Quote:
Originally Posted by Manichean
Also, why call it anything other than a regex? That's what it is, and calling it "fluffy pony-rainbow-thingies" won't make it any less scary..
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what it is, is a "regular expression"
"regex" is geek slang.
but even the correct name conveys no real sense of what it does, or why it is so useful.
with the 7.42 changes, I'd suggest calling the FAQ a search and replace guide. the fact the regular expressions are used to achieive this is an under-the bonnet syntax topic.
calibre has no screens called "regex"
PS
the excellent beginners book is called
"Sam's teach yourself regular expressions in 10 minutes"
not
"Sam's suggest regex and baffle everyone for 10 minutes"
PPS you asked how I'd improve it... maybe begin by paraphrasing the intro chapter called "understanding the need" form the above book.
I'll risk a single "fair usage" extract...
"Regular expressions are one of the most powerful tools available for text manipulation. The regular expressions language is used to construct regular expressions (the actual constructed string is called a regular expression), and regular expressions are used to perform both search and replace operations."
whoops that was 2 sentences - consider my card marked...