Selects entries in a list that matching a regular expression

Summary

Filter a list to include only elements that match a regular expression. This macro is an alias for the filter macro.

Syntax 

${select;<list>;<regex>}

Parameters

  • list: Comma-separated list of elements to filter
  • regex: Regular expression pattern to match against

Behavior

Returns a new list containing only the elements from the input list that match the specified regular expression pattern.

This macro is functionally identical to filter.

Examples 

# Select items starting with "com."
packages = com.example.api, org.sample.impl, com.example.util
${select;${packages};com\..*}
# Returns: com.example.api,com.example.util

# Select files with specific extension
files = foo.jar, bar.txt, baz.jar
${select;${files};.*\.jar}
# Returns: foo.jar,baz.jar

# Select numbered items
items = item1, item2, other, item3
${select;${items};item\d+}
# Returns: item1,item2,item3

# Select packages matching pattern
-conditionalpackage: ${select;${packages};com\.company\.internal\..*}

Use Cases

  1. Package Filtering: Select packages matching a naming pattern
  2. File Selection: Filter file lists by extension or pattern
  3. Dependency Filtering: Select specific dependencies from a larger list
  4. Pattern Matching: Include only items matching a specific format

Notes

  • This is an alias for the filter macro - they behave identically
  • Uses Java regular expression syntax
  • Elements are matched in their entirety (use .* for partial matching)
  • The opposite operation is provided by reject or filterout
  • filter - Identical functionality (primary name)
  • reject / filterout - Exclude elements matching regex
  • removeall - Remove specific elements from a list
  • retainall - Keep only elements present in another list

TODO Needs review - AI Generated content

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java