matches

Test if string matches pattern

Given two String parameters input and pattern, tests whether pattern matches input at least once. pattern is a regular expression and is evaluated as a POSIX Extended Regular Expression (ERE).

To test whether pattern matches the entire input, make sure to begin and end the pattern with anchors. For example:

Boolean full_match = matches("abc123", "^a.+3$")

Note that regular expressions are written using regular WDL strings, so backslash characters need to be double-escaped. For example:

Boolean has_tab = matches("hello\tBob", "\\t")

Parameters

  1. String: the input string to search.
  2. String: the pattern to search for.

Returns: true if pattern matches input at least once, otherwise false.

Example: test_matches_task.wdl

version 1.2
workflow test_matches {
  input {
    File json
  }
  output {
    Boolean is_compressed = matches(basename(json), "\\.(gz|zip|zstd)")
    Boolean is_read1 = matches(basename(json), "_R1")
  }
}

Example input:

{
  "test_matches.json": "data/person.json"
}

Example output:

{
  "test_matches.is_compressed": false,
  "test_matches.is_read1": false
}