For many years MicroStation's text search tool has supported regular expressions for advanced searches.
But, as Jeff Marker commented in 2010: Regular expressions in the find/replace tool are rooted in our old MDL regex support, which is unfortunately extremely limited. Of course, that comment was about MicroStation V8.
What regular expression syntax/version does MicroStation CONNECT provide?
Hello Jon, I have just been digging in the Help of MicroStation CONNECT with a search on 'regular expression' The first article on the result list is; Regular Expressions for Searching Text (tree location Home > Programmed Customizations > Regular Expressions > Regulars Expressions for Searching Text) Here you can find an overview with some examples
René R. van den BrinkTechnical SupportBentley Systems Incorporated
Unknown said: I have just been digging in the Help of MicroStation CONNECT with a search on 'regular expression'
Thanks, but that doesn't tell us what syntax of regular expressions is supported. For example, the POSIX standard is commonly implemented, but we don't know what's provided by MicroStation CONNECT. Help doesn't tell us.
For example, capture groups are particularly useful when performing text substitution. Capture groups have been a feature of many regular expression implementations for many years. They enable a user to isolate part of a phrase and reintroduce it into replacement text. But the help examples you cited show no usage of capture groups.
The question I'm asking is: "Does MicroStation CONNECT implement that same regular expression syntax as MicroStation V8i, or does it implement a modern standard such as POSIX?"
Regards, Jon Summers LA Solutions
The Find/Replace Text tool uses ECMAScript syntax. See
I would also point out that CONNECT introduces regular expression support to Explorer's Advanced Query dialog, also using ECMAScript syntax.
Regards,
Paul
Answer Verified By: Jon Summers