This box tells the user which page is being viewed (ie: Page 11 of 40) and contains buttons to the right and/or the left of the box that allow the user to navigate to different parts of the table.
The search feature allows a user to search for a particular element in a table column. This element is entered into the box next to the word "use," and the column to be searched is entered by using the dropdown box next to the words "on column." Clicking the
button will begin a search. To clear a search and return the table to its original state, click on the
button.
There are three ways to search ACF Tables, each chosen through the dropdown box next to the word "as."
- All characters except special characters:
Match a single instance of themselves.
Special Characters: [\^$.|?*+()
Example: a matches a.
- A backslash:
Escapes special characters to suppress their special meaning.
Example: \+ matches +.
- \xFF, where FF are 2 hexadecimal digits:
Matches the character with the specified ASCII/ANSI value, which depends on the code page used. Can be used in character classes.
Example: \xA9 matches ©.
- \n, \r and \t:
Match an LF character, CR character and a tab character respectively. Can be used in character classes.
Example: \r\n matches a DOS/Windows CRLF line break.
- [ (opening square bracket):
Starts a character class. A character class matches a single character out of all the possibilities offered by the character class. Inside a character class, different rules apply.
Character Class Special Characters: ^-]\
- Any character (except ^-]\):
Adds that character to the possible matches for the character class.
Example: [abc] matches a, b, or c.
- \ (backslash) followed by any of ^-]\:
Escapes special characters to suppress their special meaning.
Example: [\^\]] matches ^ or ].
- - (hyphen) except immediately after the opening [:
Specifies a range of characters. (Specifies a hyphen if placed immediately after the opening [).
Example: [a-zA-Z0-9] matches any letter or digit.
- ^ (caret) immediately after the opening [:
Negates the character class, causing it to match a single character not listed in the character class. (Specifies a caret if placed anywhere except after the opening [).
Example: [^a-d] matches x (any character except a, b, c or d).
- \d, \w and \s:
Shorthand character classes matching digits 0-9, word characters (letters and digits) and whitespace respectively. Can be used inside and outside character classes.
Example: [\d\s] matches a character that is a digit or whitespace.
- \D, \W and \S:
Negated versions of the above. Should be used only outside character classes.
Example: \D matches a character that is not a digit.
- . (dot):
Matches any single character except line break characters \r and \n.
Example: . matches x or (almost) any other character.
- ^ (caret):
Matches at the start of the string the regex pattern is applied to. Matches a position rather than a character.
Example: ^. matches a in abc.
- $ (dollar):
Matches at the end of the string the regex pattern is applied to. Matches a position rather than a character.
Example: .$ matches c in abc.
- /b:
Matches at the position between a word character and a non-word character as well as at the start and/or end of the string if the first and/or last characters in the string are word characters.
Example: .\b matches c in abc.
- | (pipe):
Causes the regex engine to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side. Can be strung together into a series of options.
Example: abc|def|xyz matches abc, def or xyz.
Note: The pipe has the lowest precedence of all operators. Use grouping to alternate only part of the regular expression.
Example: abc(def|xyz) matches abcdef or abcxyz.
- ? (question mark):
Makes the preceding item optional. Greedy, so the optional item is included in the match if possible.
Example: abc? matches ab or abc.
- ??:
Makes the preceding item optional. Lazy, so the optional item is excluded in the match if possible.
Example: abc?? matches ab or abc.
- * (star):
Repeats the previous item zero or more times. Greedy, so as many items as possible will be matched before trying permutations with less matches of the preceding item, up to the point where the preceding item is not matched at all.
Example: ".*" matches "def" "ghi" in abc "def" "ghi" jkl.
- *? (lazy star):
Repeats the previous item zero or more times. Lazy, so the engine first attempts to skip the previous item, before trying permutations with ever increasing matches of the preceding item.
Example: ".*?" matches "def" in abc "def" "ghi" jkl.
- + (plus):
Repeats the previous item once or more. Greedy, so as many items as possible will be matched before trying permutations with less matches of the preceding item, up to the point where the preceding item is matched only once.
Example: ".+" matches "def" "ghi" in abc "def" "ghi" jkl.
- +? (lazy plus):
Repeats the previous item once or more. Lazy, so the engine first matches the previous item only once, before trying permutations with ever increasing matches of the preceding item.
Example: ".+?" matches "def" in abc "def" "ghi" jkl.
- {n} where n is an integer >= 1:
Repeats the previous item exactly n times.
Example: a{3} matches aaa.
- {n,m} where n >= 1 and m >= n:
Repeats the previous item between n and m times. Greedy, so repeating m times is tried before reducing the repetition to n times.
Example: a{2,4} matches aa, aaa or aaaa.
- {n,m}? where n >= 1 and m >= n:
Repeats the previous item between n and m times. Lazy, so repeating n times is tried before increasing the repetition to m times.
Example: a{2,4}? matches aaaa, aaa or aa.
- {n,} where n >= 1:
Repeats the previous item at least n times. Greedy, so as many items as possible will be matched before trying permutations with less matches of the preceding item, up to the point where the preceding item is matched only n times.
Example: a{2,} matches aaaaa in aaaaa.
- {n,}? where n >= 1:
Repeats the previous item between n and m times. Lazy, so the engine first matches the previous item n times, before trying permutations with ever increasing matches of the preceding item.
Example: a{2,}? matches aa in aaaaa.