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| revision 259 by ph10, Wed Sep 19 09:52:44 2007 UTC | revision 416 by ph10, Sat Apr 11 14:34:02 2009 UTC | |
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| # | Line 18 INTRODUCTION | Line 18 INTRODUCTION |
| 18 | ||
| 19 | The PCRE library is a set of functions that implement regular expres- | The PCRE library is a set of functions that implement regular expres- |
| 20 | sion pattern matching using the same syntax and semantics as Perl, with | sion pattern matching using the same syntax and semantics as Perl, with |
| 21 | just a few differences. (Certain features that appeared in Python and | just a few differences. Certain features that appeared in Python and |
| 22 | PCRE before they appeared in Perl are also available using the Python | PCRE before they appeared in Perl are also available using the Python |
| 23 | syntax.) | syntax. There is also some support for certain .NET and Oniguruma syn- |
| 24 | tax items, and there is an option for requesting some minor changes | |
| 25 | that give better JavaScript compatibility. | |
| 26 | ||
| 27 | The current implementation of PCRE (release 7.x) corresponds approxi- | The current implementation of PCRE (release 7.x) corresponds approxi- |
| 28 | mately with Perl 5.10, including support for UTF-8 encoded strings and | mately with Perl 5.10, including support for UTF-8 encoded strings and |
| 29 | Unicode general category properties. However, UTF-8 and Unicode support | Unicode general category properties. However, UTF-8 and Unicode support |
| 30 | has to be explicitly enabled; it is not the default. The Unicode tables | has to be explicitly enabled; it is not the default. The Unicode tables |
| 31 | correspond to Unicode release 5.0.0. | correspond to Unicode release 5.1. |
| 32 | ||
| 33 | In addition to the Perl-compatible matching function, PCRE contains an | In addition to the Perl-compatible matching function, PCRE contains an |
| 34 | alternative matching function that matches the same compiled patterns | alternative matching function that matches the same compiled patterns |
| # | Line 92 USER DOCUMENTATION | Line 94 USER DOCUMENTATION |
| 94 | pcrestack discussion of stack usage | pcrestack discussion of stack usage |
| 95 | pcretest description of the pcretest testing command | pcretest description of the pcretest testing command |
| 96 | ||
| 97 | In addition, in the "man" and HTML formats, there is a short page for | In addition, in the "man" and HTML formats, there is a short page for |
| 98 | each C library function, listing its arguments and results. | each C library function, listing its arguments and results. |
| 99 | ||
| 100 | ||
| 101 | LIMITATIONS | LIMITATIONS |
| 102 | ||
| 103 | There are some size limitations in PCRE but it is hoped that they will | There are some size limitations in PCRE but it is hoped that they will |
| 104 | never in practice be relevant. | never in practice be relevant. |
| 105 | ||
| 106 | The maximum length of a compiled pattern is 65539 (sic) bytes if PCRE | The maximum length of a compiled pattern is 65539 (sic) bytes if PCRE |
| 107 | is compiled with the default internal linkage size of 2. If you want to | is compiled with the default internal linkage size of 2. If you want to |
| 108 | process regular expressions that are truly enormous, you can compile | process regular expressions that are truly enormous, you can compile |
| 109 | PCRE with an internal linkage size of 3 or 4 (see the README file in | PCRE with an internal linkage size of 3 or 4 (see the README file in |
| 110 | the source distribution and the pcrebuild documentation for details). | the source distribution and the pcrebuild documentation for details). |
| 111 | In these cases the limit is substantially larger. However, the speed | In these cases the limit is substantially larger. However, the speed |
| 112 | of execution is slower. | of execution is slower. |
| 113 | ||
| 114 | All values in repeating quantifiers must be less than 65536. | All values in repeating quantifiers must be less than 65536. |
| # | Line 117 LIMITATIONS | Line 119 LIMITATIONS |
| 119 | The maximum length of name for a named subpattern is 32 characters, and | The maximum length of name for a named subpattern is 32 characters, and |
| 120 | the maximum number of named subpatterns is 10000. | the maximum number of named subpatterns is 10000. |
| 121 | ||
| 122 | The maximum length of a subject string is the largest positive number | The maximum length of a subject string is the largest positive number |
| 123 | that an integer variable can hold. However, when using the traditional | that an integer variable can hold. However, when using the traditional |
| 124 | matching function, PCRE uses recursion to handle subpatterns and indef- | matching function, PCRE uses recursion to handle subpatterns and indef- |
| 125 | inite repetition. This means that the available stack space may limit | inite repetition. This means that the available stack space may limit |
| 126 | the size of a subject string that can be processed by certain patterns. | the size of a subject string that can be processed by certain patterns. |
| 127 | For a discussion of stack issues, see the pcrestack documentation. | For a discussion of stack issues, see the pcrestack documentation. |
| 128 | ||
| 129 | ||
| 130 | UTF-8 AND UNICODE PROPERTY SUPPORT | UTF-8 AND UNICODE PROPERTY SUPPORT |
| 131 | ||
| 132 | From release 3.3, PCRE has had some support for character strings | From release 3.3, PCRE has had some support for character strings |
| 133 | encoded in the UTF-8 format. For release 4.0 this was greatly extended | encoded in the UTF-8 format. For release 4.0 this was greatly extended |
| 134 | to cover most common requirements, and in release 5.0 additional sup- | to cover most common requirements, and in release 5.0 additional sup- |
| 135 | port for Unicode general category properties was added. | port for Unicode general category properties was added. |
| 136 | ||
| 137 | In order process UTF-8 strings, you must build PCRE to include UTF-8 | In order process UTF-8 strings, you must build PCRE to include UTF-8 |
| 138 | support in the code, and, in addition, you must call pcre_compile() | support in the code, and, in addition, you must call pcre_compile() |
| 139 | with the PCRE_UTF8 option flag. When you do this, both the pattern and | with the PCRE_UTF8 option flag, or the pattern must start with the |
| 140 | any subject strings that are matched against it are treated as UTF-8 | sequence (*UTF8). When either of these is the case, both the pattern |
| 141 | strings instead of just strings of bytes. | and any subject strings that are matched against it are treated as |
| 142 | UTF-8 strings instead of just strings of bytes. | |
| 143 | ||
| 144 | If you compile PCRE with UTF-8 support, but do not use it at run time, | If you compile PCRE with UTF-8 support, but do not use it at run time, |
| 145 | the library will be a bit bigger, but the additional run time overhead | the library will be a bit bigger, but the additional run time overhead |
| # | Line 222 UTF-8 AND UNICODE PROPERTY SUPPORT | Line 225 UTF-8 AND UNICODE PROPERTY SUPPORT |
| 225 | includes Unicode property support, because to do otherwise would slow | includes Unicode property support, because to do otherwise would slow |
| 226 | down PCRE in many common cases. If you really want to test for a wider | down PCRE in many common cases. If you really want to test for a wider |
| 227 | sense of, say, "digit", you must use Unicode property tests such as | sense of, say, "digit", you must use Unicode property tests such as |
| 228 | \p{Nd}. | \p{Nd}. Note that this also applies to \b, because it is defined in |
| 229 | terms of \w and \W. | |
| 230 | ||
| 231 | 7. Similarly, characters that match the POSIX named character classes | 7. Similarly, characters that match the POSIX named character classes |
| 232 | are all low-valued characters. | are all low-valued characters. |
| 233 | ||
| 234 | 8. However, the Perl 5.10 horizontal and vertical whitespace matching | 8. However, the Perl 5.10 horizontal and vertical whitespace matching |
| 235 | escapes (\h, \H, \v, and \V) do match all the appropriate Unicode char- | escapes (\h, \H, \v, and \V) do match all the appropriate Unicode char- |
| 236 | acters. | acters. |
| 237 | ||
| 238 | 9. Case-insensitive matching applies only to characters whose values | 9. Case-insensitive matching applies only to characters whose values |
| 239 | are less than 128, unless PCRE is built with Unicode property support. | are less than 128, unless PCRE is built with Unicode property support. |
| 240 | Even when Unicode property support is available, PCRE still uses its | Even when Unicode property support is available, PCRE still uses its |
| 241 | own character tables when checking the case of low-valued characters, | own character tables when checking the case of low-valued characters, |
| 242 | so as not to degrade performance. The Unicode property information is | so as not to degrade performance. The Unicode property information is |
| 243 | used only for characters with higher values. Even when Unicode property | used only for characters with higher values. Even when Unicode property |
| 244 | support is available, PCRE supports case-insensitive matching only when | support is available, PCRE supports case-insensitive matching only when |
| 245 | there is a one-to-one mapping between a letter's cases. There are a | there is a one-to-one mapping between a letter's cases. There are a |
| 246 | small number of many-to-one mappings in Unicode; these are not sup- | small number of many-to-one mappings in Unicode; these are not sup- |
| 247 | ported by PCRE. | ported by PCRE. |
| 248 | ||
| 249 | ||
| # | Line 249 AUTHOR | Line 253 AUTHOR |
| 253 | University Computing Service | University Computing Service |
| 254 | Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. | Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. |
| 255 | ||
| 256 | Putting an actual email address here seems to have been a spam magnet, | Putting an actual email address here seems to have been a spam magnet, |
| 257 | so I've taken it away. If you want to email me, use my two initials, | so I've taken it away. If you want to email me, use my two initials, |
| 258 | followed by the two digits 10, at the domain cam.ac.uk. | followed by the two digits 10, at the domain cam.ac.uk. |
| 259 | ||
| 260 | ||
| 261 | REVISION | REVISION |
| 262 | ||
| 263 | Last updated: 09 August 2007 | Last updated: 11 April 2009 |
| 264 | Copyright (c) 1997-2007 University of Cambridge. | Copyright (c) 1997-2009 University of Cambridge. |
| 265 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 266 | ||
| 267 | ||
| # | Line 271 NAME | Line 275 NAME |
| 275 | PCRE BUILD-TIME OPTIONS | PCRE BUILD-TIME OPTIONS |
| 276 | ||
| 277 | This document describes the optional features of PCRE that can be | This document describes the optional features of PCRE that can be |
| 278 | selected when the library is compiled. They are all selected, or dese- | selected when the library is compiled. It assumes use of the configure |
| 279 | lected, by providing options to the configure script that is run before | script, where the optional features are selected or deselected by pro- |
| 280 | the make command. The complete list of options for configure (which | viding options to configure before running the make command. However, |
| 281 | includes the standard ones such as the selection of the installation | the same options can be selected in both Unix-like and non-Unix-like |
| 282 | directory) can be obtained by running | environments using the GUI facility of CMakeSetup if you are using |
| 283 | CMake instead of configure to build PCRE. | |
| 284 | ||
| 285 | The complete list of options for configure (which includes the standard | |
| 286 | ones such as the selection of the installation directory) can be | |
| 287 | obtained by running | |
| 288 | ||
| 289 | ./configure --help | ./configure --help |
| 290 | ||
| 291 | The following sections include descriptions of options whose names | The following sections include descriptions of options whose names |
| 292 | begin with --enable or --disable. These settings specify changes to the | begin with --enable or --disable. These settings specify changes to the |
| 293 | defaults for the configure command. Because of the way that configure | defaults for the configure command. Because of the way that configure |
| 294 | works, --enable and --disable always come in pairs, so the complemen- | works, --enable and --disable always come in pairs, so the complemen- |
| 295 | tary option always exists as well, but as it specifies the default, it | tary option always exists as well, but as it specifies the default, it |
| 296 | is not described. | is not described. |
| 297 | ||
| 298 | ||
| # | Line 300 C++ SUPPORT | Line 309 C++ SUPPORT |
| 309 | ||
| 310 | UTF-8 SUPPORT | UTF-8 SUPPORT |
| 311 | ||
| 312 | To build PCRE with support for UTF-8 character strings, add | To build PCRE with support for UTF-8 Unicode character strings, add |
| 313 | ||
| 314 | --enable-utf8 | --enable-utf8 |
| 315 | ||
| 316 | to the configure command. Of itself, this does not make PCRE treat | to the configure command. Of itself, this does not make PCRE treat |
| 317 | strings as UTF-8. As well as compiling PCRE with this option, you also | strings as UTF-8. As well as compiling PCRE with this option, you also |
| 318 | have have to set the PCRE_UTF8 option when you call the pcre_compile() | have have to set the PCRE_UTF8 option when you call the pcre_compile() |
| 319 | function. | function. |
| 320 | ||
| 321 | If you set --enable-utf8 when compiling in an EBCDIC environment, PCRE | |
| 322 | expects its input to be either ASCII or UTF-8 (depending on the runtime | |
| 323 | option). It is not possible to support both EBCDIC and UTF-8 codes in | |
| 324 | the same version of the library. Consequently, --enable-utf8 and | |
| 325 | --enable-ebcdic are mutually exclusive. | |
| 326 | ||
| 327 | ||
| 328 | UNICODE CHARACTER PROPERTY SUPPORT | UNICODE CHARACTER PROPERTY SUPPORT |
| 329 | ||
| 330 | UTF-8 support allows PCRE to process character values greater than 255 | UTF-8 support allows PCRE to process character values greater than 255 |
| 331 | in the strings that it handles. On its own, however, it does not pro- | in the strings that it handles. On its own, however, it does not pro- |
| 332 | vide any facilities for accessing the properties of such characters. If | vide any facilities for accessing the properties of such characters. If |
| 333 | you want to be able to use the pattern escapes \P, \p, and \X, which | you want to be able to use the pattern escapes \P, \p, and \X, which |
| 334 | refer to Unicode character properties, you must add | refer to Unicode character properties, you must add |
| 335 | ||
| 336 | --enable-unicode-properties | --enable-unicode-properties |
| 337 | ||
| 338 | to the configure command. This implies UTF-8 support, even if you have | to the configure command. This implies UTF-8 support, even if you have |
| 339 | not explicitly requested it. | not explicitly requested it. |
| 340 | ||
| 341 | Including Unicode property support adds around 30K of tables to the | Including Unicode property support adds around 30K of tables to the |
| 342 | PCRE library. Only the general category properties such as Lu and Nd | PCRE library. Only the general category properties such as Lu and Nd |
| 343 | are supported. Details are given in the pcrepattern documentation. | are supported. Details are given in the pcrepattern documentation. |
| 344 | ||
| 345 | ||
| 346 | CODE VALUE OF NEWLINE | CODE VALUE OF NEWLINE |
| 347 | ||
| 348 | By default, PCRE interprets character 10 (linefeed, LF) as indicating | By default, PCRE interprets the linefeed (LF) character as indicating |
| 349 | the end of a line. This is the normal newline character on Unix-like | the end of a line. This is the normal newline character on Unix-like |
| 350 | systems. You can compile PCRE to use character 13 (carriage return, CR) | systems. You can compile PCRE to use carriage return (CR) instead, by |
| 351 | instead, by adding | adding |
| 352 | ||
| 353 | --enable-newline-is-cr | --enable-newline-is-cr |
| 354 | ||
| 355 | to the configure command. There is also a --enable-newline-is-lf | to the configure command. There is also a --enable-newline-is-lf |
| 356 | option, which explicitly specifies linefeed as the newline character. | option, which explicitly specifies linefeed as the newline character. |
| 357 | ||
| 358 | Alternatively, you can specify that line endings are to be indicated by | Alternatively, you can specify that line endings are to be indicated by |
| # | Line 349 CODE VALUE OF NEWLINE | Line 364 CODE VALUE OF NEWLINE |
| 364 | ||
| 365 | --enable-newline-is-anycrlf | --enable-newline-is-anycrlf |
| 366 | ||
| 367 | which causes PCRE to recognize any of the three sequences CR, LF, or | which causes PCRE to recognize any of the three sequences CR, LF, or |
| 368 | CRLF as indicating a line ending. Finally, a fifth option, specified by | CRLF as indicating a line ending. Finally, a fifth option, specified by |
| 369 | ||
| 370 | --enable-newline-is-any | --enable-newline-is-any |
| # | Line 509 USING EBCDIC CODE | Line 524 USING EBCDIC CODE |
| 524 | ||
| 525 | to the configure command. This setting implies --enable-rebuild-charta- | to the configure command. This setting implies --enable-rebuild-charta- |
| 526 | bles. You should only use it if you know that you are in an EBCDIC | bles. You should only use it if you know that you are in an EBCDIC |
| 527 | environment (for example, an IBM mainframe operating system). | environment (for example, an IBM mainframe operating system). The |
| 528 | --enable-ebcdic option is incompatible with --enable-utf8. | |
| 529 | ||
| 530 | ||
| 531 | PCREGREP OPTIONS FOR COMPRESSED FILE SUPPORT | |
| 532 | ||
| 533 | By default, pcregrep reads all files as plain text. You can build it so | |
| 534 | that it recognizes files whose names end in .gz or .bz2, and reads them | |
| 535 | with libz or libbz2, respectively, by adding one or both of | |
| 536 | ||
| 537 | --enable-pcregrep-libz | |
| 538 | --enable-pcregrep-libbz2 | |
| 539 | ||
| 540 | to the configure command. These options naturally require that the rel- | |
| 541 | evant libraries are installed on your system. Configuration will fail | |
| 542 | if they are not. | |
| 543 | ||
| 544 | ||
| 545 | PCRETEST OPTION FOR LIBREADLINE SUPPORT | |
| 546 | ||
| 547 | If you add | |
| 548 | ||
| 549 | --enable-pcretest-libreadline | |
| 550 | ||
| 551 | to the configure command, pcretest is linked with the libreadline | |
| 552 | library, and when its input is from a terminal, it reads it using the | |
| 553 | readline() function. This provides line-editing and history facilities. | |
| 554 | Note that libreadline is GPL-licenced, so if you distribute a binary of | |
| 555 | pcretest linked in this way, there may be licensing issues. | |
| 556 | ||
| 557 | Setting this option causes the -lreadline option to be added to the | |
| 558 | pcretest build. In many operating environments with a sytem-installed | |
| 559 | libreadline this is sufficient. However, in some environments (e.g. if | |
| 560 | an unmodified distribution version of readline is in use), some extra | |
| 561 | configuration may be necessary. The INSTALL file for libreadline says | |
| 562 | this: | |
| 563 | ||
| 564 | "Readline uses the termcap functions, but does not link with the | |
| 565 | termcap or curses library itself, allowing applications which link | |
| 566 | with readline the to choose an appropriate library." | |
| 567 | ||
| 568 | If your environment has not been set up so that an appropriate library | |
| 569 | is automatically included, you may need to add something like | |
| 570 | ||
| 571 | LIBS="-ncurses" | |
| 572 | ||
| 573 | immediately before the configure command. | |
| 574 | ||
| 575 | ||
