
This can be followed by an optional period (.) or decimal point. In the same way as above, we can start with an optional (zero or one) sign: / ? / Edit with Regexity Now for the second part (we’ll combine them at the end). This will now match numbers like “1”, “1.2”, and “1.” as well as their signed counterparts (with a + or – in front). So far so good for the first part of the definition. We again add these in square brackets to indicate that we’ll accept any character in this range, and we also add the zero-or-more quantifier (*) behind it to show that we’ll accept zero or more of them: / ? + \.

? / Edit with RegexityĪnd finally the decimal sign can be followed by zero or more number characters from 0 – 9. This period character is optional, so we need to quantify it with a zero-or-one quantifier (?) behind it: / ? + \. A period is a reserved character in regular expression syntax and thus we should escape it with a backward slash preceding the period: / ? + \. This can be followed by an optional period (.) or decimal sign. We can quantify how much of these characters we want by adding a one-or-more quantifier (+) sign behind the square brackets. The optional sign can be followed by any numeric characters (including 0), so we add a character range (0-9) in square brackets to show that we can math any character in that range: / ? / Edit with Regexity However, we need to add the zero-or-one quantifier (?) to show that we can have either zero or one of these signs: / ? / Edit with Regexity We place the + and – sign in square brackets to show that we can match either one of them.

At the start of the expression, we can have an optional sign (either + or -): / / Edit with Regexity Let’s work on the first part of the definition. Now let’s start converting these guidelines into a valid regular expression.ĪLSO READ: Regex for Alphanumeric Characters Regular Expressions for Decimal Numbers Followed by a decimal point (not optional)īy following these guidelines, we can match any valid decimal number and exclude all unwanted characters.Therefore, as pointed out here, we need to split the definition into two: However, the guidelines above will also match a single period (.) or a single sign (+ or -) all by themselves. This will match decimal numbers like “9.432” and “2343.7” and integers like “2” and “56” but also something like “34.” and “.65” which most people and computers are able to recognize as a valid decimal value.

Start with an optional sign (+ or – or nothing).As a start, we can say that a decimal number must obey the following guidelines: To accurately describe what a decimal number should look like, we need to use a split definition.
#Regex for number only code
The code for an expression that does all is: / ^ ? ( + \.
#Regex for number only plus
This should all be followed by an optional plus or minus sign. Decimal numbers come in all shapes and sizes, and a regular expression that matches all possible permutations might be more complicated than you think.Ī regular expression for a decimal number needs to checks for one or more numeric characters (0-9) at the start of the string, followed by an optional period, and then followed by zero or more numeric characters (0-9).
