Recursive regexp in python?

Question

I have string:

acd (e(fg)h) ij)

I need to delete text within opened and coresponding closed bracket. So in example I need to delete

(e(fg)h)

In result I want to have

acd del ij)

I try to use next code:

re.sub(r'\((((?>[^()]+)|(?R))*)\)', r'del', 'acd (e(fg)h) ij)')

But python say:

sre_constants.error: unexpected end of pattern

Python does not support recursive regex. You might want to look into the regex module to access recursive regex (and some other regex syntax currently not supported by the re module). — Jerry
– Jerry, Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 14:59

Ivan Borshchov · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-21 11:41:54Z

4

Thanks Jerry and devnull! regex module for python instead of default re module solved my issue

import regex
>>> regex.sub(r'\((((?>[^()]+)|(?R))*)\)', r'del', 'acd (e(fg)h) ij)')
'acd del ij)'

answered Apr 20, 2014 at 15:16

Ivan Borshchov

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