| 576 | SEE ALSO | SEE ALSO |
| # | Line 526 AUTHOR | Line 587 AUTHOR |
| 587 | ||
| 588 | REVISION | REVISION |
| 589 | ||
| 590 | Last updated: 11 September 2007 | Last updated: 17 March 2009 |
| 591 | Copyright (c) 1997-2007 University of Cambridge. | Copyright (c) 1997-2009 University of Cambridge. |
| 592 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 593 | ||
| 594 | ||
| # | Line 675 THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING ALGORITHM | Line 736 THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING ALGORITHM |
| 736 | tive algorithm moves through the subject string one character at a | tive algorithm moves through the subject string one character at a |
| 737 | time, for all active paths through the tree. | time, for all active paths through the tree. |
| 738 | ||
| 739 | 8. None of the backtracking control verbs such as (*PRUNE) are sup- | 8. Except for (*FAIL), the backtracking control verbs such as (*PRUNE) |
| 740 | ported. | are not supported. (*FAIL) is supported, and behaves like a failing |
| 741 | negative assertion. | |
| 742 | ||
| 743 | ||
| 744 | ADVANTAGES OF THE ALTERNATIVE ALGORITHM | ADVANTAGES OF THE ALTERNATIVE ALGORITHM |
| 745 | ||
| 746 | Using the alternative matching algorithm provides the following advan- | Using the alternative matching algorithm provides the following advan- |
| 747 | tages: | tages: |
| 748 | ||
| 749 | 1. All possible matches (at a single point in the subject) are automat- | 1. All possible matches (at a single point in the subject) are automat- |
| 750 | ically found, and in particular, the longest match is found. To find | ically found, and in particular, the longest match is found. To find |
| 751 | more than one match using the standard algorithm, you have to do kludgy | more than one match using the standard algorithm, you have to do kludgy |
| 752 | things with callouts. | things with callouts. |
| 753 | ||
| 754 | 2. There is much better support for partial matching. The restrictions | 2. There is much better support for partial matching. The restrictions |
| 755 | on the content of the pattern that apply when using the standard algo- | on the content of the pattern that apply when using the standard algo- |
| 756 | rithm for partial matching do not apply to the alternative algorithm. | rithm for partial matching do not apply to the alternative algorithm. |
| 757 | For non-anchored patterns, the starting position of a partial match is | For non-anchored patterns, the starting position of a partial match is |
| 758 | available. | available. |
| 759 | ||
| 760 | 3. Because the alternative algorithm scans the subject string just | 3. Because the alternative algorithm scans the subject string just |
| 761 | once, and never needs to backtrack, it is possible to pass very long | once, and never needs to backtrack, it is possible to pass very long |
| 762 | subject strings to the matching function in several pieces, checking | subject strings to the matching function in several pieces, checking |
| 763 | for partial matching each time. | for partial matching each time. |
| 764 | ||
| 765 | ||
| # | Line 705 DISADVANTAGES OF THE ALTERNATIVE ALGORIT | Line 767 DISADVANTAGES OF THE ALTERNATIVE ALGORIT |
| 767 | ||
| 768 | The alternative algorithm suffers from a number of disadvantages: | The alternative algorithm suffers from a number of disadvantages: |
| 769 | ||
| 770 | 1. It is substantially slower than the standard algorithm. This is | 1. It is substantially slower than the standard algorithm. This is |
| 771 | partly because it has to search for all possible matches, but is also | partly because it has to search for all possible matches, but is also |
| 772 | because it is less susceptible to optimization. | because it is less susceptible to optimization. |
| 773 | ||
| 774 | 2. Capturing parentheses and back references are not supported. | 2. Capturing parentheses and back references are not supported. |
| # | Line 724 AUTHOR | Line 786 AUTHOR |
| 786 | ||
| 787 | REVISION | REVISION |
| 788 | ||
| 789 | Last updated: 08 August 2007 | Last updated: 19 April 2008 |
| 790 | Copyright (c) 1997-2007 University of Cambridge. | Copyright (c) 1997-2008 University of Cambridge. |
| 791 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 792 | ||
| 793 | ||
| # | Line 837 PCRE API OVERVIEW | Line 899 PCRE API OVERVIEW |
| 899 | a Perl-compatible manner. A sample program that demonstrates the sim- | a Perl-compatible manner. A sample program that demonstrates the sim- |
| 900 | plest way of using them is provided in the file called pcredemo.c in | plest way of using them is provided in the file called pcredemo.c in |
| 901 | the source distribution. The pcresample documentation describes how to | the source distribution. The pcresample documentation describes how to |
| 902 | run it. | compile and run it. |
| 903 | ||
| 904 | A second matching function, pcre_dfa_exec(), which is not Perl-compati- | A second matching function, pcre_dfa_exec(), which is not Perl-compati- |
| 905 | ble, is also provided. This uses a different algorithm for the match- | ble, is also provided. This uses a different algorithm for the match- |
| # | Line 946 MULTITHREADING | Line 1008 MULTITHREADING |
| 1008 | pcre_malloc, pcre_free, pcre_stack_malloc, and pcre_stack_free, and the | pcre_malloc, pcre_free, pcre_stack_malloc, and pcre_stack_free, and the |
| 1009 | callout function pointed to by pcre_callout, are shared by all threads. | callout function pointed to by pcre_callout, are shared by all threads. |
| 1010 | ||
| 1011 | The compiled form of a regular expression is not altered during match- | The compiled form of a regular expression is not altered during match- |
| 1012 | ing, so the same compiled pattern can safely be used by several threads | ing, so the same compiled pattern can safely be used by several threads |
| 1013 | at once. | at once. |
| 1014 | ||
| # | Line 954 MULTITHREADING | Line 1016 MULTITHREADING |
| 1016 | SAVING PRECOMPILED PATTERNS FOR LATER USE | SAVING PRECOMPILED PATTERNS FOR LATER USE |
| 1017 | ||
| 1018 | The compiled form of a regular expression can be saved and re-used at a | The compiled form of a regular expression can be saved and re-used at a |
| 1019 | later time, possibly by a different program, and even on a host other | later time, possibly by a different program, and even on a host other |
| 1020 | than the one on which it was compiled. Details are given in the | than the one on which it was compiled. Details are given in the |
| 1021 | pcreprecompile documentation. However, compiling a regular expression | pcreprecompile documentation. However, compiling a regular expression |
| 1022 | with one version of PCRE for use with a different version is not guar- | with one version of PCRE for use with a different version is not guar- |
| 1023 | anteed to work and may cause crashes. | anteed to work and may cause crashes. |
| 1024 | ||
| 1025 | ||
| # | Line 965 CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS | Line 1027 CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS |
| 1027 | ||
| 1028 | int pcre_config(int what, void *where); | int pcre_config(int what, void *where); |
| 1029 | ||
| 1030 | The function pcre_config() makes it possible for a PCRE client to dis- | The function pcre_config() makes it possible for a PCRE client to dis- |
| 1031 | cover which optional features have been compiled into the PCRE library. | cover which optional features have been compiled into the PCRE library. |
| 1032 | The pcrebuild documentation has more details about these optional fea- | The pcrebuild documentation has more details about these optional fea- |
| 1033 | tures. | tures. |
| 1034 | ||
| 1035 | The first argument for pcre_config() is an integer, specifying which | The first argument for pcre_config() is an integer, specifying which |
| 1036 | information is required; the second argument is a pointer to a variable | information is required; the second argument is a pointer to a variable |
| 1037 | into which the information is placed. The following information is | into which the information is placed. The following information is |
| 1038 | available: | available: |
| 1039 | ||
| 1040 | PCRE_CONFIG_UTF8 | PCRE_CONFIG_UTF8 |
| 1041 | ||
| 1042 | The output is an integer that is set to one if UTF-8 support is avail- | The output is an integer that is set to one if UTF-8 support is avail- |
| 1043 | able; otherwise it is set to zero. | able; otherwise it is set to zero. |
| 1044 | ||
| 1045 | PCRE_CONFIG_UNICODE_PROPERTIES | PCRE_CONFIG_UNICODE_PROPERTIES |
| 1046 | ||
| 1047 | The output is an integer that is set to one if support for Unicode | The output is an integer that is set to one if support for Unicode |
| 1048 | character properties is available; otherwise it is set to zero. | character properties is available; otherwise it is set to zero. |
| 1049 | ||
| 1050 | PCRE_CONFIG_NEWLINE | PCRE_CONFIG_NEWLINE |
| 1051 | ||
| 1052 | The output is an integer whose value specifies the default character | The output is an integer whose value specifies the default character |
| 1053 | sequence that is recognized as meaning "newline". The four values that | sequence that is recognized as meaning "newline". The four values that |
| 1054 | are supported are: 10 for LF, 13 for CR, 3338 for CRLF, -2 for ANYCRLF, | are supported are: 10 for LF, 13 for CR, 3338 for CRLF, -2 for ANYCRLF, |
| 1055 | and -1 for ANY. The default should normally be the standard sequence | and -1 for ANY. Though they are derived from ASCII, the same values |
| 1056 | for your operating system. | are returned in EBCDIC environments. The default should normally corre- |
| 1057 | spond to the standard sequence for your operating system. | |
| 1058 | ||
| 1059 | PCRE_CONFIG_BSR | PCRE_CONFIG_BSR |
| 1060 | ||
| # | Line 1018 CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS | Line 1081 CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS |
| 1081 | ||
| 1082 | PCRE_CONFIG_MATCH_LIMIT | PCRE_CONFIG_MATCH_LIMIT |
| 1083 | ||
| 1084 | The output is an integer that gives the default limit for the number of | The output is a long integer that gives the default limit for the num- |
| 1085 | internal matching function calls in a pcre_exec() execution. Further | ber of internal matching function calls in a pcre_exec() execution. |
| 1086 | details are given with pcre_exec() below. | Further details are given with pcre_exec() below. |
| 1087 | ||
| 1088 | PCRE_CONFIG_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION | PCRE_CONFIG_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION |
| 1089 | ||
| 1090 | The output is an integer that gives the default limit for the depth of | The output is a long integer that gives the default limit for the depth |
| 1091 | recursion when calling the internal matching function in a pcre_exec() | of recursion when calling the internal matching function in a |
| 1092 | execution. Further details are given with pcre_exec() below. | pcre_exec() execution. Further details are given with pcre_exec() |
| 1093 | below. | |
| 1094 | ||
| 1095 | PCRE_CONFIG_STACKRECURSE | PCRE_CONFIG_STACKRECURSE |
| 1096 | ||
| 1097 | The output is an integer that is set to one if internal recursion when | The output is an integer that is set to one if internal recursion when |
| 1098 | running pcre_exec() is implemented by recursive function calls that use | running pcre_exec() is implemented by recursive function calls that use |
| 1099 | the stack to remember their state. This is the usual way that PCRE is | the stack to remember their state. This is the usual way that PCRE is |
| 1100 | compiled. The output is zero if PCRE was compiled to use blocks of data | compiled. The output is zero if PCRE was compiled to use blocks of data |
| 1101 | on the heap instead of recursive function calls. In this case, | on the heap instead of recursive function calls. In this case, |
| 1102 | pcre_stack_malloc and pcre_stack_free are called to manage memory | pcre_stack_malloc and pcre_stack_free are called to manage memory |
| 1103 | blocks on the heap, thus avoiding the use of the stack. | blocks on the heap, thus avoiding the use of the stack. |
| 1104 | ||
| 1105 | ||
| # | Line 1052 COMPILING A PATTERN | Line 1116 COMPILING A PATTERN |
| 1116 | ||
| 1117 | Either of the functions pcre_compile() or pcre_compile2() can be called | Either of the functions pcre_compile() or pcre_compile2() can be called |
| 1118 | to compile a pattern into an internal form. The only difference between | to compile a pattern into an internal form. The only difference between |
| 1119 | the two interfaces is that pcre_compile2() has an additional argument, | the two interfaces is that pcre_compile2() has an additional argument, |
| 1120 | errorcodeptr, via which a numerical error code can be returned. | errorcodeptr, via which a numerical error code can be returned. |
| 1121 | ||
| 1122 | The pattern is a C string terminated by a binary zero, and is passed in | The pattern is a C string terminated by a binary zero, and is passed in |
| 1123 | the pattern argument. A pointer to a single block of memory that is | the pattern argument. A pointer to a single block of memory that is |
| 1124 | obtained via pcre_malloc is returned. This contains the compiled code | obtained via pcre_malloc is returned. This contains the compiled code |
| 1125 | and related data. The pcre type is defined for the returned block; this | and related data. The pcre type is defined for the returned block; this |
| 1126 | is a typedef for a structure whose contents are not externally defined. | is a typedef for a structure whose contents are not externally defined. |
| 1127 | It is up to the caller to free the memory (via pcre_free) when it is no | It is up to the caller to free the memory (via pcre_free) when it is no |
| 1128 | longer required. | longer required. |
| 1129 | ||
| 1130 | Although the compiled code of a PCRE regex is relocatable, that is, it | Although the compiled code of a PCRE regex is relocatable, that is, it |
| 1131 | does not depend on memory location, the complete pcre data block is not | does not depend on memory location, the complete pcre data block is not |
| 1132 | fully relocatable, because it may contain a copy of the tableptr argu- | fully relocatable, because it may contain a copy of the tableptr argu- |
| 1133 | ment, which is an address (see below). | ment, which is an address (see below). |
| 1134 | ||
| 1135 | The options argument contains various bit settings that affect the com- | The options argument contains various bit settings that affect the com- |
| 1136 | pilation. It should be zero if no options are required. The available | pilation. It should be zero if no options are required. The available |
| 1137 | options are described below. Some of them, in particular, those that | options are described below. Some of them (in particular, those that |
| 1138 | are compatible with Perl, can also be set and unset from within the | are compatible with Perl, but also some others) can also be set and |
| 1139 | pattern (see the detailed description in the pcrepattern documenta- | unset from within the pattern (see the detailed description in the |
| 1140 | tion). For these options, the contents of the options argument speci- | pcrepattern documentation). For those options that can be different in |
| 1141 | fies their initial settings at the start of compilation and execution. | different parts of the pattern, the contents of the options argument |
| 1142 | The PCRE_ANCHORED and PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx options can be set at the time | specifies their initial settings at the start of compilation and execu- |
| 1143 | of matching as well as at compile time. | tion. The PCRE_ANCHORED and PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx options can be set at the |
| 1144 | time of matching as well as at compile time. | |
| 1145 | ||
| 1146 | If errptr is NULL, pcre_compile() returns NULL immediately. Otherwise, | If errptr is NULL, pcre_compile() returns NULL immediately. Otherwise, |
| 1147 | if compilation of a pattern fails, pcre_compile() returns NULL, and | if compilation of a pattern fails, pcre_compile() returns NULL, and |
| # | Line 1212 COMPILING A PATTERN | Line 1277 COMPILING A PATTERN |
| 1277 | before or at the first newline in the subject string, though the | before or at the first newline in the subject string, though the |
| 1278 | matched text may continue over the newline. | matched text may continue over the newline. |
| 1279 | ||
| 1280 | PCRE_JAVASCRIPT_COMPAT | |
| 1281 | ||
| 1282 | If this option is set, PCRE's behaviour is changed in some ways so that | |
| 1283 | it is compatible with JavaScript rather than Perl. The changes are as | |
| 1284 | follows: | |
| 1285 | ||
| 1286 | (1) A lone closing square bracket in a pattern causes a compile-time | |
| 1287 | error, because this is illegal in JavaScript (by default it is treated | |
| 1288 | as a data character). Thus, the pattern AB]CD becomes illegal when this | |
| 1289 | option is set. | |
| 1290 | ||
| 1291 | (2) At run time, a back reference to an unset subpattern group matches | |
| 1292 | an empty string (by default this causes the current matching alterna- | |
| 1293 | tive to fail). A pattern such as (\1)(a) succeeds when this option is | |
| 1294 | set (assuming it can find an "a" in the subject), whereas it fails by | |
| 1295 | default, for Perl compatibility. | |
| 1296 | ||
| 1297 | PCRE_MULTILINE | PCRE_MULTILINE |
| 1298 | ||
| 1299 | By default, PCRE treats the subject string as consisting of a single | By default, PCRE treats the subject string as consisting of a single |
| 1300 | line of characters (even if it actually contains newlines). The "start | line of characters (even if it actually contains newlines). The "start |
| 1301 | of line" metacharacter (^) matches only at the start of the string, | of line" metacharacter (^) matches only at the start of the string, |
| 1302 | while the "end of line" metacharacter ($) matches only at the end of | while the "end of line" metacharacter ($) matches only at the end of |
| 1303 | the string, or before a terminating newline (unless PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY | the string, or before a terminating newline (unless PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY |
| 1304 | is set). This is the same as Perl. | is set). This is the same as Perl. |
| 1305 | ||
| 1306 | When PCRE_MULTILINE it is set, the "start of line" and "end of line" | When PCRE_MULTILINE it is set, the "start of line" and "end of line" |
| 1307 | constructs match immediately following or immediately before internal | constructs match immediately following or immediately before internal |
| 1308 | newlines in the subject string, respectively, as well as at the very | newlines in the subject string, respectively, as well as at the very |
| 1309 | start and end. This is equivalent to Perl's /m option, and it can be | start and end. This is equivalent to Perl's /m option, and it can be |
| 1310 | changed within a pattern by a (?m) option setting. If there are no new- | changed within a pattern by a (?m) option setting. If there are no new- |
| 1311 | lines in a subject string, or no occurrences of ^ or $ in a pattern, | lines in a subject string, or no occurrences of ^ or $ in a pattern, |
| 1312 | setting PCRE_MULTILINE has no effect. | setting PCRE_MULTILINE has no effect. |
| 1313 | ||
| 1314 | PCRE_NEWLINE_CR | PCRE_NEWLINE_CR |
| # | Line 1235 COMPILING A PATTERN | Line 1317 COMPILING A PATTERN |
| 1317 | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF |
| 1318 | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY |
| 1319 | ||
| 1320 | These options override the default newline definition that was chosen | These options override the default newline definition that was chosen |
| 1321 | when PCRE was built. Setting the first or the second specifies that a | when PCRE was built. Setting the first or the second specifies that a |
