# FAQ: How do I capture strings that include special characters using regex?

**URL:** <https://connective.celigo.com/t/faq-how-do-i-capture-strings-that-include-special-characters-using-regex/1323>\
**Category:** Integrator.io\
**Created:** [October 5, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://connective.celigo.com/t/faq-how-do-i-capture-strings-that-include-special-characters-using-regex/1323 "2020-10-05T19:50:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tomsantiago](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/connective.celigo.com/tomsantiago/32/7158_2.png) [@tomsantiago](https://connective.celigo.com/u/tomsantiago)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://connective.celigo.com/t/faq-how-do-i-capture-strings-that-include-special-characters-using-regex/1323/1 "2020-10-05T19:50:09Z")

</div>

**Question** : I need to capture customer names that have a slash, comma, and asterisk in the line.

**Example** :

```
Originator:/Account: ******* 1000,Payor’s Business,100 Main St,
```

The above example has a forwardslash that must be included in the capture value, but a forward slash is a regex special character.

**Answer** : Regular expressions assign functionality to the following characters:

```
[\^$.|?*+()/
```

When applying regex to a string field that includes one of these characters in its value, you must escape the special functionality regex engines assign to the character by preceding it with a backslash (\). Regex engines interpret a backslash before any special character as its literal.

Most regex engines interpret a forward slash as the beginning or end of a regular expression.

**Example** :

```
Originator: [A-Z- *\/]{0,20}[0-9,]{0,20}([A-Z]{0,30})
```

This part of the expression:

```
[A-Z- *\/]
```

catches any capital letter followed by a hyphen and a space followed by any character including the forward slash. Notice the backslash before the forward slash escapes the special character regex functionality as interpreted by a regex engine. The rest of the expression defines the parameters for the series of numbers to follow.

- For more information about how to use regex in integrator.io, see [Regular expressions (regex).](https://docs.celigo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049631511-Regular-expressions-regex-)
- Here’s a [tutorial on regex](https://www.regular-expressions.info/characters.html).