Regex - how to match a line between two optional characters that are not included in group?

Question

The regex should match

• /exampleline - match exampleline
• exampleline - match exampleline
• exampleline/ - match exampleline
• /exampleline/ - match exampleline

I tried ?\/(.+)\/? but it didn't work
/exampleline/ and exampleline/ matched exampleline/, instead of exampleline

Answer 1

It is necessary to remove the symbol "/" from the group. Try this:

\/?([^\/]+)\/?

Answer 2

You can match any character except /. Then optionally match a part that matches the whole line ending on a character other than /

[^/\n](?:.*[^/\n])?

The pattern matches:

• [^/\n] Match a character other than a newline or /
• (?: Non capture group to make the whole part optional
  • .* Match the whole line
  • [^/\n] Match a character other than a newline or /
• )? Close the non capture group and make it optional

See a regex demo

If the match should start and end with a non whitespace character, you can replace the \n with \s

[^/\s](?:.*[^/\s])?

See another regex demo