| 1322 | newline is indicated by a single character (CR or LF, respectively). | newline is indicated by a single character (CR or LF, respectively). |
| 1323 | Setting PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF specifies that a newline is indicated by the | Setting PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF specifies that a newline is indicated by the |
| 1324 | two-character CRLF sequence. Setting PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF specifies | two-character CRLF sequence. Setting PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF specifies |
| 1325 | that any of the three preceding sequences should be recognized. Setting | that any of the three preceding sequences should be recognized. Setting |
| 1326 | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY specifies that any Unicode newline sequence should be | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY specifies that any Unicode newline sequence should be |
| 1327 | recognized. The Unicode newline sequences are the three just mentioned, | recognized. The Unicode newline sequences are the three just mentioned, |
| 1328 | plus the single characters VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF (formfeed, | plus the single characters VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF (formfeed, |
| 1329 | U+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and PS | U+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and PS |
| 1330 | (paragraph separator, U+2029). The last two are recognized only in | (paragraph separator, U+2029). The last two are recognized only in |
| 1331 | UTF-8 mode. | UTF-8 mode. |
| 1332 | ||
| 1333 | The newline setting in the options word uses three bits that are | The newline setting in the options word uses three bits that are |
| 1334 | treated as a number, giving eight possibilities. Currently only six are | treated as a number, giving eight possibilities. Currently only six are |
| 1335 | used (default plus the five values above). This means that if you set | used (default plus the five values above). This means that if you set |
| 1336 | more than one newline option, the combination may or may not be sensi- | more than one newline option, the combination may or may not be sensi- |
| 1337 | ble. For example, PCRE_NEWLINE_CR with PCRE_NEWLINE_LF is equivalent to | ble. For example, PCRE_NEWLINE_CR with PCRE_NEWLINE_LF is equivalent to |
| 1338 | PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF, but other combinations may yield unused numbers and | PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF, but other combinations may yield unused numbers and |
| 1339 | cause an error. | cause an error. |
| 1340 | ||
| 1341 | The only time that a line break is specially recognized when compiling | The only time that a line break is specially recognized when compiling |
| 1342 | a pattern is if PCRE_EXTENDED is set, and an unescaped # outside a | a pattern is if PCRE_EXTENDED is set, and an unescaped # outside a |
| 1343 | character class is encountered. This indicates a comment that lasts | character class is encountered. This indicates a comment that lasts |
| 1344 | until after the next line break sequence. In other circumstances, line | until after the next line break sequence. In other circumstances, line |
| 1345 | break sequences are treated as literal data, except that in | break sequences are treated as literal data, except that in |
| 1346 | PCRE_EXTENDED mode, both CR and LF are treated as whitespace characters | PCRE_EXTENDED mode, both CR and LF are treated as whitespace characters |
| 1347 | and are therefore ignored. | and are therefore ignored. |
| 1348 | ||
| 1349 | The newline option that is set at compile time becomes the default that | The newline option that is set at compile time becomes the default that |
| 1350 | is used for pcre_exec() and pcre_dfa_exec(), but it can be overridden. | is used for pcre_exec() and pcre_dfa_exec(), but it can be overridden. |
| 1351 | ||
| 1352 | PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE | PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE |
| 1353 | ||
| # | Line 1324 COMPILATION ERROR CODES | Line 1406 COMPILATION ERROR CODES |
| 1406 | 9 nothing to repeat | 9 nothing to repeat |
| 1407 | 10 [this code is not in use] | 10 [this code is not in use] |
| 1408 | 11 internal error: unexpected repeat | 11 internal error: unexpected repeat |
| 1409 | 12 unrecognized character after (? | 12 unrecognized character after (? or (?- |
| 1410 | 13 POSIX named classes are supported only within a class | 13 POSIX named classes are supported only within a class |
| 1411 | 14 missing ) | 14 missing ) |
| 1412 | 15 reference to non-existent subpattern | 15 reference to non-existent subpattern |
| # | Line 1332 COMPILATION ERROR CODES | Line 1414 COMPILATION ERROR CODES |
| 1414 | 17 unknown option bit(s) set | 17 unknown option bit(s) set |
| 1415 | 18 missing ) after comment | 18 missing ) after comment |
| 1416 | 19 [this code is not in use] | 19 [this code is not in use] |
| 1417 | 20 regular expression too large | 20 regular expression is too large |
| 1418 | 21 failed to get memory | 21 failed to get memory |
| 1419 | 22 unmatched parentheses | 22 unmatched parentheses |
| 1420 | 23 internal error: code overflow | 23 internal error: code overflow |
| # | Line 1361 COMPILATION ERROR CODES | Line 1443 COMPILATION ERROR CODES |
| 1443 | 46 malformed \P or \p sequence | 46 malformed \P or \p sequence |
| 1444 | 47 unknown property name after \P or \p | 47 unknown property name after \P or \p |
| 1445 | 48 subpattern name is too long (maximum 32 characters) | 48 subpattern name is too long (maximum 32 characters) |
| 1446 | 49 too many named subpatterns (maximum 10,000) | 49 too many named subpatterns (maximum 10000) |
| 1447 | 50 [this code is not in use] | 50 [this code is not in use] |
| 1448 | 51 octal value is greater than \377 (not in UTF-8 mode) | 51 octal value is greater than \377 (not in UTF-8 mode) |
| 1449 | 52 internal error: overran compiling workspace | 52 internal error: overran compiling workspace |
| # | Line 1370 COMPILATION ERROR CODES | Line 1452 COMPILATION ERROR CODES |
| 1452 | 54 DEFINE group contains more than one branch | 54 DEFINE group contains more than one branch |
| 1453 | 55 repeating a DEFINE group is not allowed | 55 repeating a DEFINE group is not allowed |
| 1454 | 56 inconsistent NEWLINE options | 56 inconsistent NEWLINE options |
| 1455 | 57 \g is not followed by a braced name or an optionally braced | 57 \g is not followed by a braced, angle-bracketed, or quoted |
| 1456 | non-zero number | name/number or by a plain number |
| 1457 | 58 (?+ or (?- or (?(+ or (?(- must be followed by a non-zero number | 58 a numbered reference must not be zero |
| 1458 | 59 (*VERB) with an argument is not supported | |
| 1459 | 60 (*VERB) not recognized | |
| 1460 | 61 number is too big | |
| 1461 | 62 subpattern name expected | |
| 1462 | 63 digit expected after (?+ | |
| 1463 | 64 ] is an invalid data character in JavaScript compatibility mode | |
| 1464 | ||
| 1465 | The numbers 32 and 10000 in errors 48 and 49 are defaults; different | |
| 1466 | values may be used if the limits were changed when PCRE was built. | |
| 1467 | ||
| 1468 | ||
| 1469 | STUDYING A PATTERN | STUDYING A PATTERN |
| # | Line 1380 STUDYING A PATTERN | Line 1471 STUDYING A PATTERN |
| 1471 | pcre_extra *pcre_study(const pcre *code, int options | pcre_extra *pcre_study(const pcre *code, int options |
| 1472 | const char **errptr); | const char **errptr); |
| 1473 | ||
| 1474 | If a compiled pattern is going to be used several times, it is worth | If a compiled pattern is going to be used several times, it is worth |
| 1475 | spending more time analyzing it in order to speed up the time taken for | spending more time analyzing it in order to speed up the time taken for |
| 1476 | matching. The function pcre_study() takes a pointer to a compiled pat- | matching. The function pcre_study() takes a pointer to a compiled pat- |
| 1477 | tern as its first argument. If studying the pattern produces additional | tern as its first argument. If studying the pattern produces additional |
| 1478 | information that will help speed up matching, pcre_study() returns a | information that will help speed up matching, pcre_study() returns a |
| 1479 | pointer to a pcre_extra block, in which the study_data field points to | pointer to a pcre_extra block, in which the study_data field points to |
| 1480 | the results of the study. | the results of the study. |
| 1481 | ||
| 1482 | The returned value from pcre_study() can be passed directly to | The returned value from pcre_study() can be passed directly to |
| 1483 | pcre_exec(). However, a pcre_extra block also contains other fields | pcre_exec(). However, a pcre_extra block also contains other fields |
| 1484 | that can be set by the caller before the block is passed; these are | that can be set by the caller before the block is passed; these are |
| 1485 | described below in the section on matching a pattern. | described below in the section on matching a pattern. |
| 1486 | ||
| 1487 | If studying the pattern does not produce any additional information | If studying the pattern does not produce any additional information |
| 1488 | pcre_study() returns NULL. In that circumstance, if the calling program | pcre_study() returns NULL. In that circumstance, if the calling program |
| 1489 | wants to pass any of the other fields to pcre_exec(), it must set up | wants to pass any of the other fields to pcre_exec(), it must set up |
| 1490 | its own pcre_extra block. | its own pcre_extra block. |
| 1491 | ||
| 1492 | The second argument of pcre_study() contains option bits. At present, | The second argument of pcre_study() contains option bits. At present, |
| 1493 | no options are defined, and this argument should always be zero. | no options are defined, and this argument should always be zero. |
| 1494 | ||
| 1495 | The third argument for pcre_study() is a pointer for an error message. | The third argument for pcre_study() is a pointer for an error message. |
| 1496 | If studying succeeds (even if no data is returned), the variable it | If studying succeeds (even if no data is returned), the variable it |
| 1497 | points to is set to NULL. Otherwise it is set to point to a textual | points to is set to NULL. Otherwise it is set to point to a textual |
| 1498 | error message. This is a static string that is part of the library. You | error message. This is a static string that is part of the library. You |
| 1499 | must not try to free it. You should test the error pointer for NULL | must not try to free it. You should test the error pointer for NULL |
| 1500 | after calling pcre_study(), to be sure that it has run successfully. | after calling pcre_study(), to be sure that it has run successfully. |
| 1501 | ||
| 1502 | This is a typical call to pcre_study(): | This is a typical call to pcre_study(): |
| # | Line 1417 STUDYING A PATTERN | Line 1508 STUDYING A PATTERN |
| 1508 | &error); /* set to NULL or points to a message */ | &error); /* set to NULL or points to a message */ |
| 1509 | ||
| 1510 | At present, studying a pattern is useful only for non-anchored patterns | At present, studying a pattern is useful only for non-anchored patterns |
| 1511 | that do not have a single fixed starting character. A bitmap of possi- | that do not have a single fixed starting character. A bitmap of possi- |
| 1512 | ble starting bytes is created. | ble starting bytes is created. |
| 1513 | ||
| 1514 | ||
| 1515 | LOCALE SUPPORT | LOCALE SUPPORT |
| 1516 | ||
| 1517 | PCRE handles caseless matching, and determines whether characters are | PCRE handles caseless matching, and determines whether characters are |
| 1518 | letters, digits, or whatever, by reference to a set of tables, indexed | letters, digits, or whatever, by reference to a set of tables, indexed |
| 1519 | by character value. When running in UTF-8 mode, this applies only to | by character value. When running in UTF-8 mode, this applies only to |
| 1520 | characters with codes less than 128. Higher-valued codes never match | characters with codes less than 128. Higher-valued codes never match |
| 1521 | escapes such as \w or \d, but can be tested with \p if PCRE is built | escapes such as \w or \d, but can be tested with \p if PCRE is built |
| 1522 | with Unicode character property support. The use of locales with Uni- | with Unicode character property support. The use of locales with Uni- |
| 1523 | code is discouraged. If you are handling characters with codes greater | code is discouraged. If you are handling characters with codes greater |
| 1524 | than 128, you should either use UTF-8 and Unicode, or use locales, but | than 128, you should either use UTF-8 and Unicode, or use locales, but |
| 1525 | not try to mix the two. | not try to mix the two. |
| 1526 | ||
| 1527 | PCRE contains an internal set of tables that are used when the final | PCRE contains an internal set of tables that are used when the final |
| 1528 | argument of pcre_compile() is NULL. These are sufficient for many | argument of pcre_compile() is NULL. These are sufficient for many |
| 1529 | applications. Normally, the internal tables recognize only ASCII char- | applications. Normally, the internal tables recognize only ASCII char- |
| 1530 | acters. However, when PCRE is built, it is possible to cause the inter- | acters. However, when PCRE is built, it is possible to cause the inter- |
| 1531 | nal tables to be rebuilt in the default "C" locale of the local system, | nal tables to be rebuilt in the default "C" locale of the local system, |
| 1532 | which may cause them to be different. | which may cause them to be different. |
| 1533 | ||
| 1534 | The internal tables can always be overridden by tables supplied by the | The internal tables can always be overridden by tables supplied by the |
| 1535 | application that calls PCRE. These may be created in a different locale | application that calls PCRE. These may be created in a different locale |
| 1536 | from the default. As more and more applications change to using Uni- | from the default. As more and more applications change to using Uni- |
| 1537 | code, the need for this locale support is expected to die away. | code, the need for this locale support is expected to die away. |
| 1538 | ||
| 1539 | External tables are built by calling the pcre_maketables() function, | External tables are built by calling the pcre_maketables() function, |
| 1540 | which has no arguments, in the relevant locale. The result can then be | which has no arguments, in the relevant locale. The result can then be |
| 1541 | passed to pcre_compile() or pcre_exec() as often as necessary. For | passed to pcre_compile() or pcre_exec() as often as necessary. For |
| 1542 | example, to build and use tables that are appropriate for the French | example, to build and use tables that are appropriate for the French |
| 1543 | locale (where accented characters with values greater than 128 are | locale (where accented characters with values greater than 128 are |
| 1544 | treated as letters), the following code could be used: | treated as letters), the following code could be used: |
| 1545 | ||
| 1546 | setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "fr_FR"); | setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "fr_FR"); |
| 1547 | tables = pcre_maketables(); | tables = pcre_maketables(); |
| 1548 | re = pcre_compile(..., tables); | re = pcre_compile(..., tables); |
| 1549 | ||
| 1550 | The locale name "fr_FR" is used on Linux and other Unix-like systems; | The locale name "fr_FR" is used on Linux and other Unix-like systems; |
| 1551 | if you are using Windows, the name for the French locale is "french". | if you are using Windows, the name for the French locale is "french". |
| 1552 | ||
| 1553 | When pcre_maketables() runs, the tables are built in memory that is | When pcre_maketables() runs, the tables are built in memory that is |
| 1554 | obtained via pcre_malloc. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure | obtained via pcre_malloc. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure |
| 1555 | that the memory containing the tables remains available for as long as | that the memory containing the tables remains available for as long as |
| 1556 | it is needed. | it is needed. |
| 1557 | ||
| 1558 | The pointer that is passed to pcre_compile() is saved with the compiled | The pointer that is passed to pcre_compile() is saved with the compiled |
| 1559 | pattern, and the same tables are used via this pointer by pcre_study() | pattern, and the same tables are used via this pointer by pcre_study() |
| 1560 | and normally also by pcre_exec(). Thus, by default, for any single pat- | and normally also by pcre_exec(). Thus, by default, for any single pat- |
| 1561 | tern, compilation, studying and matching all happen in the same locale, | tern, compilation, studying and matching all happen in the same locale, |
| 1562 | but different patterns can be compiled in different locales. | but different patterns can be compiled in different locales. |
| 1563 | ||
| 1564 | It is possible to pass a table pointer or NULL (indicating the use of | It is possible to pass a table pointer or NULL (indicating the use of |
| 1565 | the internal tables) to pcre_exec(). Although not intended for this | the internal tables) to pcre_exec(). Although not intended for this |
| 1566 | purpose, this facility could be used to match a pattern in a different | purpose, this facility could be used to match a pattern in a different |
| 1567 | locale from the one in which it was compiled. Passing table pointers at | locale from the one in which it was compiled. Passing table pointers at |
| 1568 | run time is discussed below in the section on matching a pattern. | run time is discussed below in the section on matching a pattern. |
| 1569 | ||
| # | Line 1482 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1573 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1573 | int pcre_fullinfo(const pcre *code, const pcre_extra *extra, | int pcre_fullinfo(const pcre *code, const pcre_extra *extra, |
| 1574 | int what, void *where); | int what, void *where); |
| 1575 | ||
| 1576 | The pcre_fullinfo() function returns information about a compiled pat- | The pcre_fullinfo() function returns information about a compiled pat- |
| 1577 | tern. It replaces the obsolete pcre_info() function, which is neverthe- | tern. It replaces the obsolete pcre_info() function, which is neverthe- |
| 1578 | less retained for backwards compability (and is documented below). | less retained for backwards compability (and is documented below). |
| 1579 | ||
| 1580 | The first argument for pcre_fullinfo() is a pointer to the compiled | The first argument for pcre_fullinfo() is a pointer to the compiled |
| 1581 | pattern. The second argument is the result of pcre_study(), or NULL if | pattern. The second argument is the result of pcre_study(), or NULL if |
| 1582 | the pattern was not studied. The third argument specifies which piece | the pattern was not studied. The third argument specifies which piece |
| 1583 | of information is required, and the fourth argument is a pointer to a | of information is required, and the fourth argument is a pointer to a |
| 1584 | variable to receive the data. The yield of the function is zero for | variable to receive the data. The yield of the function is zero for |
| 1585 | success, or one of the following negative numbers: | success, or one of the following negative numbers: |
| 1586 | ||
| 1587 | PCRE_ERROR_NULL the argument code was NULL | PCRE_ERROR_NULL the argument code was NULL |
| # | Line 1498 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1589 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1589 | PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC the "magic number" was not found | PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC the "magic number" was not found |
