I have the following regex for postal address validation in my angular app.

const regx = '\\b([p]*(ost)*\\.*\\s*[o|0]*(ffice)*\\.*\\s*b[o|0]x)\\b'

I only wanted this regex to pass for

Match list:

1. P.O.Box
2. pobox
3. post office box
4. 1234 post office box street
5. 123 postal office box

but it also matches for

Do not match list:

1. box
2. BOX
3. poor box

etc.,

How can I tighten this regex so it does not match the "Do not match list"? Also, I wanted my regex to be upgraded for things like postal office box or post office bin etc. Any inputs?

CodePudding user response：

With your shown samples please try following regex. Here is the Online Demo for used regex.

^(?:[0-9]*\s*[pP](?:\.O\.|o)(?:st(?:al)?\soffice\s)*[bB]ox(?:\sstreet)?)$

Explanation: Adding detailed explanation for above regex.

^(?:                 ##Starting 1 non-capturing group from starting of the value.
  [0-9]*\s*          ##Matching 0 or more digits followed by 0 or more spaces.
  [pP]               ##Matching p OR P here.
  (?:\.O\.|o)        ##In a non-capturing group matching .O. OR o here.
  (?:st(?:al)?\soffice\s)*  ##In a non-capturing group matching st followed by spaces followed by office followed by spaces and keeping this non-capturing group Optional.
  [bB]ox             ##Matching b OR B followed by ox here.
  (?:\sstreet)?      ##In a non-capturing group matching space street and keep this optional.
)$                   ##Closing non-capturing group at the end of the value here.

CodePudding user response：

Here is another variant that should work for you:

/^(?:\d \s*)?p\.?o\.?(?:st(?:al)?)?(?:\s office)?\s*b(?:ox|in)\b.*/gmi

RegEx Demo

Since we we are using ignore case modifier here so we can use all lower case letters in our regex.