Searching with Regular Expressions

For technically adept users, Citavi supports searching with regular expressions (regex). For an introduction to regular expressions, see this Wikipedia article. More detailed information can be found at RegularExpressions.info.

When performing regex searches, prefix the search terms with RX_. For example, to search for Meier, Maier, Meyer and Mayer, enter:
RX_M[ae][iy]er

Be sure to type RX_ in capital letters so that Citavi can recognize it as a command. You can use regular expressions in both in the quick search and the advanced search. You can also combine standard Citavi search syntax with regular expressions. For example, you can search for M[ae][iy]er in person fields and also search for Edited Book in reference type fields.

If your regular expression contains parentheses or spaces, you must place the entire regular expression, including the "RX_" prefix in quotation marks.

Search options: Regex searches respect the A=a (Ignore case) option. The Whole word only and Allow spelling variations (ä=ae) options are ignored in a regex search. If necessary, provide the necessary conditions or equivalencies in the regular expression itself:

"RX_\binfo\b" finds "info" as a word, but not "information"
"RX_Z(u|ü)rich" finds "Zurich" and "Zürich"

Wildcards: During a regex search, the ? and * wildcards have their normal regex meanings and are not interpreted as wildcards.