| 1590 | PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION the value of what was invalid | PCRE_ERROR_BADOPTION the value of what was invalid |
| 1591 | ||
| 1592 | The "magic number" is placed at the start of each compiled pattern as | The "magic number" is placed at the start of each compiled pattern as |
| 1593 | an simple check against passing an arbitrary memory pointer. Here is a | an simple check against passing an arbitrary memory pointer. Here is a |
| 1594 | typical call of pcre_fullinfo(), to obtain the length of the compiled | typical call of pcre_fullinfo(), to obtain the length of the compiled |
| 1595 | pattern: | pattern: |
| 1596 | ||
| 1597 | int rc; | int rc; |
| # | Line 1511 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1602 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1602 | PCRE_INFO_SIZE, /* what is required */ | PCRE_INFO_SIZE, /* what is required */ |
| 1603 | &length); /* where to put the data */ | &length); /* where to put the data */ |
| 1604 | ||
| 1605 | The possible values for the third argument are defined in pcre.h, and | The possible values for the third argument are defined in pcre.h, and |
| 1606 | are as follows: | are as follows: |
| 1607 | ||
| 1608 | PCRE_INFO_BACKREFMAX | PCRE_INFO_BACKREFMAX |
| 1609 | ||
| 1610 | Return the number of the highest back reference in the pattern. The | Return the number of the highest back reference in the pattern. The |
| 1611 | fourth argument should point to an int variable. Zero is returned if | fourth argument should point to an int variable. Zero is returned if |
| 1612 | there are no back references. | there are no back references. |
| 1613 | ||
| 1614 | PCRE_INFO_CAPTURECOUNT | PCRE_INFO_CAPTURECOUNT |
| 1615 | ||
| 1616 | Return the number of capturing subpatterns in the pattern. The fourth | Return the number of capturing subpatterns in the pattern. The fourth |
| 1617 | argument should point to an int variable. | argument should point to an int variable. |
| 1618 | ||
| 1619 | PCRE_INFO_DEFAULT_TABLES | PCRE_INFO_DEFAULT_TABLES |
| 1620 | ||
| 1621 | Return a pointer to the internal default character tables within PCRE. | Return a pointer to the internal default character tables within PCRE. |
| 1622 | The fourth argument should point to an unsigned char * variable. This | The fourth argument should point to an unsigned char * variable. This |
| 1623 | information call is provided for internal use by the pcre_study() func- | information call is provided for internal use by the pcre_study() func- |
| 1624 | tion. External callers can cause PCRE to use its internal tables by | tion. External callers can cause PCRE to use its internal tables by |
| 1625 | passing a NULL table pointer. | passing a NULL table pointer. |
| 1626 | ||
| 1627 | PCRE_INFO_FIRSTBYTE | PCRE_INFO_FIRSTBYTE |
| 1628 | ||
| 1629 | Return information about the first byte of any matched string, for a | Return information about the first byte of any matched string, for a |
| 1630 | non-anchored pattern. The fourth argument should point to an int vari- | non-anchored pattern. The fourth argument should point to an int vari- |
| 1631 | able. (This option used to be called PCRE_INFO_FIRSTCHAR; the old name | able. (This option used to be called PCRE_INFO_FIRSTCHAR; the old name |
| 1632 | is still recognized for backwards compatibility.) | is still recognized for backwards compatibility.) |
| 1633 | ||
| 1634 | If there is a fixed first byte, for example, from a pattern such as | If there is a fixed first byte, for example, from a pattern such as |
| 1635 | (cat|cow|coyote), its value is returned. Otherwise, if either | (cat|cow|coyote), its value is returned. Otherwise, if either |
| 1636 | ||
| 1637 | (a) the pattern was compiled with the PCRE_MULTILINE option, and every | (a) the pattern was compiled with the PCRE_MULTILINE option, and every |
| 1638 | branch starts with "^", or | branch starts with "^", or |
| 1639 | ||
| 1640 | (b) every branch of the pattern starts with ".*" and PCRE_DOTALL is not | (b) every branch of the pattern starts with ".*" and PCRE_DOTALL is not |
| 1641 | set (if it were set, the pattern would be anchored), | set (if it were set, the pattern would be anchored), |
| 1642 | ||
| 1643 | -1 is returned, indicating that the pattern matches only at the start | -1 is returned, indicating that the pattern matches only at the start |
| 1644 | of a subject string or after any newline within the string. Otherwise | of a subject string or after any newline within the string. Otherwise |
| 1645 | -2 is returned. For anchored patterns, -2 is returned. | -2 is returned. For anchored patterns, -2 is returned. |
| 1646 | ||
| 1647 | PCRE_INFO_FIRSTTABLE | PCRE_INFO_FIRSTTABLE |
| 1648 | ||
| 1649 | If the pattern was studied, and this resulted in the construction of a | If the pattern was studied, and this resulted in the construction of a |
| 1650 | 256-bit table indicating a fixed set of bytes for the first byte in any | 256-bit table indicating a fixed set of bytes for the first byte in any |
| 1651 | matching string, a pointer to the table is returned. Otherwise NULL is | matching string, a pointer to the table is returned. Otherwise NULL is |
| 1652 | returned. The fourth argument should point to an unsigned char * vari- | returned. The fourth argument should point to an unsigned char * vari- |
| 1653 | able. | able. |
| 1654 | ||
| 1655 | PCRE_INFO_HASCRORLF | PCRE_INFO_HASCRORLF |
| 1656 | ||
| 1657 | Return 1 if the pattern contains any explicit matches for CR or LF | Return 1 if the pattern contains any explicit matches for CR or LF |
| 1658 | characters, otherwise 0. The fourth argument should point to an int | characters, otherwise 0. The fourth argument should point to an int |
| 1659 | variable. An explicit match is either a literal CR or LF character, or | variable. An explicit match is either a literal CR or LF character, or |
| 1660 | \r or \n. | \r or \n. |
| 1661 | ||
| 1662 | PCRE_INFO_JCHANGED | PCRE_INFO_JCHANGED |
| 1663 | ||
| 1664 | Return 1 if the (?J) option setting is used in the pattern, otherwise | Return 1 if the (?J) or (?-J) option setting is used in the pattern, |
| 1665 | 0. The fourth argument should point to an int variable. The (?J) inter- | otherwise 0. The fourth argument should point to an int variable. (?J) |
| 1666 | nal option setting changes the local PCRE_DUPNAMES option. | and (?-J) set and unset the local PCRE_DUPNAMES option, respectively. |
| 1667 | ||
| 1668 | PCRE_INFO_LASTLITERAL | PCRE_INFO_LASTLITERAL |
| 1669 | ||
| 1670 | Return the value of the rightmost literal byte that must exist in any | Return the value of the rightmost literal byte that must exist in any |
| 1671 | matched string, other than at its start, if such a byte has been | matched string, other than at its start, if such a byte has been |
| 1672 | recorded. The fourth argument should point to an int variable. If there | recorded. The fourth argument should point to an int variable. If there |
| 1673 | is no such byte, -1 is returned. For anchored patterns, a last literal | is no such byte, -1 is returned. For anchored patterns, a last literal |
| 1674 | byte is recorded only if it follows something of variable length. For | byte is recorded only if it follows something of variable length. For |
| 1675 | example, for the pattern /^a\d+z\d+/ the returned value is "z", but for | example, for the pattern /^a\d+z\d+/ the returned value is "z", but for |
| 1676 | /^a\dz\d/ the returned value is -1. | /^a\dz\d/ the returned value is -1. |
| 1677 | ||
| # | Line 1588 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1679 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1679 | PCRE_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE | PCRE_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE |
| 1680 | PCRE_INFO_NAMETABLE | PCRE_INFO_NAMETABLE |
| 1681 | ||
| 1682 | PCRE supports the use of named as well as numbered capturing parenthe- | PCRE supports the use of named as well as numbered capturing parenthe- |
| 1683 | ses. The names are just an additional way of identifying the parenthe- | ses. The names are just an additional way of identifying the parenthe- |
| 1684 | ses, which still acquire numbers. Several convenience functions such as | ses, which still acquire numbers. Several convenience functions such as |
| 1685 | pcre_get_named_substring() are provided for extracting captured sub- | pcre_get_named_substring() are provided for extracting captured sub- |
| 1686 | strings by name. It is also possible to extract the data directly, by | strings by name. It is also possible to extract the data directly, by |
| 1687 | first converting the name to a number in order to access the correct | first converting the name to a number in order to access the correct |
| 1688 | pointers in the output vector (described with pcre_exec() below). To do | pointers in the output vector (described with pcre_exec() below). To do |
| 1689 | the conversion, you need to use the name-to-number map, which is | the conversion, you need to use the name-to-number map, which is |
| 1690 | described by these three values. | described by these three values. |
| 1691 | ||
| 1692 | The map consists of a number of fixed-size entries. PCRE_INFO_NAMECOUNT | The map consists of a number of fixed-size entries. PCRE_INFO_NAMECOUNT |
| 1693 | gives the number of entries, and PCRE_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE gives the size | gives the number of entries, and PCRE_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE gives the size |
| 1694 | of each entry; both of these return an int value. The entry size | of each entry; both of these return an int value. The entry size |
| 1695 | depends on the length of the longest name. PCRE_INFO_NAMETABLE returns | depends on the length of the longest name. PCRE_INFO_NAMETABLE returns |
| 1696 | a pointer to the first entry of the table (a pointer to char). The | a pointer to the first entry of the table (a pointer to char). The |
| 1697 | first two bytes of each entry are the number of the capturing parenthe- | first two bytes of each entry are the number of the capturing parenthe- |
| 1698 | sis, most significant byte first. The rest of the entry is the corre- | sis, most significant byte first. The rest of the entry is the corre- |
| 1699 | sponding name, zero terminated. The names are in alphabetical order. | sponding name, zero terminated. The names are in alphabetical order. |
| 1700 | When PCRE_DUPNAMES is set, duplicate names are in order of their paren- | When PCRE_DUPNAMES is set, duplicate names are in order of their paren- |
| 1701 | theses numbers. For example, consider the following pattern (assume | theses numbers. For example, consider the following pattern (assume |
| 1702 | PCRE_EXTENDED is set, so white space - including newlines - is | PCRE_EXTENDED is set, so white space - including newlines - is |
| 1703 | ignored): | ignored): |
| 1704 | ||
| 1705 | (?<date> (?<year>(\d\d)?\d\d) - | (?<date> (?<year>(\d\d)?\d\d) - |
| 1706 | (?<month>\d\d) - (?<day>\d\d) ) | (?<month>\d\d) - (?<day>\d\d) ) |
| 1707 | ||
| 1708 | There are four named subpatterns, so the table has four entries, and | There are four named subpatterns, so the table has four entries, and |
| 1709 | each entry in the table is eight bytes long. The table is as follows, | each entry in the table is eight bytes long. The table is as follows, |
| 1710 | with non-printing bytes shows in hexadecimal, and undefined bytes shown | with non-printing bytes shows in hexadecimal, and undefined bytes shown |
| 1711 | as ??: | as ??: |
| 1712 | ||
| # | Line 1624 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1715 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1715 | 00 04 m o n t h 00 | 00 04 m o n t h 00 |
| 1716 | 00 02 y e a r 00 ?? | 00 02 y e a r 00 ?? |
| 1717 | ||
| 1718 | When writing code to extract data from named subpatterns using the | When writing code to extract data from named subpatterns using the |
| 1719 | name-to-number map, remember that the length of the entries is likely | name-to-number map, remember that the length of the entries is likely |
| 1720 | to be different for each compiled pattern. | to be different for each compiled pattern. |
| 1721 | ||
| 1722 | PCRE_INFO_OKPARTIAL | PCRE_INFO_OKPARTIAL |
| 1723 | ||
| 1724 | Return 1 if the pattern can be used for partial matching, otherwise 0. | Return 1 if the pattern can be used for partial matching, otherwise 0. |
| 1725 | The fourth argument should point to an int variable. The pcrepartial | The fourth argument should point to an int variable. The pcrepartial |
| 1726 | documentation lists the restrictions that apply to patterns when par- | documentation lists the restrictions that apply to patterns when par- |
| 1727 | tial matching is used. | tial matching is used. |
| 1728 | ||
| 1729 | PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS | PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS |
| 1730 | ||
| 1731 | Return a copy of the options with which the pattern was compiled. The | Return a copy of the options with which the pattern was compiled. The |
| 1732 | fourth argument should point to an unsigned long int variable. These | fourth argument should point to an unsigned long int variable. These |
| 1733 | option bits are those specified in the call to pcre_compile(), modified | option bits are those specified in the call to pcre_compile(), modified |
| 1734 | by any top-level option settings at the start of the pattern itself. In | by any top-level option settings at the start of the pattern itself. In |
| 1735 | other words, they are the options that will be in force when matching | other words, they are the options that will be in force when matching |
| 1736 | starts. For example, if the pattern /(?im)abc(?-i)d/ is compiled with | starts. For example, if the pattern /(?im)abc(?-i)d/ is compiled with |
| 1737 | the PCRE_EXTENDED option, the result is PCRE_CASELESS, PCRE_MULTILINE, | the PCRE_EXTENDED option, the result is PCRE_CASELESS, PCRE_MULTILINE, |
| 1738 | and PCRE_EXTENDED. | and PCRE_EXTENDED. |
| 1739 | ||
| 1740 | A pattern is automatically anchored by PCRE if all of its top-level | A pattern is automatically anchored by PCRE if all of its top-level |
| 1741 | alternatives begin with one of the following: | alternatives begin with one of the following: |
| 1742 | ||
| 1743 | ^ unless PCRE_MULTILINE is set | ^ unless PCRE_MULTILINE is set |
| # | Line 1660 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1751 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1751 | ||
| 1752 | PCRE_INFO_SIZE | PCRE_INFO_SIZE |
| 1753 | ||
| 1754 | Return the size of the compiled pattern, that is, the value that was | Return the size of the compiled pattern, that is, the value that was |
| 1755 | passed as the argument to pcre_malloc() when PCRE was getting memory in | passed as the argument to pcre_malloc() when PCRE was getting memory in |
| 1756 | which to place the compiled data. The fourth argument should point to a | which to place the compiled data. The fourth argument should point to a |
| 1757 | size_t variable. | size_t variable. |
| # | Line 1668 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN | Line 1759 INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN |
| 1759 | PCRE_INFO_STUDYSIZE | PCRE_INFO_STUDYSIZE |
| 1760 | ||
| 1761 | Return the size of the data block pointed to by the study_data field in | Return the size of the data block pointed to by the study_data field in |
| 1762 | a pcre_extra block. That is, it is the value that was passed to | a pcre_extra block. That is, it is the value that was passed to |
| 1763 | pcre_malloc() when PCRE was getting memory into which to place the data | pcre_malloc() when PCRE was getting memory into which to place the data |
| 1764 | created by pcre_study(). The fourth argument should point to a size_t | created by pcre_study(). The fourth argument should point to a size_t |
| 1765 | variable. | variable. |
| 1766 | ||
| 1767 | ||
| # | Line 1678 OBSOLETE INFO FUNCTION | Line 1769 OBSOLETE INFO FUNCTION |
| 1769 | ||
| 1770 | int pcre_info(const pcre *code, int *optptr, int *firstcharptr); | int pcre_info(const pcre *code, int *optptr, int *firstcharptr); |
| 1771 | ||
| 1772 | The pcre_info() function is now obsolete because its interface is too | The pcre_info() function is now obsolete because its interface is too |
| 1773 | restrictive to return all the available data about a compiled pattern. | restrictive to return all the available data about a compiled pattern. |
| 1774 | New programs should use pcre_fullinfo() instead. The yield of | New programs should use pcre_fullinfo() instead. The yield of |
| 1775 | pcre_info() is the number of capturing subpatterns, or one of the fol- | pcre_info() is the number of capturing subpatterns, or one of the fol- |
| 1776 | lowing negative numbers: | lowing negative numbers: |
| 1777 | ||
| 1778 | PCRE_ERROR_NULL the argument code was NULL | PCRE_ERROR_NULL the argument code was NULL |
| 1779 | PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC the "magic number" was not found | PCRE_ERROR_BADMAGIC the "magic number" was not found |
| 1780 | ||
| 1781 | If the optptr argument is not NULL, a copy of the options with which | If the optptr argument is not NULL, a copy of the options with which |
| 1782 | the pattern was compiled is placed in the integer it points to (see | the pattern was compiled is placed in the integer it points to (see |
| 1783 | PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS above). | PCRE_INFO_OPTIONS above). |
| 1784 | ||
| 1785 | If the pattern is not anchored and the firstcharptr argument is not | If the pattern is not anchored and the firstcharptr argument is not |
| 1786 | NULL, it is used to pass back information about the first character of | NULL, it is used to pass back information about the first character of |
| 1787 | any matched string (see PCRE_INFO_FIRSTBYTE above). | any matched string (see PCRE_INFO_FIRSTBYTE above). |
| 1788 | ||
| 1789 | ||
| # | Line 1700 REFERENCE COUNTS | Line 1791 REFERENCE COUNTS |
| 1791 | ||
| 1792 | int pcre_refcount(pcre *code, int adjust); | int pcre_refcount(pcre *code, int adjust); |
| 1793 | ||
| 1794 | The pcre_refcount() function is used to maintain a reference count in | The pcre_refcount() function is used to maintain a reference count in |
| 1795 | the data block that contains a compiled pattern. It is provided for the | the data block that contains a compiled pattern. It is provided for the |
| 1796 | benefit of applications that operate in an object-oriented manner, | benefit of applications that operate in an object-oriented manner, |
| 1797 | where different parts of the application may be using the same compiled | where different parts of the application may be using the same compiled |
| 1798 | pattern, but you want to free the block when they are all done. | pattern, but you want to free the block when they are all done. |
| 1799 | ||
| 1800 | When a pattern is compiled, the reference count field is initialized to | When a pattern is compiled, the reference count field is initialized to |
| 1801 | zero. It is changed only by calling this function, whose action is to | zero. It is changed only by calling this function, whose action is to |
| 1802 | add the adjust value (which may be positive or negative) to it. The | add the adjust value (which may be positive or negative) to it. The |
| 1803 | yield of the function is the new value. However, the value of the count | yield of the function is the new value. However, the value of the count |
| 1804 | is constrained to lie between 0 and 65535, inclusive. If the new value | is constrained to lie between 0 and 65535, inclusive. If the new value |
| 1805 | is outside these limits, it is forced to the appropriate limit value. | is outside these limits, it is forced to the appropriate limit value. |
| 1806 | ||
| 1807 | Except when it is zero, the reference count is not correctly preserved | Except when it is zero, the reference count is not correctly preserved |
