.. highlight:: xml
.. index:: Use or Regular Expressions 

.. _use_of_regexp:

Use or Regular Expressions to Select DataPower Objects
======================================================

Many DPBuddy tasks/commands can be applied to multiple DataPower configuration objects. You can see a full list of the configuration objects available in your environment by expanding "Objects" in the DataPower WebGUI.

Each object has a "class" (type) and a name. Classes are defined in the :ref:`DataPower XML Management schema <schema_options>`. You can see the list of all classes under the definition of "AnyConfigElement" in "xml-mgmt.xsd".

If you look at any DataPower configuration file created using :ref:`export`, child elements of the "configuration" element are class names.

DPBuddy allows for using regular expressions to match DataPower objects. For example, :ref:`delConfig` task supports nested ``object`` elements defining what configuration objects to delete. Similarly, the :ref:`export` task's nested ``exportObject`` elements define what objects to export. 

You can also use the ``classPattern`` and ``namePattern`` options/attributes to specify the regexps. These options should be used with DPBuddy CLI. Nested elements are not supported by DPBuddy CLI commands; they are only supported by Ant tasks.

DPBuddy selects objects based on matching class names and/or object names. Only one of the two is required; you can select configuration objects based on just the class name, based on just the object name, or based on both. In the case of :ref:`export`, all objects will be selected if both class and name attributes are omitted.

Note that your regular expression needs to match the entire name and not just a substring within a name, so use ".*" where needed. 

Examples
^^^^^^^^

Match all HTTP front side handlers:

.. code-block:: xml

   <object class="HTTPSourceProtocolHa.*" />

Match all objects (irrespective of the class) with the name starting with "Test":

.. code-block:: xml

   <object name="Test.*"/>

Match all HTTP front site handlers whose name starts with "Test":

.. code-block:: xml

   <object class="HTTPSourceProtocolHa.*" name="Test.*"/>

You can use "or" regular expressions if you need to select objects matching multiple classes and/or names. The example below selects all WS proxies and firewalls:

.. code-block:: xml

   <exportObject class="(WSGatew.*|.*Firewall.*)" />