Writing Patterns with Wildcard Operators

A pattern (or a mask) is used for matching a given string of characters for "find" or "find and replace" operations, where some parts of the string are masked by wildcards. During run-time, these wildcard characters are evaluated to match the characters in the actual string.

Patterns may need to be written in several domain entries, such as the Forms M-to-M Converters (251) domain or the Form Fields Meta (255) domain.
In Docupace you may use two types of syntax: simplified Docupace wildcard syntax; or standard RegExp (Regular Expressions) syntax.

Simplified Docupace Wildcard Syntax

Symbol	Description	Example	Matching Entries

Symbol	Description	Example	Matching Entries
`*`	Represents one or more characters	`bl*`	`bla, black, blue, and blob,` but not `bl`
`[]`	Represents one or two numeric characters	`Owner[]`	`Owner1, Owner2, Owner10,` up to `Owner99`
`[…]`	Standard regexp can be placed between brackets	`[]ben.[F\|Full]Name`	`7ben.FName` `11ben.FullName`
`^...$`	Or place the entire standard regexp between these two symbols	`^[0-9][a-z]+\.SSN$` or `^\d{1,2}ben\.(F\|Full)Name$`	`7z.SSN` or `99ben.FullName`

Regular Expressions (RegExp) Wildcard Syntax

To use standard RegExp strings for the pattern in Docupace, they must be placed between these two symbols ^...$, for example ^\d{1,2}ben\.(F|Full)Name$.
Some of the most used wildcards are listed below.

Symbol	Description	Example	Matching Entries

Symbol	Description	Example	Matching Entries
`?`	The question mark indicates zero or one occurrence of the preceding element.	`colou?r`	`color` and `colour`
`*`	The asterisk indicates zero or more occurrences of the preceding element.	`ab*c`	`ac, abc, abbc, abbbc,` and so on
`+`	The plus sign indicates one or more occurrences of the preceding element.	`ab+c`	`abc, abbc, abbbc,` and so on, but not `ac`
`{n}`	The preceding item is matched exactly n times.	`a{3}`	`aaa`
`{min,}`	The preceding item is matched min or more times.	`a{2,}`	`aa, aaa, aaaa,` and so on
`{min,max}`	The preceding item is matched at least min times, but not more than max times.	`a{1,3}`	`a, aa, aaa`
`.`	The period matches any single character.	`h.t`	`hot, hat,` and `hit`
`\d`	Represents a numeric character.	`Owner\d?`	`Owner1, Owner2,` up to `Owner9`
`\D`	Represents a non-numeric character.	`Owner1\D{1,6}`	`Owner1Nr, Owner1., Owner1.Phone, Owner1FName,` and so on
`\|`	Represents an OR selector between several strings.	`Home\|Office\|Voicemail`	`Home, Office,` and `Voicemail`
`()`	Parentheses are used to define the scope and precedence of the operators.	`(Home\|Office\|Voicemail)Phone` `\D*(Phone)\d+`	`HomePhone, OfficePhone,` and `VoicemailPhone` `Phone99, OfficePhone1, OfficePhone2, HomePhone1` and `HomePhone12`
`[…]`	Represents any single character within the brackets	`h[oa]t`	`hot and hat,` but not `hit`
`[^…]`	Matches every character except the ones inside brackets.	`h[^oa]t`	`hit,` but not `hot` and `hat`

Examples of Patterns from the Form Fields Meta (255) Domain

Example	Matching Entries

Example

Matching Entries

*.[Home|Mailing|Office]AddrLine1

Owner1.HomeAddrLine1, Owner2.MailingAddrLine1,

Dependent1.HomeAddrLine1, and others

[]ins.[F|Full]Name

1ins.FName, 1ins.FullName

[][own|ent|spou].*.[Addr123|FullAddr]

1own.M.FullAddr

1spou.BP.Addr123

1own.PH9.Addr123

1own.ER.Addr1234

1ent.R.Addr123

1ent.ResidedFrom.FullAddr

1spou.F.FullAddr