| 1808 | if a pattern is compiled on one host and then transferred to a host | if a pattern is compiled on one host and then transferred to a host |
| 1809 | whose byte-order is different. (This seems a highly unlikely scenario.) | whose byte-order is different. (This seems a highly unlikely scenario.) |
| 1810 | ||
| 1811 | ||
| # | Line 1808 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC | Line 1899 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC |
| 1899 | the total number of calls, because not all calls to match() are recur- | the total number of calls, because not all calls to match() are recur- |
| 1900 | sive. This limit is of use only if it is set smaller than match_limit. | sive. This limit is of use only if it is set smaller than match_limit. |
| 1901 | ||
| 1902 | Limiting the recursion depth limits the amount of stack that can be | Limiting the recursion depth limits the amount of stack that can be |
| 1903 | used, or, when PCRE has been compiled to use memory on the heap instead | used, or, when PCRE has been compiled to use memory on the heap instead |
| 1904 | of the stack, the amount of heap memory that can be used. | of the stack, the amount of heap memory that can be used. |
| 1905 | ||
| 1906 | The default value for match_limit_recursion can be set when PCRE is | The default value for match_limit_recursion can be set when PCRE is |
| 1907 | built; the default default is the same value as the default for | built; the default default is the same value as the default for |
| 1908 | match_limit. You can override the default by suppling pcre_exec() with | match_limit. You can override the default by suppling pcre_exec() with |
| 1909 | a pcre_extra block in which match_limit_recursion is set, and | a pcre_extra block in which match_limit_recursion is set, and |
| 1910 | PCRE_EXTRA_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION is set in the flags field. If the | PCRE_EXTRA_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION is set in the flags field. If the |
| 1911 | limit is exceeded, pcre_exec() returns PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT. | limit is exceeded, pcre_exec() returns PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT. |
| 1912 | ||
| 1913 | The pcre_callout field is used in conjunction with the "callout" fea- | The pcre_callout field is used in conjunction with the "callout" fea- |
| 1914 | ture, which is described in the pcrecallout documentation. | ture, which is described in the pcrecallout documentation. |
| 1915 | ||
| 1916 | The tables field is used to pass a character tables pointer to | The tables field is used to pass a character tables pointer to |
| 1917 | pcre_exec(); this overrides the value that is stored with the compiled | pcre_exec(); this overrides the value that is stored with the compiled |
| 1918 | pattern. A non-NULL value is stored with the compiled pattern only if | pattern. A non-NULL value is stored with the compiled pattern only if |
| 1919 | custom tables were supplied to pcre_compile() via its tableptr argu- | custom tables were supplied to pcre_compile() via its tableptr argu- |
| 1920 | ment. If NULL is passed to pcre_exec() using this mechanism, it forces | ment. If NULL is passed to pcre_exec() using this mechanism, it forces |
| 1921 | PCRE's internal tables to be used. This facility is helpful when re- | PCRE's internal tables to be used. This facility is helpful when re- |
| 1922 | using patterns that have been saved after compiling with an external | using patterns that have been saved after compiling with an external |
| 1923 | set of tables, because the external tables might be at a different | set of tables, because the external tables might be at a different |
| 1924 | address when pcre_exec() is called. See the pcreprecompile documenta- | address when pcre_exec() is called. See the pcreprecompile documenta- |
| 1925 | tion for a discussion of saving compiled patterns for later use. | tion for a discussion of saving compiled patterns for later use. |
| 1926 | ||
| 1927 | Option bits for pcre_exec() | Option bits for pcre_exec() |
| 1928 | ||
| 1929 | The unused bits of the options argument for pcre_exec() must be zero. | The unused bits of the options argument for pcre_exec() must be zero. |
| 1930 | The only bits that may be set are PCRE_ANCHORED, PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx, | The only bits that may be set are PCRE_ANCHORED, PCRE_NEWLINE_xxx, |
| 1931 | PCRE_NOTBOL, PCRE_NOTEOL, PCRE_NOTEMPTY, PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK and | PCRE_NOTBOL, PCRE_NOTEOL, PCRE_NOTEMPTY, PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE, |
| 1932 | PCRE_PARTIAL. | PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK and PCRE_PARTIAL. |
| 1933 | ||
| 1934 | PCRE_ANCHORED | PCRE_ANCHORED |
| 1935 | ||
| 1936 | The PCRE_ANCHORED option limits pcre_exec() to matching at the first | The PCRE_ANCHORED option limits pcre_exec() to matching at the first |
| 1937 | matching position. If a pattern was compiled with PCRE_ANCHORED, or | matching position. If a pattern was compiled with PCRE_ANCHORED, or |
| 1938 | turned out to be anchored by virtue of its contents, it cannot be made | turned out to be anchored by virtue of its contents, it cannot be made |
| 1939 | unachored at matching time. | unachored at matching time. |
| 1940 | ||
| 1941 | PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF | PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF |
| 1942 | PCRE_BSR_UNICODE | PCRE_BSR_UNICODE |
| 1943 | ||
| 1944 | These options (which are mutually exclusive) control what the \R escape | These options (which are mutually exclusive) control what the \R escape |
| 1945 | sequence matches. The choice is either to match only CR, LF, or CRLF, | sequence matches. The choice is either to match only CR, LF, or CRLF, |
| 1946 | or to match any Unicode newline sequence. These options override the | or to match any Unicode newline sequence. These options override the |
| 1947 | choice that was made or defaulted when the pattern was compiled. | choice that was made or defaulted when the pattern was compiled. |
| 1948 | ||
| 1949 | PCRE_NEWLINE_CR | PCRE_NEWLINE_CR |
| # | Line 1861 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC | Line 1952 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC |
| 1952 | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF |
| 1953 | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY | PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY |
| 1954 | ||
| 1955 | These options override the newline definition that was chosen or | These options override the newline definition that was chosen or |
| 1956 | defaulted when the pattern was compiled. For details, see the descrip- | defaulted when the pattern was compiled. For details, see the descrip- |
| 1957 | tion of pcre_compile() above. During matching, the newline choice | tion of pcre_compile() above. During matching, the newline choice |
| 1958 | affects the behaviour of the dot, circumflex, and dollar metacharac- | affects the behaviour of the dot, circumflex, and dollar metacharac- |
| 1959 | ters. It may also alter the way the match position is advanced after a | ters. It may also alter the way the match position is advanced after a |
| 1960 | match failure for an unanchored pattern. | match failure for an unanchored pattern. |
| 1961 | ||
| 1962 | When PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF, PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF, or PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY is | When PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF, PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF, or PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY is |
| 1963 | set, and a match attempt for an unanchored pattern fails when the cur- | set, and a match attempt for an unanchored pattern fails when the cur- |
| 1964 | rent position is at a CRLF sequence, and the pattern contains no | rent position is at a CRLF sequence, and the pattern contains no |
| 1965 | explicit matches for CR or LF characters, the match position is | explicit matches for CR or LF characters, the match position is |
| 1966 | advanced by two characters instead of one, in other words, to after the | advanced by two characters instead of one, in other words, to after the |
| 1967 | CRLF. | CRLF. |
| 1968 | ||
| 1969 | The above rule is a compromise that makes the most common cases work as | The above rule is a compromise that makes the most common cases work as |
| 1970 | expected. For example, if the pattern is .+A (and the PCRE_DOTALL | expected. For example, if the pattern is .+A (and the PCRE_DOTALL |
| 1971 | option is not set), it does not match the string "\r\nA" because, after | option is not set), it does not match the string "\r\nA" because, after |
| 1972 | failing at the start, it skips both the CR and the LF before retrying. | failing at the start, it skips both the CR and the LF before retrying. |
| 1973 | However, the pattern [\r\n]A does match that string, because it con- | However, the pattern [\r\n]A does match that string, because it con- |
| 1974 | tains an explicit CR or LF reference, and so advances only by one char- | tains an explicit CR or LF reference, and so advances only by one char- |
| 1975 | acter after the first failure. | acter after the first failure. |
| 1976 | ||
| 1977 | An explicit match for CR of LF is either a literal appearance of one of | An explicit match for CR of LF is either a literal appearance of one of |
| 1978 | those characters, or one of the \r or \n escape sequences. Implicit | those characters, or one of the \r or \n escape sequences. Implicit |
| 1979 | matches such as [^X] do not count, nor does \s (which includes CR and | matches such as [^X] do not count, nor does \s (which includes CR and |
| 1980 | LF in the characters that it matches). | LF in the characters that it matches). |
| 1981 | ||
| 1982 | Notwithstanding the above, anomalous effects may still occur when CRLF | Notwithstanding the above, anomalous effects may still occur when CRLF |
| 1983 | is a valid newline sequence and explicit \r or \n escapes appear in the | is a valid newline sequence and explicit \r or \n escapes appear in the |
| 1984 | pattern. | pattern. |
| 1985 | ||
| 1986 | PCRE_NOTBOL | PCRE_NOTBOL |
| 1987 | ||
| 1988 | This option specifies that first character of the subject string is not | This option specifies that first character of the subject string is not |
| 1989 | the beginning of a line, so the circumflex metacharacter should not | the beginning of a line, so the circumflex metacharacter should not |
| 1990 | match before it. Setting this without PCRE_MULTILINE (at compile time) | match before it. Setting this without PCRE_MULTILINE (at compile time) |
| 1991 | causes circumflex never to match. This option affects only the behav- | causes circumflex never to match. This option affects only the behav- |
| 1992 | iour of the circumflex metacharacter. It does not affect \A. | iour of the circumflex metacharacter. It does not affect \A. |
| 1993 | ||
| 1994 | PCRE_NOTEOL | PCRE_NOTEOL |
| 1995 | ||
| 1996 | This option specifies that the end of the subject string is not the end | This option specifies that the end of the subject string is not the end |
| 1997 | of a line, so the dollar metacharacter should not match it nor (except | of a line, so the dollar metacharacter should not match it nor (except |
| 1998 | in multiline mode) a newline immediately before it. Setting this with- | in multiline mode) a newline immediately before it. Setting this with- |
| 1999 | out PCRE_MULTILINE (at compile time) causes dollar never to match. This | out PCRE_MULTILINE (at compile time) causes dollar never to match. This |
| 2000 | option affects only the behaviour of the dollar metacharacter. It does | option affects only the behaviour of the dollar metacharacter. It does |
| 2001 | not affect \Z or \z. | not affect \Z or \z. |
| 2002 | ||
| 2003 | PCRE_NOTEMPTY | PCRE_NOTEMPTY |
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 | An empty string is not considered to be a valid match if this option is | An empty string is not considered to be a valid match if this option is |
| 2006 | set. If there are alternatives in the pattern, they are tried. If all | set. If there are alternatives in the pattern, they are tried. If all |
| 2007 | the alternatives match the empty string, the entire match fails. For | the alternatives match the empty string, the entire match fails. For |
| 2008 | example, if the pattern | example, if the pattern |
| 2009 | ||
| 2010 | a?b? | a?b? |
| 2011 | ||
| 2012 | is applied to a string not beginning with "a" or "b", it matches the | is applied to a string not beginning with "a" or "b", it matches the |
| 2013 | empty string at the start of the subject. With PCRE_NOTEMPTY set, this | empty string at the start of the subject. With PCRE_NOTEMPTY set, this |
| 2014 | match is not valid, so PCRE searches further into the string for occur- | match is not valid, so PCRE searches further into the string for occur- |
| 2015 | rences of "a" or "b". | rences of "a" or "b". |
| 2016 | ||
| 2017 | Perl has no direct equivalent of PCRE_NOTEMPTY, but it does make a spe- | Perl has no direct equivalent of PCRE_NOTEMPTY, but it does make a spe- |
| 2018 | cial case of a pattern match of the empty string within its split() | cial case of a pattern match of the empty string within its split() |
| 2019 | function, and when using the /g modifier. It is possible to emulate | function, and when using the /g modifier. It is possible to emulate |
| 2020 | Perl's behaviour after matching a null string by first trying the match | Perl's behaviour after matching a null string by first trying the match |
| 2021 | again at the same offset with PCRE_NOTEMPTY and PCRE_ANCHORED, and then | again at the same offset with PCRE_NOTEMPTY and PCRE_ANCHORED, and then |
| 2022 | if that fails by advancing the starting offset (see below) and trying | if that fails by advancing the starting offset (see below) and trying |
| 2023 | an ordinary match again. There is some code that demonstrates how to do | an ordinary match again. There is some code that demonstrates how to do |
| 2024 | this in the pcredemo.c sample program. | this in the pcredemo.c sample program. |
| 2025 | ||
| 2026 | PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE | |
| 2027 | ||
| 2028 | There are a number of optimizations that pcre_exec() uses at the start | |
| 2029 | of a match, in order to speed up the process. For example, if it is | |
| 2030 | known that a match must start with a specific character, it searches | |
| 2031 | the subject for that character, and fails immediately if it cannot find | |
| 2032 | it, without actually running the main matching function. When callouts | |
| 2033 | are in use, these optimizations can cause them to be skipped. This | |
| 2034 | option disables the "start-up" optimizations, causing performance to | |
| 2035 | suffer, but ensuring that the callouts do occur. | |
| 2036 | ||
| 2037 | PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK | PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK |
| 2038 | ||
| 2039 | When PCRE_UTF8 is set at compile time, the validity of the subject as a | When PCRE_UTF8 is set at compile time, the validity of the subject as a |
| # | Line 1968 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC | Line 2070 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC |
| 2070 | The string to be matched by pcre_exec() | The string to be matched by pcre_exec() |
| 2071 | ||
| 2072 | The subject string is passed to pcre_exec() as a pointer in subject, a | The subject string is passed to pcre_exec() as a pointer in subject, a |
| 2073 | length in length, and a starting byte offset in startoffset. In UTF-8 | length (in bytes) in length, and a starting byte offset in startoffset. |
| 2074 | mode, the byte offset must point to the start of a UTF-8 character. | In UTF-8 mode, the byte offset must point to the start of a UTF-8 char- |
| 2075 | Unlike the pattern string, the subject may contain binary zero bytes. | acter. Unlike the pattern string, the subject may contain binary zero |
| 2076 | When the starting offset is zero, the search for a match starts at the | bytes. When the starting offset is zero, the search for a match starts |
| 2077 | beginning of the subject, and this is by far the most common case. | at the beginning of the subject, and this is by far the most common |
| 2078 | case. | |
| 2079 | A non-zero starting offset is useful when searching for another match | |
| 2080 | in the same subject by calling pcre_exec() again after a previous suc- | A non-zero starting offset is useful when searching for another match |
| 2081 | cess. Setting startoffset differs from just passing over a shortened | in the same subject by calling pcre_exec() again after a previous suc- |
| 2082 | string and setting PCRE_NOTBOL in the case of a pattern that begins | cess. Setting startoffset differs from just passing over a shortened |
| 2083 | string and setting PCRE_NOTBOL in the case of a pattern that begins | |
| 2084 | with any kind of lookbehind. For example, consider the pattern | with any kind of lookbehind. For example, consider the pattern |
| 2085 | ||
| 2086 | \Biss\B | \Biss\B |
| 2087 | ||
| 2088 | which finds occurrences of "iss" in the middle of words. (\B matches | which finds occurrences of "iss" in the middle of words. (\B matches |
| 2089 | only if the current position in the subject is not a word boundary.) | only if the current position in the subject is not a word boundary.) |
| 2090 | When applied to the string "Mississipi" the first call to pcre_exec() | When applied to the string "Mississipi" the first call to pcre_exec() |
| 2091 | finds the first occurrence. If pcre_exec() is called again with just | finds the first occurrence. If pcre_exec() is called again with just |
| 2092 | the remainder of the subject, namely "issipi", it does not match, | the remainder of the subject, namely "issipi", it does not match, |
| 2093 | because \B is always false at the start of the subject, which is deemed | because \B is always false at the start of the subject, which is deemed |
| 2094 | to be a word boundary. However, if pcre_exec() is passed the entire | to be a word boundary. However, if pcre_exec() is passed the entire |
| 2095 | string again, but with startoffset set to 4, it finds the second occur- | string again, but with startoffset set to 4, it finds the second occur- |
| 2096 | rence of "iss" because it is able to look behind the starting point to | rence of "iss" because it is able to look behind the starting point to |
| 2097 | discover that it is preceded by a letter. | discover that it is preceded by a letter. |
| 2098 | ||
| 2099 | If a non-zero starting offset is passed when the pattern is anchored, | If a non-zero starting offset is passed when the pattern is anchored, |
| 2100 | one attempt to match at the given offset is made. This can only succeed | one attempt to match at the given offset is made. This can only succeed |
| 2101 | if the pattern does not require the match to be at the start of the | if the pattern does not require the match to be at the start of the |
| 2102 | subject. | subject. |
| 2103 | ||
| 2104 | How pcre_exec() returns captured substrings | How pcre_exec() returns captured substrings |
| 2105 | ||
| 2106 | In general, a pattern matches a certain portion of the subject, and in | In general, a pattern matches a certain portion of the subject, and in |
| 2107 | addition, further substrings from the subject may be picked out by | addition, further substrings from the subject may be picked out by |
| 2108 | parts of the pattern. Following the usage in Jeffrey Friedl's book, | parts of the pattern. Following the usage in Jeffrey Friedl's book, |
| 2109 | this is called "capturing" in what follows, and the phrase "capturing | this is called "capturing" in what follows, and the phrase "capturing |
| 2110 | subpattern" is used for a fragment of a pattern that picks out a sub- | subpattern" is used for a fragment of a pattern that picks out a sub- |
