A digit is a numerical symbol used in mathematical notation to represent a number. In the decimal number system, which is the most common number system used in the world today, there are ten negative digits- -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, and -9. These negative digits are used to represent all possible numbers, including integers (whole numbers), fractions, and decimals. In this article let's understand how we can create a regex for digit/number and how regex can be matched for a given digit/number.

Regex (short for regular expression) is a powerful tool used for searching and manipulating text. It is composed of a sequence of digit/numbers that define a search pattern. Regex can be used to find patterns in large amounts of text, validate user input, and manipulate strings. It is widely used in programming languages, text editors, and command line tools.

Structure of negative digits/numbers

The digit/number should have the following criteria and structure-

• value of a digit should be - -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, and -9.
• it should contain one or more negative digits/numbers.

Regex for checking if one or more negative digits/number is valid or not

Regular Expression for digit/number-

/^\-\d+$/gm

Test string examples for the above regex-

Here is a detailed explanation of the above regex-

/^\-\d+$/gm

^ asserts position at start of a line
\- matches the character - with index 4510 (2D16 or 558) literally (case sensitive)
\d matches a digit (equivalent to [0-9])
+ matches the previous token between one and unlimited times, as many times as possible, giving back as needed (greedy)
$ asserts position at the end of a line
Global pattern flags
g modifier: global. All matches (don't return after first match)
m modifier: multi line. Causes ^ and $ to match the begin/end of each line (not only begin/end of string)

Hope this article was useful to check if the string is a valid single negative digits/numbers or not.