Hello, @mkupper, @alan-kilborn and All,

Here is an other example where the search limits ( 1,024 and 2,046 ) prevent us for correct searching of a multi-lines regex !

Follow the link below and you’ll get the general multi-lines regex of an URI ( Uniform Ressource Identifier )

https://jmrware.com/articles/2009/uri_regexp/URI_regex.html#uri-43

We get this section :

# RFC-3986 URI component: URI-reference
(?:                                                               # (
  [A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9+\-.]* :                                      # URI
  (?: //
    (?: (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* @)?
    (?:
      \[
      (?:
        (?:
          (?:                                                    (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}
          |                                                   :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}
          | (?:                            [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,1} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,2} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,3} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::    [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,4} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::
          ) (?:
              [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4} : [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}
            | (?: (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9]?[0-9]) \.){3}
                  (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9]?[0-9])
            )
        |   (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,5} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::    [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}
        |   (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,6} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::
        )
      | [Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\.[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]+
      )
      \]
    | (?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}
         (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)
    | (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*
    )
    (?: : [0-9]* )?
    (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
  | /
    (?:    (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+
      (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
    )?
  |        (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+
      (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
  |
  )
  (?:\? (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )?
  (?:\# (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )?
| (?: //                                                          # / relative-ref
    (?: (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* @)?
    (?:
      \[
      (?:
        (?:
          (?:                                                    (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}
          |                                                   :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}
          | (?:                            [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,1} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,2} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? :: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,3} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::    [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:
          | (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,4} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::
          ) (?:
              [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4} : [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}
            | (?: (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?) \.){3}
                  (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)
            )
        |   (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,5} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::    [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}
        |   (?: (?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,6} [0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})? ::
        )
      | [Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\.[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]+
      )
      \]
    | (?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}
         (?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)
    | (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*
    )
    (?: : [0-9]* )?
    (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
  | /
    (?:    (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+
      (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
    )?
  |        (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=@] |%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+
      (?:/ (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )*
  |
  )
  (?:\? (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )?
  (?:\# (?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})* )?
)                                                                       # )

which is a very long multi-lines regex, of size 3,991 characters. Thus, not searchable with Notepad++ !

You could say, if this multi-lines regex is changed into a single-line regex, may be it’ll be OK ?

First, let’s find out a way to transform any MULTI-line regex in a SINGLE-line equivalent regex :

Open the Replace dialog ( Ctrl + H )
Uncheck all the box options
Check the In selection option ( IMPORTANT )
FIND (?x-s) (?: \[ [^\x5B\x5D\r\n]+ \] | \\ [ #] | \\x20 | \\x23 ) (*SKIP) (*F) | \x20* [#] .* (?: \R | \z ) | \x20+ | \R
REPLACE Leave EMPTY
Select the Regular expression search mode
Now, do a stream selection of all the lines of the MULTI-lines regex which must be shortened
To end, click once only, on the Replace All button

=> You get the expected SINGLE-line regex, still selected

If we apply the above S/R to our regex example, it returns the following single-line regex :

    (?:[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9+\-.]*:(?://(?:(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*@)?(?:\[(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,1}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9]?[0-9])\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9]?[0-9]))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)|[Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\.[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]+)\]|(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)|(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)(?::[0-9]*)?(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*|/(?:(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*)?|(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*|)(?:\?(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)?(?:\#(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)?|(?://(?:(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*@)?(?:\[(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){6}|::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){5}|(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,1}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){3}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,2}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){2}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,3}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,4}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?))|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,5}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}|(?:(?:[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4}:){0,6}[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,4})?::)|[Vv][0-9A-Fa-f]+\.[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:]+)\]|(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)|(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)(?::[0-9]*)?(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*|/(?:(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*)?|(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})+(?:/(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)*|)(?:\?(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)?(?:\#(?:[A-Za-z0-9\-._~!$&'()*+,;=:@/?]|%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})*)?)

Which is still a very long regex of size 2609 characters ! So, no chance : even with the contracted form of the regex, it’s still over 2,046 characters and not searchable with Notepad++ :-((

By the way, the site’s ability to highlight any sub-section of the regex in green is really awesome !

Best Regards,

guy038

Bug when a multi-lines regex is used in the 'Search', 'Replace' or 'Mark' dialog