| 2111 | string. PCRE supports several other kinds of parenthesized subpattern | string. PCRE supports several other kinds of parenthesized subpattern |
| 2112 | that do not cause substrings to be captured. | that do not cause substrings to be captured. |
| 2113 | ||
| 2114 | Captured substrings are returned to the caller via a vector of integer | Captured substrings are returned to the caller via a vector of integers |
| 2115 | offsets whose address is passed in ovector. The number of elements in | whose address is passed in ovector. The number of elements in the vec- |
| 2116 | the vector is passed in ovecsize, which must be a non-negative number. | tor is passed in ovecsize, which must be a non-negative number. Note: |
| 2117 | Note: this argument is NOT the size of ovector in bytes. | this argument is NOT the size of ovector in bytes. |
| 2118 | ||
| 2119 | The first two-thirds of the vector is used to pass back captured sub- | The first two-thirds of the vector is used to pass back captured sub- |
| 2120 | strings, each substring using a pair of integers. The remaining third | strings, each substring using a pair of integers. The remaining third |
| 2121 | of the vector is used as workspace by pcre_exec() while matching cap- | of the vector is used as workspace by pcre_exec() while matching cap- |
| 2122 | turing subpatterns, and is not available for passing back information. | turing subpatterns, and is not available for passing back information. |
| 2123 | The length passed in ovecsize should always be a multiple of three. If | The number passed in ovecsize should always be a multiple of three. If |
| 2124 | it is not, it is rounded down. | it is not, it is rounded down. |
| 2125 | ||
| 2126 | When a match is successful, information about captured substrings is | When a match is successful, information about captured substrings is |
| 2127 | returned in pairs of integers, starting at the beginning of ovector, | returned in pairs of integers, starting at the beginning of ovector, |
| 2128 | and continuing up to two-thirds of its length at the most. The first | and continuing up to two-thirds of its length at the most. The first |
| 2129 | element of a pair is set to the offset of the first character in a sub- | element of each pair is set to the byte offset of the first character |
| 2130 | string, and the second is set to the offset of the first character | in a substring, and the second is set to the byte offset of the first |
| 2131 | after the end of a substring. The first pair, ovector[0] and ovec- | character after the end of a substring. Note: these values are always |
| 2132 | tor[1], identify the portion of the subject string matched by the | byte offsets, even in UTF-8 mode. They are not character counts. |
| 2133 | entire pattern. The next pair is used for the first capturing subpat- | |
| 2134 | tern, and so on. The value returned by pcre_exec() is one more than the | The first pair of integers, ovector[0] and ovector[1], identify the |
| 2135 | highest numbered pair that has been set. For example, if two substrings | portion of the subject string matched by the entire pattern. The next |
| 2136 | have been captured, the returned value is 3. If there are no capturing | pair is used for the first capturing subpattern, and so on. The value |
| 2137 | subpatterns, the return value from a successful match is 1, indicating | returned by pcre_exec() is one more than the highest numbered pair that |
| 2138 | that just the first pair of offsets has been set. | has been set. For example, if two substrings have been captured, the |
| 2139 | returned value is 3. If there are no capturing subpatterns, the return | |
| 2140 | value from a successful match is 1, indicating that just the first pair | |
| 2141 | of offsets has been set. | |
| 2142 | ||
| 2143 | If a capturing subpattern is matched repeatedly, it is the last portion | If a capturing subpattern is matched repeatedly, it is the last portion |
| 2144 | of the string that it matched that is returned. | of the string that it matched that is returned. |
| 2145 | ||
| 2146 | If the vector is too small to hold all the captured substring offsets, | If the vector is too small to hold all the captured substring offsets, |
| 2147 | it is used as far as possible (up to two-thirds of its length), and the | it is used as far as possible (up to two-thirds of its length), and the |
| 2148 | function returns a value of zero. In particular, if the substring off- | function returns a value of zero. If the substring offsets are not of |
| 2149 | sets are not of interest, pcre_exec() may be called with ovector passed | interest, pcre_exec() may be called with ovector passed as NULL and |
| 2150 | as NULL and ovecsize as zero. However, if the pattern contains back | ovecsize as zero. However, if the pattern contains back references and |
| 2151 | references and the ovector is not big enough to remember the related | the ovector is not big enough to remember the related substrings, PCRE |
| 2152 | substrings, PCRE has to get additional memory for use during matching. | has to get additional memory for use during matching. Thus it is usu- |
| 2153 | Thus it is usually advisable to supply an ovector. | ally advisable to supply an ovector. |
| 2154 | ||
| 2155 | The pcre_info() function can be used to find out how many capturing | The pcre_info() function can be used to find out how many capturing |
| 2156 | subpatterns there are in a compiled pattern. The smallest size for | subpatterns there are in a compiled pattern. The smallest size for |
| # | Line 2156 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC | Line 2262 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNC |
| 2262 | ||
| 2263 | PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT (-15) | PCRE_ERROR_BADCOUNT (-15) |
| 2264 | ||
| 2265 | This error is given if the value of the ovecsize argument is negative. | This error is given if the value of the ovecsize argument is negative. |
| 2266 | ||
| 2267 | PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT (-21) | PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT (-21) |
| 2268 | ||
| 2269 | The internal recursion limit, as specified by the match_limit_recursion | The internal recursion limit, as specified by the match_limit_recursion |
| 2270 | field in a pcre_extra structure (or defaulted) was reached. See the | field in a pcre_extra structure (or defaulted) was reached. See the |
| 2271 | description above. | description above. |
| 2272 | ||
| 2273 | PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE (-23) | PCRE_ERROR_BADNEWLINE (-23) |
| # | Line 2184 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NUMBER | Line 2290 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NUMBER |
| 2290 | int pcre_get_substring_list(const char *subject, | int pcre_get_substring_list(const char *subject, |
| 2291 | int *ovector, int stringcount, const char ***listptr); | int *ovector, int stringcount, const char ***listptr); |
| 2292 | ||
| 2293 | Captured substrings can be accessed directly by using the offsets | Captured substrings can be accessed directly by using the offsets |
| 2294 | returned by pcre_exec() in ovector. For convenience, the functions | returned by pcre_exec() in ovector. For convenience, the functions |
| 2295 | pcre_copy_substring(), pcre_get_substring(), and pcre_get_sub- | pcre_copy_substring(), pcre_get_substring(), and pcre_get_sub- |
| 2296 | string_list() are provided for extracting captured substrings as new, | string_list() are provided for extracting captured substrings as new, |
| 2297 | separate, zero-terminated strings. These functions identify substrings | separate, zero-terminated strings. These functions identify substrings |
| 2298 | by number. The next section describes functions for extracting named | by number. The next section describes functions for extracting named |
| 2299 | substrings. | substrings. |
| 2300 | ||
| 2301 | A substring that contains a binary zero is correctly extracted and has | A substring that contains a binary zero is correctly extracted and has |
| 2302 | a further zero added on the end, but the result is not, of course, a C | a further zero added on the end, but the result is not, of course, a C |
| 2303 | string. However, you can process such a string by referring to the | string. However, you can process such a string by referring to the |
| 2304 | length that is returned by pcre_copy_substring() and pcre_get_sub- | length that is returned by pcre_copy_substring() and pcre_get_sub- |
| 2305 | string(). Unfortunately, the interface to pcre_get_substring_list() is | string(). Unfortunately, the interface to pcre_get_substring_list() is |
| 2306 | not adequate for handling strings containing binary zeros, because the | not adequate for handling strings containing binary zeros, because the |
| 2307 | end of the final string is not independently indicated. | end of the final string is not independently indicated. |
| 2308 | ||
| 2309 | The first three arguments are the same for all three of these func- | The first three arguments are the same for all three of these func- |
| 2310 | tions: subject is the subject string that has just been successfully | tions: subject is the subject string that has just been successfully |
| 2311 | matched, ovector is a pointer to the vector of integer offsets that was | matched, ovector is a pointer to the vector of integer offsets that was |
| 2312 | passed to pcre_exec(), and stringcount is the number of substrings that | passed to pcre_exec(), and stringcount is the number of substrings that |
| 2313 | were captured by the match, including the substring that matched the | were captured by the match, including the substring that matched the |
| 2314 | entire regular expression. This is the value returned by pcre_exec() if | entire regular expression. This is the value returned by pcre_exec() if |
| 2315 | it is greater than zero. If pcre_exec() returned zero, indicating that | it is greater than zero. If pcre_exec() returned zero, indicating that |
| 2316 | it ran out of space in ovector, the value passed as stringcount should | it ran out of space in ovector, the value passed as stringcount should |
| 2317 | be the number of elements in the vector divided by three. | be the number of elements in the vector divided by three. |
| 2318 | ||
| 2319 | The functions pcre_copy_substring() and pcre_get_substring() extract a | The functions pcre_copy_substring() and pcre_get_substring() extract a |
| 2320 | single substring, whose number is given as stringnumber. A value of | single substring, whose number is given as stringnumber. A value of |
| 2321 | zero extracts the substring that matched the entire pattern, whereas | zero extracts the substring that matched the entire pattern, whereas |
| 2322 | higher values extract the captured substrings. For pcre_copy_sub- | higher values extract the captured substrings. For pcre_copy_sub- |
| 2323 | string(), the string is placed in buffer, whose length is given by | string(), the string is placed in buffer, whose length is given by |
| 2324 | buffersize, while for pcre_get_substring() a new block of memory is | buffersize, while for pcre_get_substring() a new block of memory is |
| 2325 | obtained via pcre_malloc, and its address is returned via stringptr. | obtained via pcre_malloc, and its address is returned via stringptr. |
| 2326 | The yield of the function is the length of the string, not including | The yield of the function is the length of the string, not including |
| 2327 | the terminating zero, or one of these error codes: | the terminating zero, or one of these error codes: |
| 2328 | ||
| 2329 | PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY (-6) | PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY (-6) |
| 2330 | ||
| 2331 | The buffer was too small for pcre_copy_substring(), or the attempt to | The buffer was too small for pcre_copy_substring(), or the attempt to |
| 2332 | get memory failed for pcre_get_substring(). | get memory failed for pcre_get_substring(). |
| 2333 | ||
| 2334 | PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING (-7) | PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING (-7) |
| 2335 | ||
| 2336 | There is no substring whose number is stringnumber. | There is no substring whose number is stringnumber. |
| 2337 | ||
| 2338 | The pcre_get_substring_list() function extracts all available sub- | The pcre_get_substring_list() function extracts all available sub- |
| 2339 | strings and builds a list of pointers to them. All this is done in a | strings and builds a list of pointers to them. All this is done in a |
| 2340 | single block of memory that is obtained via pcre_malloc. The address of | single block of memory that is obtained via pcre_malloc. The address of |
| 2341 | the memory block is returned via listptr, which is also the start of | the memory block is returned via listptr, which is also the start of |
| 2342 | the list of string pointers. The end of the list is marked by a NULL | the list of string pointers. The end of the list is marked by a NULL |
| 2343 | pointer. The yield of the function is zero if all went well, or the | pointer. The yield of the function is zero if all went well, or the |
| 2344 | error code | error code |
| 2345 | ||
| 2346 | PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY (-6) | PCRE_ERROR_NOMEMORY (-6) |
| 2347 | ||
| 2348 | if the attempt to get the memory block failed. | if the attempt to get the memory block failed. |
| 2349 | ||
| 2350 | When any of these functions encounter a substring that is unset, which | When any of these functions encounter a substring that is unset, which |
| 2351 | can happen when capturing subpattern number n+1 matches some part of | can happen when capturing subpattern number n+1 matches some part of |
| 2352 | the subject, but subpattern n has not been used at all, they return an | the subject, but subpattern n has not been used at all, they return an |
| 2353 | empty string. This can be distinguished from a genuine zero-length sub- | empty string. This can be distinguished from a genuine zero-length sub- |
| 2354 | string by inspecting the appropriate offset in ovector, which is nega- | string by inspecting the appropriate offset in ovector, which is nega- |
| 2355 | tive for unset substrings. | tive for unset substrings. |
| 2356 | ||
| 2357 | The two convenience functions pcre_free_substring() and pcre_free_sub- | The two convenience functions pcre_free_substring() and pcre_free_sub- |
| 2358 | string_list() can be used to free the memory returned by a previous | string_list() can be used to free the memory returned by a previous |
| 2359 | call of pcre_get_substring() or pcre_get_substring_list(), respec- | call of pcre_get_substring() or pcre_get_substring_list(), respec- |
| 2360 | tively. They do nothing more than call the function pointed to by | tively. They do nothing more than call the function pointed to by |
| 2361 | pcre_free, which of course could be called directly from a C program. | pcre_free, which of course could be called directly from a C program. |
| 2362 | However, PCRE is used in some situations where it is linked via a spe- | However, PCRE is used in some situations where it is linked via a spe- |
| 2363 | cial interface to another programming language that cannot use | cial interface to another programming language that cannot use |
| 2364 | pcre_free directly; it is for these cases that the functions are pro- | pcre_free directly; it is for these cases that the functions are pro- |
| 2365 | vided. | vided. |
| 2366 | ||
| 2367 | ||
| # | Line 2274 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME | Line 2380 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME |
| 2380 | int stringcount, const char *stringname, | int stringcount, const char *stringname, |
| 2381 | const char **stringptr); | const char **stringptr); |
| 2382 | ||
| 2383 | To extract a substring by name, you first have to find associated num- | To extract a substring by name, you first have to find associated num- |
| 2384 | ber. For example, for this pattern | ber. For example, for this pattern |
| 2385 | ||
| 2386 | (a+)b(?<xxx>\d+)... | (a+)b(?<xxx>\d+)... |
| # | Line 2283 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME | Line 2389 EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME |
| 2389 | be unique (PCRE_DUPNAMES was not set), you can find the number from the | be unique (PCRE_DUPNAMES was not set), you can find the number from the |
| 2390 | name by calling pcre_get_stringnumber(). The first argument is the com- | name by calling pcre_get_stringnumber(). The first argument is the com- |
| 2391 | piled pattern, and the second is the name. The yield of the function is | piled pattern, and the second is the name. The yield of the function is |
| 2392 | the subpattern number, or PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING (-7) if there is no | the subpattern number, or PCRE_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING (-7) if there is no |
| 2393 | subpattern of that name. | subpattern of that name. |
| 2394 | ||
| 2395 | Given the number, you can extract the substring directly, or use one of | Given the number, you can extract the substring directly, or use one of |
| 2396 | the functions described in the previous section. For convenience, there | the functions described in the previous section. For convenience, there |
| 2397 | are also two functions that do the whole job. | are also two functions that do the whole job. |
| 2398 | ||
| 2399 | Most of the arguments of pcre_copy_named_substring() and | Most of the arguments of pcre_copy_named_substring() and |
| 2400 | pcre_get_named_substring() are the same as those for the similarly | pcre_get_named_substring() are the same as those for the similarly |
| 2401 | named functions that extract by number. As these are described in the | named functions that extract by number. As these are described in the |
| 2402 | previous section, they are not re-described here. There are just two | previous section, they are not re-described here. There are just two |
| 2403 | differences: | differences: |
| 2404 | ||
| 2405 | First, instead of a substring number, a substring name is given. Sec- | First, instead of a substring number, a substring name is given. Sec- |
| 2406 | ond, there is an extra argument, given at the start, which is a pointer | ond, there is an extra argument, given at the start, which is a pointer |
| 2407 | to the compiled pattern. This is needed in order to gain access to the | to the compiled pattern. This is needed in order to gain access to the |
| 2408 | name-to-number translation table. | name-to-number translation table. |
| 2409 | ||
| 2410 | These functions call pcre_get_stringnumber(), and if it succeeds, they | These functions call pcre_get_stringnumber(), and if it succeeds, they |
| 2411 | then call pcre_copy_substring() or pcre_get_substring(), as appropri- | then call pcre_copy_substring() or pcre_get_substring(), as appropri- |
| 2412 | ate. NOTE: If PCRE_DUPNAMES is set and there are duplicate names, the | ate. NOTE: If PCRE_DUPNAMES is set and there are duplicate names, the |
| 2413 | behaviour may not be what you want (see the next section). | behaviour may not be what you want (see the next section). |
| 2414 | ||
| 2415 | Warning: If the pattern uses the "(?|" feature to set up multiple sub- | |
| 2416 | patterns with the same number, you cannot use names to distinguish | |
| 2417 | them, because names are not included in the compiled code. The matching | |
| 2418 | process uses only numbers. | |
| 2419 | ||
| 2420 | ||
| 2421 | DUPLICATE SUBPATTERN NAMES | DUPLICATE SUBPATTERN NAMES |
| 2422 | ||
| # | Line 2513 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE ALTERNATIVE FUNC | Line 2624 MATCHING A PATTERN: THE ALTERNATIVE FUNC |
| 2624 | SEE ALSO | SEE ALSO |
| 2625 | ||
| 2626 | pcrebuild(3), pcrecallout(3), pcrecpp(3)(3), pcrematching(3), pcrepar- | pcrebuild(3), pcrecallout(3), pcrecpp(3)(3), pcrematching(3), pcrepar- |
