The point of this applet is to provide a convenient means of testing regular expressions before embedding them in a Java program. The buttons represent calls to the Java methods with the same name.

The applet executes (approximately) the following code:

pattern = Pattern.compile(Contents of the Pattern: field); 
matcher = pattern.matcher(Contents of the String: field);
matcher.Whatever_method_you_clicked(); Display results; 

• The In Java: field shows how you would have to write the regular expression as a Java literal string. You can type or paste from and to a Java program into this area. It is kept in sync with the patternstring.
• You can use the combo box to bring back a previously entered string.
• For successful matches, the bottom area will show what values you will get if you call the methods start(), end(), and group(n).
• For those who are interested, here's the source code that can also be used as a Java application by calling the following for a command line.
  java -cp RegexTester.jar RegexTester
  Please inform me of any bugs you find.