String patterns define a "template" for string values which they may or may not conform to.
DataCleaner currently supports two type of popular string formats:
Regular expressions , which is a general purpose string pattern matching language popular in computer science. Regular expressions does take a bit of time to learn, but are very powerful once harnessed.
Explaining the syntax of regular expressions is definitely outside the scope of the DataCleaner documentation. We recommend the Java Regular Expressions lesson if you are looking for a resource on this.
Simple string patterns , which use the same syntax as the Pattern finder analyzer. Patterns such as "aaaa@aaaa.aaa" could for example be used to match typical email addresses.