| 2627 | tial(3), pcreposix(3), pcreprecompile(3), pcresample(3), pcrestack(3). | tial(3), pcreposix(3), pcreprecompile(3), pcresample(3), pcrestack(3). |
| 2628 | ||
| 2629 | ||
| 2630 | AUTHOR | AUTHOR |
| # | Line 2525 AUTHOR | Line 2636 AUTHOR |
| 2636 | ||
| 2637 | REVISION | REVISION |
| 2638 | ||
| 2639 | Last updated: 11 September 2007 | Last updated: 11 April 2009 |
| 2640 | Copyright (c) 1997-2007 University of Cambridge. | Copyright (c) 1997-2009 University of Cambridge. |
| 2641 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 2642 | ||
| 2643 | ||
| # | Line 2577 PCRE CALLOUTS | Line 2688 PCRE CALLOUTS |
| 2688 | MISSING CALLOUTS | MISSING CALLOUTS |
| 2689 | ||
| 2690 | You should be aware that, because of optimizations in the way PCRE | You should be aware that, because of optimizations in the way PCRE |
| 2691 | matches patterns, callouts sometimes do not happen. For example, if the | matches patterns by default, callouts sometimes do not happen. For |
| 2692 | pattern is | example, if the pattern is |
| 2693 | ||
| 2694 | ab(?C4)cd | ab(?C4)cd |
| 2695 | ||
| # | Line 2587 MISSING CALLOUTS | Line 2698 MISSING CALLOUTS |
| 2698 | ever start, and the callout is never reached. However, with "abyd", | ever start, and the callout is never reached. However, with "abyd", |
| 2699 | though the result is still no match, the callout is obeyed. | though the result is still no match, the callout is obeyed. |
| 2700 | ||
| 2701 | You can disable these optimizations by passing the PCRE_NO_START_OPTI- | |
| 2702 | MIZE option to pcre_exec() or pcre_dfa_exec(). This slows down the | |
| 2703 | matching process, but does ensure that callouts such as the example | |
| 2704 | above are obeyed. | |
| 2705 | ||
| 2706 | ||
| 2707 | THE CALLOUT INTERFACE | THE CALLOUT INTERFACE |
| 2708 | ||
| 2709 | During matching, when PCRE reaches a callout point, the external func- | During matching, when PCRE reaches a callout point, the external func- |
| 2710 | tion defined by pcre_callout is called (if it is set). This applies to | tion defined by pcre_callout is called (if it is set). This applies to |
| 2711 | both the pcre_exec() and the pcre_dfa_exec() matching functions. The | both the pcre_exec() and the pcre_dfa_exec() matching functions. The |
| 2712 | only argument to the callout function is a pointer to a pcre_callout | only argument to the callout function is a pointer to a pcre_callout |
| 2713 | block. This structure contains the following fields: | block. This structure contains the following fields: |
| 2714 | ||
| 2715 | int version; | int version; |
| # | Line 2609 THE CALLOUT INTERFACE | Line 2725 THE CALLOUT INTERFACE |
| 2725 | int pattern_position; | int pattern_position; |
| 2726 | int next_item_length; | int next_item_length; |
| 2727 | ||
| 2728 | The version field is an integer containing the version number of the | The version field is an integer containing the version number of the |
| 2729 | block format. The initial version was 0; the current version is 1. The | block format. The initial version was 0; the current version is 1. The |
| 2730 | version number will change again in future if additional fields are | version number will change again in future if additional fields are |
| 2731 | added, but the intention is never to remove any of the existing fields. | added, but the intention is never to remove any of the existing fields. |
| 2732 | ||
| 2733 | The callout_number field contains the number of the callout, as com- | The callout_number field contains the number of the callout, as com- |
| # | Line 2696 AUTHOR | Line 2812 AUTHOR |
| 2812 | ||
| 2813 | REVISION | REVISION |
| 2814 | ||
| 2815 | Last updated: 29 May 2007 | Last updated: 15 March 2009 |
| 2816 | Copyright (c) 1997-2007 University of Cambridge. | Copyright (c) 1997-2009 University of Cambridge. |
| 2817 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 2818 | ||
| 2819 | ||
| # | Line 2853 PCRE REGULAR EXPRESSION DETAILS | Line 2969 PCRE REGULAR EXPRESSION DETAILS |
| 2969 | ||
| 2970 | The syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that are supported | The syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that are supported |
| 2971 | by PCRE are described in detail below. There is a quick-reference syn- | by PCRE are described in detail below. There is a quick-reference syn- |
| 2972 | tax summary in the pcresyntax page. Perl's regular expressions are | tax summary in the pcresyntax page. PCRE tries to match Perl syntax and |
| 2973 | described in its own documentation, and regular expressions in general | semantics as closely as it can. PCRE also supports some alternative |
| 2974 | are covered in a number of books, some of which have copious examples. | regular expression syntax (which does not conflict with the Perl syn- |
| 2975 | Jeffrey Friedl's "Mastering Regular Expressions", published by | tax) in order to provide some compatibility with regular expressions in |
| 2976 | O'Reilly, covers regular expressions in great detail. This description | Python, .NET, and Oniguruma. |
| 2977 | of PCRE's regular expressions is intended as reference material. | |
| 2978 | Perl's regular expressions are described in its own documentation, and | |
| 2979 | regular expressions in general are covered in a number of books, some | |
| 2980 | of which have copious examples. Jeffrey Friedl's "Mastering Regular | |
| 2981 | Expressions", published by O'Reilly, covers regular expressions in | |
| 2982 | great detail. This description of PCRE's regular expressions is | |
| 2983 | intended as reference material. | |
| 2984 | ||
| 2985 | The original operation of PCRE was on strings of one-byte characters. | The original operation of PCRE was on strings of one-byte characters. |
| 2986 | However, there is now also support for UTF-8 character strings. To use | However, there is now also support for UTF-8 character strings. To use |
| 2987 | this, you must build PCRE to include UTF-8 support, and then call | this, you must build PCRE to include UTF-8 support, and then call |
| 2988 | pcre_compile() with the PCRE_UTF8 option. How this affects pattern | pcre_compile() with the PCRE_UTF8 option. There is also a special |
| 2989 | matching is mentioned in several places below. There is also a summary | sequence that can be given at the start of a pattern: |
| 2990 | of UTF-8 features in the section on UTF-8 support in the main pcre | |
| 2991 | page. | (*UTF8) |
| 2992 | ||
| 2993 | Starting a pattern with this sequence is equivalent to setting the | |
| 2994 | PCRE_UTF8 option. This feature is not Perl-compatible. How setting | |
| 2995 | UTF-8 mode affects pattern matching is mentioned in several places | |
| 2996 | below. There is also a summary of UTF-8 features in the section on | |
| 2997 | UTF-8 support in the main pcre page. | |
| 2998 | ||
| 2999 | The remainder of this document discusses the patterns that are sup- | The remainder of this document discusses the patterns that are sup- |
| 3000 | ported by PCRE when its main matching function, pcre_exec(), is used. | ported by PCRE when its main matching function, pcre_exec(), is used. |
| # | Line 2970 CHARACTERS AND METACHARACTERS | Line 3098 CHARACTERS AND METACHARACTERS |
| 3098 | syntax) | syntax) |
| 3099 | ] terminates the character class | ] terminates the character class |
| 3100 | ||
| 3101 | The following sections describe the use of each of the metacharacters. | The following sections describe the use of each of the metacharacters. |
| 3102 | ||
| 3103 | ||
| 3104 | BACKSLASH | BACKSLASH |
| 3105 | ||
| 3106 | The backslash character has several uses. Firstly, if it is followed by | The backslash character has several uses. Firstly, if it is followed by |
| 3107 | a non-alphanumeric character, it takes away any special meaning that | a non-alphanumeric character, it takes away any special meaning that |
| 3108 | character may have. This use of backslash as an escape character | character may have. This use of backslash as an escape character |
| 3109 | applies both inside and outside character classes. | applies both inside and outside character classes. |
| 3110 | ||
| 3111 | For example, if you want to match a * character, you write \* in the | For example, if you want to match a * character, you write \* in the |
| 3112 | pattern. This escaping action applies whether or not the following | pattern. This escaping action applies whether or not the following |
| 3113 | character would otherwise be interpreted as a metacharacter, so it is | character would otherwise be interpreted as a metacharacter, so it is |
| 3114 | always safe to precede a non-alphanumeric with backslash to specify | always safe to precede a non-alphanumeric with backslash to specify |
| 3115 | that it stands for itself. In particular, if you want to match a back- | that it stands for itself. In particular, if you want to match a back- |
| 3116 | slash, you write \\. | slash, you write \\. |
| 3117 | ||
| 3118 | If a pattern is compiled with the PCRE_EXTENDED option, whitespace in | If a pattern is compiled with the PCRE_EXTENDED option, whitespace in |
| 3119 | the pattern (other than in a character class) and characters between a | the pattern (other than in a character class) and characters between a |
| 3120 | # outside a character class and the next newline are ignored. An escap- | # outside a character class and the next newline are ignored. An escap- |
| 3121 | ing backslash can be used to include a whitespace or # character as | ing backslash can be used to include a whitespace or # character as |
| 3122 | part of the pattern. | part of the pattern. |
| 3123 | ||
| 3124 | If you want to remove the special meaning from a sequence of charac- | If you want to remove the special meaning from a sequence of charac- |
| 3125 | ters, you can do so by putting them between \Q and \E. This is differ- | ters, you can do so by putting them between \Q and \E. This is differ- |
| 3126 | ent from Perl in that $ and @ are handled as literals in \Q...\E | ent from Perl in that $ and @ are handled as literals in \Q...\E |
| 3127 | sequences in PCRE, whereas in Perl, $ and @ cause variable interpola- | sequences in PCRE, whereas in Perl, $ and @ cause variable interpola- |
| 3128 | tion. Note the following examples: | tion. Note the following examples: |
| 3129 | ||
| 3130 | Pattern PCRE matches Perl matches | Pattern PCRE matches Perl matches |
| # | Line 3006 BACKSLASH | Line 3134 BACKSLASH |
| 3134 | \Qabc\$xyz\E abc\$xyz abc\$xyz | \Qabc\$xyz\E abc\$xyz abc\$xyz |
| 3135 | \Qabc\E\$\Qxyz\E abc$xyz abc$xyz | \Qabc\E\$\Qxyz\E abc$xyz abc$xyz |
| 3136 | ||
| 3137 | The \Q...\E sequence is recognized both inside and outside character | The \Q...\E sequence is recognized both inside and outside character |
| 3138 | classes. | classes. |
| 3139 | ||
| 3140 | Non-printing characters | Non-printing characters |
| 3141 | ||
| 3142 | A second use of backslash provides a way of encoding non-printing char- | A second use of backslash provides a way of encoding non-printing char- |
| 3143 | acters in patterns in a visible manner. There is no restriction on the | acters in patterns in a visible manner. There is no restriction on the |
| 3144 | appearance of non-printing characters, apart from the binary zero that | appearance of non-printing characters, apart from the binary zero that |
| 3145 | terminates a pattern, but when a pattern is being prepared by text | terminates a pattern, but when a pattern is being prepared by text |
| 3146 | editing, it is usually easier to use one of the following escape | editing, it is usually easier to use one of the following escape |
| 3147 | sequences than the binary character it represents: | sequences than the binary character it represents: |
| 3148 | ||
| 3149 | \a alarm, that is, the BEL character (hex 07) | \a alarm, that is, the BEL character (hex 07) |
| # | Line 3029 BACKSLASH | Line 3157 BACKSLASH |
| 3157 | \xhh character with hex code hh | \xhh character with hex code hh |
| 3158 | \x{hhh..} character with hex code hhh.. | \x{hhh..} character with hex code hhh.. |
| 3159 | ||
| 3160 | The precise effect of \cx is as follows: if x is a lower case letter, | The precise effect of \cx is as follows: if x is a lower case letter, |
| 3161 | it is converted to upper case. Then bit 6 of the character (hex 40) is | it is converted to upper case. Then bit 6 of the character (hex 40) is |
| 3162 | inverted. Thus \cz becomes hex 1A, but \c{ becomes hex 3B, while \c; | inverted. Thus \cz becomes hex 1A, but \c{ becomes hex 3B, while \c; |
| 3163 | becomes hex 7B. | becomes hex 7B. |
| 3164 | ||
| 3165 | After \x, from zero to two hexadecimal digits are read (letters can be | After \x, from zero to two hexadecimal digits are read (letters can be |
| 3166 | in upper or lower case). Any number of hexadecimal digits may appear | in upper or lower case). Any number of hexadecimal digits may appear |
| 3167 | between \x{ and }, but the value of the character code must be less | between \x{ and }, but the value of the character code must be less |
| 3168 | than 256 in non-UTF-8 mode, and less than 2**31 in UTF-8 mode. That is, | than 256 in non-UTF-8 mode, and less than 2**31 in UTF-8 mode. That is, |
| 3169 | the maximum value in hexadecimal is 7FFFFFFF. Note that this is bigger | the maximum value in hexadecimal is 7FFFFFFF. Note that this is bigger |
| 3170 | than the largest Unicode code point, which is 10FFFF. | than the largest Unicode code point, which is 10FFFF. |
| 3171 | ||
| 3172 | If characters other than hexadecimal digits appear between \x{ and }, | If characters other than hexadecimal digits appear between \x{ and }, |
| 3173 | or if there is no terminating }, this form of escape is not recognized. | or if there is no terminating }, this form of escape is not recognized. |
| 3174 | Instead, the initial \x will be interpreted as a basic hexadecimal | Instead, the initial \x will be interpreted as a basic hexadecimal |
| 3175 | escape, with no following digits, giving a character whose value is | escape, with no following digits, giving a character whose value is |
| 3176 | zero. | zero. |
| 3177 | ||
| 3178 | Characters whose value is less than 256 can be defined by either of the | Characters whose value is less than 256 can be defined by either of the |
| 3179 | two syntaxes for \x. There is no difference in the way they are han- | two syntaxes for \x. There is no difference in the way they are han- |
| 3180 | dled. For example, \xdc is exactly the same as \x{dc}. | dled. For example, \xdc is exactly the same as \x{dc}. |
| 3181 | ||
| 3182 | After \0 up to two further octal digits are read. If there are fewer | After \0 up to two further octal digits are read. If there are fewer |
| 3183 | than two digits, just those that are present are used. Thus the | than two digits, just those that are present are used. Thus the |
| 3184 | sequence \0\x\07 specifies two binary zeros followed by a BEL character | sequence \0\x\07 specifies two binary zeros followed by a BEL character |
| 3185 | (code value 7). Make sure you supply two digits after the initial zero | (code value 7). Make sure you supply two digits after the initial zero |
| 3186 | if the pattern character that follows is itself an octal digit. | if the pattern character that follows is itself an octal digit. |
| 3187 | ||
| 3188 | The handling of a backslash followed by a digit other than 0 is compli- | The handling of a backslash followed by a digit other than 0 is compli- |
| 3189 | cated. Outside a character class, PCRE reads it and any following dig- | cated. Outside a character class, PCRE reads it and any following dig- |
| 3190 | its as a decimal number. If the number is less than 10, or if there | its as a decimal number. If the number is less than 10, or if there |
| 3191 | have been at least that many previous capturing left parentheses in the | have been at least that many previous capturing left parentheses in the |
| 3192 | expression, the entire sequence is taken as a back reference. A | expression, the entire sequence is taken as a back reference. A |
| 3193 | description of how this works is given later, following the discussion | description of how this works is given later, following the discussion |
| 3194 | of parenthesized subpatterns. | of parenthesized subpatterns. |
| 3195 | ||
| 3196 | Inside a character class, or if the decimal number is greater than 9 | Inside a character class, or if the decimal number is greater than 9 |
| 3197 | and there have not been that many capturing subpatterns, PCRE re-reads | and there have not been that many capturing subpatterns, PCRE re-reads |
| 3198 | up to three octal digits following the backslash, and uses them to gen- | up to three octal digits following the backslash, and uses them to gen- |
| 3199 | erate a data character. Any subsequent digits stand for themselves. In | erate a data character. Any subsequent digits stand for themselves. In |
| 3200 | non-UTF-8 mode, the value of a character specified in octal must be | non-UTF-8 mode, the value of a character specified in octal must be |
| 3201 | less than \400. In UTF-8 mode, values up to \777 are permitted. For | less than \400. In UTF-8 mode, values up to \777 are permitted. For |
| 3202 | example: | example: |
| 3203 | ||
| 3204 | \040 is another way of writing a space | \040 is another way of writing a space |
| # | Line 3088 BACKSLASH | Line 3216 BACKSLASH |
| 3216 | \81 is either a back reference, or a binary zero | \81 is either a back reference, or a binary zero |
| 3217 | followed by the two characters "8" and "1" | followed by the two characters "8" and "1" |
| 3218 | ||
| 3219 | Note that octal values of 100 or greater must not be introduced by a | Note that octal values of 100 or greater must not be introduced by a |
| 3220 | leading zero, because no more than three octal digits are ever read. | leading zero, because no more than three octal digits are ever read. |
| 3221 | ||
| 3222 | All the sequences that define a single character value can be used both | All the sequences that define a single character value can be used both |
| 3223 | inside and outside character classes. In addition, inside a character | inside and outside character classes. In addition, inside a character |
| 3224 | class, the sequence \b is interpreted as the backspace character (hex | class, the sequence \b is interpreted as the backspace character (hex |
| 3225 | 08), and the sequences \R and \X are interpreted as the characters "R" | 08), and the sequences \R and \X are interpreted as the characters "R" |
| 3226 | and "X", respectively. Outside a character class, these sequences have | and "X", respectively. Outside a character class, these sequences have |
| 3227 | different meanings (see below). | different meanings (see below). |
| 3228 | ||
| 3229 | Absolute and relative back references | Absolute and relative back references |
| 3230 | ||
| 3231 | The sequence \g followed by an unsigned or a negative number, option- | The sequence \g followed by an unsigned or a negative number, option- |
| 3232 | ally enclosed in braces, is an absolute or relative back reference. A | ally enclosed in braces, is an absolute or relative back reference. A |
| 3233 | named back reference can be coded as \g{name}. Back references are dis- | named back reference can be coded as \g{name}. Back references are dis- |
| 3234 | cussed later, following the discussion of parenthesized subpatterns. | cussed later, following the discussion of parenthesized subpatterns. |
| 3235 | ||
| 3236 | Absolute and relative subroutine calls | |
| 3237 | ||
| 3238 | For compatibility with Oniguruma, the non-Perl syntax \g followed by a | |
| 3239 | name or a number enclosed either in angle brackets or single quotes, is | |
| 3240 | an alternative syntax for referencing a subpattern as a "subroutine". | |
| 3241 | Details are discussed later. Note that \g{...} (Perl syntax) and | |
| 3242 | \g<...> (Oniguruma syntax) are not synonymous. The former is a back | |
| 3243 | reference; the latter is a subroutine call. | |
