# ReFind Uses a regular expression (RE) to search a string for a pattern, starting from a specified position. The search is case-sensitive. It will return numeric if returnsubexpressions is false and a struct of arrays named "len", "match" and "pos" when returnsubexpressions is true. ## Method Signature ``` ReFind(reg_expression=[string], string=[string], start=[integer], returnSubExpressions=[boolean], scope=[string]) ``` ### Arguments | Argument | Type | Required | Description | Default | | ---------------------- | --------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | `reg_expression` | `string` | `true` | The regular expression to search for | | | `string` | `string` | `true` | The string to serach in | | | `start` | `integer` | `false` | The position from which to start searching in the string. Default is 1. | `1` | | `returnSubExpressions` | `boolean` | `false` |

True: if the regular expression is found, the first array element contains the length and position, respectively, of
the first match. If the regular expression contains parentheses that group subexpressions, each subsequent array
element contains the length and position, respectively, of the first occurrence of each group. If the regular
expression is not found, the arrays each contain one element with the value 0. False: the function returns the
position in the string where the match begins. Default.

| `false` | | `scope` | `string` | `false` | "one": returns the first value that matches the regex. "all": returns all values that match the regex. | `one` | ## Examples ### Script Syntax [Run Example](https://try.boxlang.io/?code=eJwrSnXLzEvxy3dOLE7VUFByVdJRUCpJLS5RMDQyVlRS0LTmAgC4MAkY) ```java reFindNoCase( "E", "test 123!" ); ``` Result: 2 ### Script Syntax CF2016+ example with all optional arguments [Run Example](https://try.boxlang.io/?code=eJzzCvb3C04tykzMyaxK1VAoSnXLzEvxy3dOLAbylFyVdBSUSlKLSxQMjYwVgRxDHYWSotJUoKijj4%2BSgqaCpjUXAMLsEn0%3D) ```java JSONSerialize( reFindNoCase( "E", "test 123!", 1, true, "ALL" ) ); ``` Result: \[{"len":\[1],"pos":\[2],"match":\["e"]}] ### Additional Examples [Run Example](https://try.boxlang.io/?code=eJyNjsFLwzAYxe%2F7Kz5z2Fo7Bs30siEj1HkSD2OCkOXwNY22uKYlyZj%2B937ZPGyCOkjII7z3fm%2FvmmDud22fwGr50NjqqSvQmwQYZjpjY3pLjVgUVcUghXQ%2B2P%2BVuI4JQQmhL0nIzWKonOnhDmKQVOfCRL%2B2i%2BNnzqc3wx2J2wvgsaFERPGvd3KY%2BW0LxgcfXGPf8jhjXRvQGKCxEEjWJOPV2BooUb9fsfnAh2g9llJdIkdyhtu%2BxpkaqSyVoLJkk6cEOSkfAx22Xj0v2Y91VCeBbY1loCRMQZ3P4nGWEOKFrjjQ%2BSn94wzDf8egc%2Fj5aGwEcgL2nWeRFW1fc4uWkg%3D%3D) ```java writeDump( REFindNoCase( "a+c+", "abcaaCCdd" ) ); writeDump( REFindNoCase( "a+c*", "AbcaAcCdd" ) ); writeDump( REFindNoCase( "[\?&]rep = ", "report.bxm?rep = 1234&u = 5" ) ); writeDump( REFindNoCase( "a+", "baaaA" ) ); writeDump( REFindNoCase( ".*", "" ) ); teststring1 = "The cat in the hat hat came back!"; st1 = REFind( "(['[:alpha:]']+)[ ]+(\1)", teststring1, 1, "TRUE" ); writeDump( st1[ "len" ][ 3 ] ); teststring2 = "AAAXAAAA"; st2 = REFind( "x", teststring2, 1, "TRUE" ); writeDump( arrayLen( st2[ "pos" ] ) ); ``` ## Related * [Ascii](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/ascii.md) * [CamelCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/camelcase.md) * [Char](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/char.md) * [CharsetDecode](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/charsetdecode.md) * [CharsetEncode](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/charsetencode.md) * [Compare](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/compare.md) * [CompareNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/comparenocase.md) * [Find](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/find.md) * [FindNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/findnocase.md) * [FindOneOf](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/findoneof.md) * [Insert](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/insert.md) * [JSStringFormat](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/jsstringformat.md) * [Justify](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/justify.md) * [KebabCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/kebabcase.md) * [LCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/lcase.md) * [Left](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/left.md) * [ListReduce](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/listreduce.md) * [LJustify](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/ljustify.md) * [LTrim](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/ltrim.md) * [Mid](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/mid.md) * [ParagraphFormat](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/paragraphformat.md) * [PascalCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/pascalcase.md) * [QueryStringToStruct](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/querystringtostruct.md) * [ReEscape](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/reescape.md) * [reFindNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/refindnocase.md) * [ReMatch](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rematch.md) * [reMatchNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rematchnocase.md) * [RemoveChars](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/removechars.md) * [RepeatString](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/repeatstring.md) * [Replace](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/replace.md) * [ReplaceList](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/replacelist.md) * [ReplaceListNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/replacelistnocase.md) * [ReplaceNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/replacenocase.md) * [ReReplace](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rereplace.md) * [reReplaceNoCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rereplacenocase.md) * [Reverse](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/reverse.md) * [Right](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/right.md) * [RJustify](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rjustify.md) * [RTrim](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/rtrim.md) * [Slugify](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/slugify.md) * [SnakeCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/snakecase.md) * [SpanExcluding](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/spanexcluding.md) * [SpanIncluding](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/spanincluding.md) * [SQLPrettify](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/sqlprettify.md) * [StringBind](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringbind.md) * [StringEach](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringeach.md) * [StringEvery](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringevery.md) * [StringFilter](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringfilter.md) * [StringMap](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringmap.md) * [StringReduce](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringreduce.md) * [StringReduceRight](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringreduceright.md) * [StringSome](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringsome.md) * [StringSort](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stringsort.md) * [StripCR](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/stripcr.md) * [Trim](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/trim.md) * [TrueFalseFormat](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/truefalseformat.md) * [UCase](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/ucase.md) * [UCFirst](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/ucfirst.md) * [Val](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/val.md) * [Wrap](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/wrap.md) * [YesNoFormat](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/string/yesnoformat.md) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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