expressions actually work, especially the complex ones. Can't say it makes writing expressions idiot proof but it has sure made learning expressions easier for me...

This tool was featured in a MSDN Webcast by Zain Naboulsi, and might be worth a watch. Hope this helps, and good luck with your Regex journey!