regexp_replace in PostgreSQL

Question

I want to replace E-*-[_]F* string into E-*-\_F*. The code I am using is below.

select regexp_replace('E-*-[_]F*','-[\[(.)\]]', E'\\', 'g'); -- E-*\_]F*

I am not able to remove the closing bracket.

Your input and output are not clear. Please show us some sample data. — Tim Biegeleisen
– Tim Biegeleisen, Commented Jan 31, 2018 at 7:35

Jasen · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-02 01:03:32Z

1

assuming you want the character inside the braces to be placed after a backslash:

jasen=#  select regexp_replace('E-*-[_]F*','-\[(.)\]', '\\\1', 'g');
 regexp_replace 
----------------
 E-*\_F*
(1 row)

The pattern looks for any character (.) between -[ and ] the parentheses make it remember the character.

The whole matched part is replaced with a backslash, represented by \\ , followed by the first (and only) remembered part \1.

answered Jan 31, 2018 at 7:50

Jasen

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1 Comment

Thanks, @Jasen . This works. can you explain this a little?