The IsMatch method is typically used to validate a string or to ensure that a string conforms to a particular pattern without retrieving that string for subsequent manipulation. To determine whether one or more strings match a regular expression pattern and to retrieve them for subsequent manipulation, call the Match or Matches method.

The static IsMatch(String, String) method is equivalent to constructing a Regex object with the regular expression pattern specified by pattern and calling the IsMatch(String) instance method. This regular expression pattern is cached for rapid retrieval by the regular expression engine.

The pattern parameter consists of various regular expression language elements that symbolically describe the string to match. For more information about regular expressions, see .NET Framework Regular Expressions and Regular Expression Language Elements.

The following example illustrates the use of the IsMatch(String, String) method to determine whether a string is a valid part number. The regular expression assumes that the part number has a specific format that consists of three sets of characters separated by hyphens. The first set, which contains four characters, must consist of an alphanumeric character followed by two numeric characters followed by an alphanumeric character. The second set, which consists of three characters, must be numeric. The third set, which consists of four characters, must have three numeric characters followed by an alphanumeric character.

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim partNumbers() As String = { "1298-673-4192", "A08Z-931-468A", _
                                      "_A90-123-129X", "12345-KKA-1230", _
                                      "0919-2893-1256" }
      Dim pattern As String = "[a-zA-Z0-9]\d{2}[a-zA-Z0-9](-\d{3}){2}[A-Za-z0-9]"
      For Each partNumber As String In partNumbers
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} a valid part number.", _
                           partNumber, _
                           IIF(Regex.IsMatch(partNumber, pattern), "is", "is not"))
      Next
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       1298-673-4192 is a valid part number.
'       A08Z-931-468A is a valid part number.
'       _A90-123-129X is not a valid part number.
'       12345-KKA-1230 is not a valid part number.
'       0919-2893-1256 is not a valid part number.

using System;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string[] partNumbers= { "1298-673-4192", "A08Z-931-468A", 
                              "_A90-123-129X", "12345-KKA-1230", 
                              "0919-2893-1256" };
      string pattern = @"[a-zA-Z0-9]\d{2}[a-zA-Z0-9](-\d{3}){2}[A-Za-z0-9]";
      foreach (string partNumber in partNumbers)
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} a valid part number.", 
                           partNumber, 
                           Regex.IsMatch(partNumber, pattern) ? "is" : "is not");
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       1298-673-4192 is a valid part number.
//       A08Z-931-468A is a valid part number.
//       _A90-123-129X is not a valid part number.
//       12345-KKA-1230 is not a valid part number.
//       0919-2893-1256 is not a valid part number.

The regular expression pattern is:

[a-zA-Z0-9]\d{2}[a-zA-Z0-9](-\d{3}){2}[A-Za-z0-9]

The following table shows how the regular expression pattern is interpreted.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework

XNA Framework

Reference

Other Resources