Regex search: allow for literal search of special regex chars

Parentheses "(",")" and curly braces "{","}"are escaped now
and not interpreted as regex characters.
This allows for searching broadcasts with -s "Das.*Leben (2)"
which matches the title "Das gute Leben (2)".
Previously "Das gute Leben (2)" led to empty search result
as the paraenthes are used in regex to capture groups.

diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 2bd52f3309a2187f0357e048c5840c497d2ee622..9d488f3f441e3b795be97916e3d5857996fcd1e8 100644 (file)
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -62,16 +62,63 @@ extended search:
 # Fast search by title/subtitle
 ./oe1archive -s "Show Name"
 
+# Search for show with special characters (automatically escaped)
+./oe1archive -s "Das gute Leben (2)"
+
+# Search using regex patterns (wildcards still work)
+./oe1archive -s "Das.*Leben"
+
+# Search with alternation (OR) patterns
+./oe1archive -s "Music|Talk"
+
 # Deep search including descriptions
 ./oe1archive -s "Some Keyword" -e -r 30
 
 # Batch download all matches (fast search)
 ./oe1archive -d "Show Name" -p "prefix" -r 30
 
+# Batch download with special characters in title
+./oe1archive -d "Das gute Leben (2)" -p "prefix"
+
 # Batch download all matches (deep search)
 ./oe1archive -d "Some Keyword" -p "prefix" -e -r 30
 ```
 
+## Search Behavior and Regex Escaping
+
+The search feature uses **smart escaping** to make searching for titles with special characters intuitive, while preserving regex pattern support.
+
+### Automatically Escaped Characters
+The following characters are **automatically escaped** (treated as literals):
+- `(` `)` - parentheses
+- `{` `}` - curly braces
+
+This means you can search for titles like "Das gute Leben (2)" without needing to manually escape the parentheses.
+
+### Supported Regex Patterns
+The following regex patterns **still work** and are NOT escaped:
+- `.*` - match any characters (wildcard)
+- `.+` - match one or more of any character
+- `|` - alternation (OR operator)
+- `^` - start of string
+- `$` - end of string
+- `[...]` - character classes
+
+### Examples
+```bash
+# Literal search - parentheses are automatically escaped
+./oe1archive -s "Das gute Leben (2)"
+
+# Regex wildcard - matches "Das gute Leben", "Das schöne Leben", etc.
+./oe1archive -s "Das.*Leben"
+
+# Combine both - wildcard with escaped parentheses
+./oe1archive -s "Das.*Leben (2)"
+
+# Alternation - matches either "Music" or "Talk"
+./oe1archive -s "Music|Talk"
+```
+
 ## How It Works
 
 The OE1 API provides a rolling weekly window of current broadcasts. Streams

diff --git a/oe1archive b/oe1archive
index 4c2d33b3c60a25ccb559c9f9949e594d9e3e4a4b..1f6ed08dae122b1105cdf468f18d33ab67d5fa86 100755 (executable)
--- a/oe1archive
+++ b/oe1archive
@@ -265,17 +265,35 @@ class Archive:
             akm = ""
         return description + "<br>" + akm
 
+    def _smart_escape_for_regex(self, pattern):
+        """Escape literal chars () {} while preserving regex patterns like .*
+        
+        Args:
+            pattern: Search pattern string
+
+        Returns:
+            Pattern with literal characters escaped for regex
+        """
+        chars_to_escape = ['(', ')', '{', '}']
+        result = pattern
+        for char in chars_to_escape:
+            result = result.replace(char, '\\' + char)
+        return result
+
     def get_broadcasts_by_regex(self, key, deep_search=False):
-        """Find broadcasts matching a regex pattern.
+        """Find broadcasts matching a search pattern (with smart escaping).
 
         Args:
-            key: Search pattern (regex)
+            key: Search pattern (literal by default, but supports regex patterns)
+                 Literal characters like () and {} are automatically escaped,
+                 while regex patterns like .* and | continue to work.
             deep_search: If True, search in title, subtitle, and description.
                         If False, search only in title and subtitle (faster).
 
         Skips placeholder entries.
         """
-        rex = re.compile(key, re.IGNORECASE)
+        escaped_key = self._smart_escape_for_regex(key)
+        rex = re.compile(escaped_key, re.IGNORECASE)
 
         res = []
         total = sum(len(djson["broadcasts"]) for djson in self.json)