. in regex

[Mattyp77]

when compiling a pattern in regex, the dot can mean any character at all except a new line right? How does it distinguish weather your looking for any character or your looking specifically a dot?

 

[VBService]

You need to precede it with a backslash \ , then this notation \. allows you to match an actual dot.

import re

text = "a.b a-b a b" # Example string

# Using unescaped dot: matches any character
matches_any_char = re.findall(r"a.b", text)

# Using escaped dot: matches only "a.b"
matches_literal_dot = re.findall(r"a\.b", text)

''' BTW,
    The string \"a\\.b\" in Python is interpreted as "a\.b", where:
    \" escapes the double quotes,
    \\. escapes \ before . (dot)
'''
print("Matches for \"a.b\":", matches_any_char)
print("Matches for \"a\\.b\":", matches_literal_dot)