RFC 9485 - I-Regexp: An Interoperable Regular Expression Format

Status: Standards Track
Published: October 2023
Authors: Carsten Bormann, Tim Bray

Abstract

This document specifies I-Regexp, a flavor of regular expression that is limited in scope with the goal of interoperation across many different regular expression libraries.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Objectives
• 3. I-Regexp Syntax
• 4. I-Regexp Semantics
• 5. Mapping I-Regexp to Regexp Dialects
• 6. Motivation and Background
• 7. IANA Considerations
• 8. Security Considerations
• 9. References

Key Features

• Interoperability: Defines a subset operable across multiple regexp libraries
• Security: Reduces denial-of-service attack risks
• Simplicity: Supports Boolean matching only
• Unicode Support: Full Unicode character repertoire

Related RFCs

• RFC 2119, RFC 5234, RFC 7493