How can I validate star names and designations? While most star names and alphanumeric designations I've seen appear to be pure alphanumeric plus space, I have seen designations with both - and + characters in them too.
Is there a reference or standard anywhere for what characters are valid for designations and star names?
I've had a look around for this information, but I can't find any references which would allow me to write a comprehensive BNF syntax or a regular expression to parse and/or validate star names and designations.
In particular for a project I'm working researching, I would like to know if either a , comma or a | pipe character has or might ever be used in a star name or designation.
As far as I know, there is no standard that defines valid characters for a stellar designation. Sometimes people write using Greek letters (e.g. &quot;α Centauri&quot;) and there are many odd catalogue notations. I would not trust that star designations could not contain commas or pipes (aka vertical bar, |), although I think it would be rare.
The IAU has stated that star names are separate from the catalogue designations, and in regard to designations &quot;it is standard practice to identify them with an alphanumeric designation. &quot; But standard practice does not guarantee that somebody will not disregard it, and there are clearly plenty of designations already with non-alphanumeric symbols.
So, one should probably not assume too much about what characters are in the string. Presumably for safety and generality one needs to assume a Unicode string and some robust way of escaping entries.