• resolves What about using NS_PATTERN_STR instead of NS_PATTERN.pattern and remove NS_PATTERN entirely? It would be an additional simplification. #978
• follow-up to Use pattern string instead of compiled pattern in field_specs.py #967

Thanks to @bernhardreiter for the suggestion.

Copilot Summary

This pull request refactors how namespace regular expressions are handled throughout the codebase. The main change is the removal of the compiled regex object NS_PATTERN in favor of using the raw pattern string NS_PATTERN_STR directly, with explicit calls to re.match or re.search where needed. This simplifies imports and clarifies the use of regex patterns in both the main code and tests.

Refactoring of namespace pattern usage:

• Replaced all imports and usages of the compiled regex object NS_PATTERN with the raw pattern string NS_PATTERN_STR across modules and tests, ensuring that regex operations use re.match or re.search explicitly. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
• Updated all validation and test logic to use re.match(NS_PATTERN_STR, ...) and re.search(NS_PATTERN_STR, ...) instead of calling methods on the compiled object. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Code cleanup:

• Removed unnecessary imports of re in src/ssvc/utils/patterns.py and deleted the now-unused compiled NS_PATTERN object. [1] [2]

These changes make the use of namespace regex patterns more explicit and consistent, reducing confusion and potential errors from mixing pattern strings and compiled regex objects.