13.2.7 Non-greedy quantifiers

The quantifiers described above are greedy, ie, they match the maximal number of instances that would still lead to an overall match for the full pattern.

(pregexp-match "<.*>" "<tag1> <tag2> <tag3>")
 ⇒ ("<tag1> <tag2> <tag3>")

To make these quantifiers non-greedy, append a ? to them. Non-greedy quantifiers match the minimal number of instances needed to ensure an overall match.

(pregexp-match "<.*?>" "<tag1> <tag2> <tag3>") ⇒ ("<tag1>")

The non-greedy quantifiers are respectively: *?, +?, ??, {m}?, {m,n}?. Note the two uses of the metacharacter ?.