| 3244 | ||
| 3245 | Generic character types | Generic character types |
| 3246 | ||
| 3247 | Another use of backslash is for specifying generic character types. The | Another use of backslash is for specifying generic character types. The |
| # | Line 3140 BACKSLASH | Line 3277 BACKSLASH |
| 3277 | \s, or \w, and always match \D, \S, and \W. This is true even when Uni- | \s, or \w, and always match \D, \S, and \W. This is true even when Uni- |
| 3278 | code character property support is available. These sequences retain | code character property support is available. These sequences retain |
| 3279 | their original meanings from before UTF-8 support was available, mainly | their original meanings from before UTF-8 support was available, mainly |
| 3280 | for efficiency reasons. | for efficiency reasons. Note that this also affects \b, because it is |
| 3281 | defined in terms of \w and \W. | |
| 3282 | ||
| 3283 | The sequences \h, \H, \v, and \V are Perl 5.10 features. In contrast to | The sequences \h, \H, \v, and \V are Perl 5.10 features. In contrast to |
| 3284 | the other sequences, these do match certain high-valued codepoints in | the other sequences, these do match certain high-valued codepoints in |
| 3285 | UTF-8 mode. The horizontal space characters are: | UTF-8 mode. The horizontal space characters are: |
| 3286 | ||
| 3287 | U+0009 Horizontal tab | U+0009 Horizontal tab |
| # | Line 3177 BACKSLASH | Line 3315 BACKSLASH |
| 3315 | U+2029 Paragraph separator | U+2029 Paragraph separator |
| 3316 | ||
| 3317 | A "word" character is an underscore or any character less than 256 that | A "word" character is an underscore or any character less than 256 that |
| 3318 | is a letter or digit. The definition of letters and digits is con- | is a letter or digit. The definition of letters and digits is con- |
| 3319 | trolled by PCRE's low-valued character tables, and may vary if locale- | trolled by PCRE's low-valued character tables, and may vary if locale- |
| 3320 | specific matching is taking place (see "Locale support" in the pcreapi | specific matching is taking place (see "Locale support" in the pcreapi |
| 3321 | page). For example, in a French locale such as "fr_FR" in Unix-like | page). For example, in a French locale such as "fr_FR" in Unix-like |
| 3322 | systems, or "french" in Windows, some character codes greater than 128 | systems, or "french" in Windows, some character codes greater than 128 |
| 3323 | are used for accented letters, and these are matched by \w. The use of | are used for accented letters, and these are matched by \w. The use of |
| 3324 | locales with Unicode is discouraged. | locales with Unicode is discouraged. |
| 3325 | ||
| 3326 | Newline sequences | Newline sequences |
| 3327 | ||
| 3328 | Outside a character class, by default, the escape sequence \R matches | Outside a character class, by default, the escape sequence \R matches |
| 3329 | any Unicode newline sequence. This is a Perl 5.10 feature. In non-UTF-8 | any Unicode newline sequence. This is a Perl 5.10 feature. In non-UTF-8 |
| 3330 | mode \R is equivalent to the following: | mode \R is equivalent to the following: |
| 3331 | ||
| 3332 | (?>\r\n|\n|\x0b|\f|\r|\x85) | (?>\r\n|\n|\x0b|\f|\r|\x85) |
| 3333 | ||
| 3334 | This is an example of an "atomic group", details of which are given | This is an example of an "atomic group", details of which are given |
| 3335 | below. This particular group matches either the two-character sequence | below. This particular group matches either the two-character sequence |
| 3336 | CR followed by LF, or one of the single characters LF (linefeed, | CR followed by LF, or one of the single characters LF (linefeed, |
| 3337 | U+000A), VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF (formfeed, U+000C), CR (carriage | U+000A), VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF (formfeed, U+000C), CR (carriage |
| 3338 | return, U+000D), or NEL (next line, U+0085). The two-character sequence | return, U+000D), or NEL (next line, U+0085). The two-character sequence |
| 3339 | is treated as a single unit that cannot be split. | is treated as a single unit that cannot be split. |
| 3340 | ||
| 3341 | In UTF-8 mode, two additional characters whose codepoints are greater | In UTF-8 mode, two additional characters whose codepoints are greater |
| 3342 | than 255 are added: LS (line separator, U+2028) and PS (paragraph sepa- | than 255 are added: LS (line separator, U+2028) and PS (paragraph sepa- |
| 3343 | rator, U+2029). Unicode character property support is not needed for | rator, U+2029). Unicode character property support is not needed for |
| 3344 | these characters to be recognized. | these characters to be recognized. |
| 3345 | ||
| 3346 | It is possible to restrict \R to match only CR, LF, or CRLF (instead of | It is possible to restrict \R to match only CR, LF, or CRLF (instead of |
| 3347 | the complete set of Unicode line endings) by setting the option | the complete set of Unicode line endings) by setting the option |
| 3348 | PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF either at compile time or when the pattern is matched. | PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF either at compile time or when the pattern is matched. |
| 3349 | (BSR is an abbrevation for "backslash R".) This can be made the default | (BSR is an abbrevation for "backslash R".) This can be made the default |
| 3350 | when PCRE is built; if this is the case, the other behaviour can be | when PCRE is built; if this is the case, the other behaviour can be |
| 3351 | requested via the PCRE_BSR_UNICODE option. It is also possible to | requested via the PCRE_BSR_UNICODE option. It is also possible to |
| 3352 | specify these settings by starting a pattern string with one of the | specify these settings by starting a pattern string with one of the |
| 3353 | following sequences: | following sequences: |
| 3354 | ||
| 3355 | (*BSR_ANYCRLF) CR, LF, or CRLF only | (*BSR_ANYCRLF) CR, LF, or CRLF only |
| # | Line 3220 BACKSLASH | Line 3358 BACKSLASH |
| 3358 | These override the default and the options given to pcre_compile(), but | These override the default and the options given to pcre_compile(), but |
| 3359 | they can be overridden by options given to pcre_exec(). Note that these | they can be overridden by options given to pcre_exec(). Note that these |
| 3360 | special settings, which are not Perl-compatible, are recognized only at | special settings, which are not Perl-compatible, are recognized only at |
| 3361 | the very start of a pattern, and that they must be in upper case. If | the very start of a pattern, and that they must be in upper case. If |
| 3362 | more than one of them is present, the last one is used. They can be | more than one of them is present, the last one is used. They can be |
| 3363 | combined with a change of newline convention, for example, a pattern | combined with a change of newline convention, for example, a pattern |
| 3364 | can start with: | can start with: |
| 3365 | ||
| 3366 | (*ANY)(*BSR_ANYCRLF) | (*ANY)(*BSR_ANYCRLF) |
| # | Line 3232 BACKSLASH | Line 3370 BACKSLASH |
| 3370 | Unicode character properties | Unicode character properties |
| 3371 | ||
| 3372 | When PCRE is built with Unicode character property support, three addi- | When PCRE is built with Unicode character property support, three addi- |
| 3373 | tional escape sequences that match characters with specific properties | tional escape sequences that match characters with specific properties |
| 3374 | are available. When not in UTF-8 mode, these sequences are of course | are available. When not in UTF-8 mode, these sequences are of course |
| 3375 | limited to testing characters whose codepoints are less than 256, but | limited to testing characters whose codepoints are less than 256, but |
| 3376 | they do work in this mode. The extra escape sequences are: | they do work in this mode. The extra escape sequences are: |
| 3377 | ||
| 3378 | \p{xx} a character with the xx property | \p{xx} a character with the xx property |
| 3379 | \P{xx} a character without the xx property | \P{xx} a character without the xx property |
| 3380 | \X an extended Unicode sequence | \X an extended Unicode sequence |
| 3381 | ||
| 3382 | The property names represented by xx above are limited to the Unicode | The property names represented by xx above are limited to the Unicode |
| 3383 | script names, the general category properties, and "Any", which matches | script names, the general category properties, and "Any", which matches |
| 3384 | any character (including newline). Other properties such as "InMusical- | any character (including newline). Other properties such as "InMusical- |
| 3385 | Symbols" are not currently supported by PCRE. Note that \P{Any} does | Symbols" are not currently supported by PCRE. Note that \P{Any} does |
| 3386 | not match any characters, so always causes a match failure. | not match any characters, so always causes a match failure. |
| 3387 | ||
| 3388 | Sets of Unicode characters are defined as belonging to certain scripts. | Sets of Unicode characters are defined as belonging to certain scripts. |
| 3389 | A character from one of these sets can be matched using a script name. | A character from one of these sets can be matched using a script name. |
| 3390 | For example: | For example: |
| 3391 | ||
| 3392 | \p{Greek} | \p{Greek} |
| 3393 | \P{Han} | \P{Han} |
| 3394 | ||
| 3395 | Those that are not part of an identified script are lumped together as | Those that are not part of an identified script are lumped together as |
| 3396 | "Common". The current list of scripts is: | "Common". The current list of scripts is: |
| 3397 | ||
| 3398 | Arabic, Armenian, Balinese, Bengali, Bopomofo, Braille, Buginese, | Arabic, Armenian, Balinese, Bengali, Bopomofo, Braille, Buginese, |
| 3399 | Buhid, Canadian_Aboriginal, Cherokee, Common, Coptic, Cuneiform, | Buhid, Canadian_Aboriginal, Cherokee, Common, Coptic, Cuneiform, |
| 3400 | Cypriot, Cyrillic, Deseret, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Georgian, Glagolitic, | Cypriot, Cyrillic, Deseret, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Georgian, Glagolitic, |
| 3401 | Gothic, Greek, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Han, Hangul, Hanunoo, Hebrew, Hira- | Gothic, Greek, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Han, Hangul, Hanunoo, Hebrew, Hira- |
| 3402 | gana, Inherited, Kannada, Katakana, Kharoshthi, Khmer, Lao, Latin, | gana, Inherited, Kannada, Katakana, Kharoshthi, Khmer, Lao, Latin, |
| 3403 | Limbu, Linear_B, Malayalam, Mongolian, Myanmar, New_Tai_Lue, Nko, | Limbu, Linear_B, Malayalam, Mongolian, Myanmar, New_Tai_Lue, Nko, |
| 3404 | Ogham, Old_Italic, Old_Persian, Oriya, Osmanya, Phags_Pa, Phoenician, | Ogham, Old_Italic, Old_Persian, Oriya, Osmanya, Phags_Pa, Phoenician, |
| 3405 | Runic, Shavian, Sinhala, Syloti_Nagri, Syriac, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, | Runic, Shavian, Sinhala, Syloti_Nagri, Syriac, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, |
| 3406 | Tai_Le, Tamil, Telugu, Thaana, Thai, Tibetan, Tifinagh, Ugaritic, Yi. | Tai_Le, Tamil, Telugu, Thaana, Thai, Tibetan, Tifinagh, Ugaritic, Yi. |
| 3407 | ||
| 3408 | Each character has exactly one general category property, specified by | Each character has exactly one general category property, specified by |
| 3409 | a two-letter abbreviation. For compatibility with Perl, negation can be | a two-letter abbreviation. For compatibility with Perl, negation can be |
| 3410 | specified by including a circumflex between the opening brace and the | specified by including a circumflex between the opening brace and the |
| 3411 | property name. For example, \p{^Lu} is the same as \P{Lu}. | property name. For example, \p{^Lu} is the same as \P{Lu}. |
| 3412 | ||
| 3413 | If only one letter is specified with \p or \P, it includes all the gen- | If only one letter is specified with \p or \P, it includes all the gen- |
| 3414 | eral category properties that start with that letter. In this case, in | eral category properties that start with that letter. In this case, in |
| 3415 | the absence of negation, the curly brackets in the escape sequence are | the absence of negation, the curly brackets in the escape sequence are |
| 3416 | optional; these two examples have the same effect: | optional; these two examples have the same effect: |
| 3417 | ||
| 3418 | \p{L} | \p{L} |
| # | Line 3326 BACKSLASH | Line 3464 BACKSLASH |
| 3464 | Zp Paragraph separator | Zp Paragraph separator |
| 3465 | Zs Space separator | Zs Space separator |
| 3466 | ||
| 3467 | The special property L& is also supported: it matches a character that | The special property L& is also supported: it matches a character that |
| 3468 | has the Lu, Ll, or Lt property, in other words, a letter that is not | has the Lu, Ll, or Lt property, in other words, a letter that is not |
| 3469 | classified as a modifier or "other". | classified as a modifier or "other". |
| 3470 | ||
| 3471 | The Cs (Surrogate) property applies only to characters in the range | The Cs (Surrogate) property applies only to characters in the range |
| 3472 | U+D800 to U+DFFF. Such characters are not valid in UTF-8 strings (see | U+D800 to U+DFFF. Such characters are not valid in UTF-8 strings (see |
| 3473 | RFC 3629) and so cannot be tested by PCRE, unless UTF-8 validity check- | RFC 3629) and so cannot be tested by PCRE, unless UTF-8 validity check- |
| 3474 | ing has been turned off (see the discussion of PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK in | ing has been turned off (see the discussion of PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK in |
| 3475 | the pcreapi page). | the pcreapi page). |
| 3476 | ||
| 3477 | The long synonyms for these properties that Perl supports (such as | The long synonyms for these properties that Perl supports (such as |
| 3478 | \p{Letter}) are not supported by PCRE, nor is it permitted to prefix | \p{Letter}) are not supported by PCRE, nor is it permitted to prefix |
| 3479 | any of these properties with "Is". | any of these properties with "Is". |
| 3480 | ||
| 3481 | No character that is in the Unicode table has the Cn (unassigned) prop- | No character that is in the Unicode table has the Cn (unassigned) prop- |
| 3482 | erty. Instead, this property is assumed for any code point that is not | erty. Instead, this property is assumed for any code point that is not |
| 3483 | in the Unicode table. | in the Unicode table. |
| 3484 | ||
| 3485 | Specifying caseless matching does not affect these escape sequences. | Specifying caseless matching does not affect these escape sequences. |
| 3486 | For example, \p{Lu} always matches only upper case letters. | For example, \p{Lu} always matches only upper case letters. |
| 3487 | ||
| 3488 | The \X escape matches any number of Unicode characters that form an | The \X escape matches any number of Unicode characters that form an |
| 3489 | extended Unicode sequence. \X is equivalent to | extended Unicode sequence. \X is equivalent to |
| 3490 | ||
| 3491 | (?>\PM\pM*) | (?>\PM\pM*) |
| 3492 | ||
| 3493 | That is, it matches a character without the "mark" property, followed | That is, it matches a character without the "mark" property, followed |
| 3494 | by zero or more characters with the "mark" property, and treats the | by zero or more characters with the "mark" property, and treats the |
| 3495 | sequence as an atomic group (see below). Characters with the "mark" | sequence as an atomic group (see below). Characters with the "mark" |
| 3496 | property are typically accents that affect the preceding character. | property are typically accents that affect the preceding character. |
| 3497 | None of them have codepoints less than 256, so in non-UTF-8 mode \X | None of them have codepoints less than 256, so in non-UTF-8 mode \X |
| 3498 | matches any one character. | matches any one character. |
| 3499 | ||
| 3500 | Matching characters by Unicode property is not fast, because PCRE has | Matching characters by Unicode property is not fast, because PCRE has |
| 3501 | to search a structure that contains data for over fifteen thousand | to search a structure that contains data for over fifteen thousand |
| 3502 | characters. That is why the traditional escape sequences such as \d and | characters. That is why the traditional escape sequences such as \d and |
| 3503 | \w do not use Unicode properties in PCRE. | \w do not use Unicode properties in PCRE. |
| 3504 | ||
| 3505 | Resetting the match start | Resetting the match start |
| 3506 | ||
| 3507 | The escape sequence \K, which is a Perl 5.10 feature, causes any previ- | The escape sequence \K, which is a Perl 5.10 feature, causes any previ- |
| 3508 | ously matched characters not to be included in the final matched | ously matched characters not to be included in the final matched |
| 3509 | sequence. For example, the pattern: | sequence. For example, the pattern: |
| 3510 | ||
| 3511 | foo\Kbar | foo\Kbar |
| 3512 | ||
| 3513 | matches "foobar", but reports that it has matched "bar". This feature | matches "foobar", but reports that it has matched "bar". This feature |
| 3514 | is similar to a lookbehind assertion (described below). However, in | is similar to a lookbehind assertion (described below). However, in |
| 3515 | this case, the part of the subject before the real match does not have | this case, the part of the subject before the real match does not have |
| 3516 | to be of fixed length, as lookbehind assertions do. The use of \K does | to be of fixed length, as lookbehind assertions do. The use of \K does |
| 3517 | not interfere with the setting of captured substrings. For example, | not interfere with the setting of captured substrings. For example, |
| 3518 | when the pattern | when the pattern |
| 3519 | ||
| 3520 | (foo)\Kbar | (foo)\Kbar |
| # | Line 3385 BACKSLASH | Line 3523 BACKSLASH |
| 3523 | ||
| 3524 | Simple assertions | Simple assertions |
| 3525 | ||
| 3526 | The final use of backslash is for certain simple assertions. An asser- | The final use of backslash is for certain simple assertions. An asser- |
| 3527 | tion specifies a condition that has to be met at a particular point in | tion specifies a condition that has to be met at a particular point in |
| 3528 | a match, without consuming any characters from the subject string. The | a match, without consuming any characters from the subject string. The |
| 3529 | use of subpatterns for more complicated assertions is described below. | use of subpatterns for more complicated assertions is described below. |
| 3530 | The backslashed assertions are: | The backslashed assertions are: |
| 3531 | ||
| 3532 | \b matches at a word boundary | \b matches at a word boundary |
| # | Line 3399 BACKSLASH | Line 3537 BACKSLASH |
| 3537 | \z matches only at the end of the subject | \z matches only at the end of the subject |
| 3538 | \G matches at the first matching position in the subject | \G matches at the first matching position in the subject |
| 3539 | ||
| 3540 | These assertions may not appear in character classes (but note that \b | These assertions may not appear in character classes (but note that \b |
| 3541 | has a different meaning, namely the backspace character, inside a char- | has a different meaning, namely the backspace character, inside a char- |
| 3542 | acter class). | acter class). |
| 3543 | ||
| 3544 | A word boundary is a position in the subject string where the current | A word boundary is a position in the subject string where the current |
| 3545 | character and the previous character do not both match \w or \W (i.e. | character and the previous character do not both match \w or \W (i.e. |
| 3546 | one matches \w and the other matches \W), or the start or end of the | one matches \w and the other matches \W), or the start or end of the |
| 3547 | string if the first or last character matches \w, respectively. | string if the first or last character matches \w, respectively. |
| 3548 | ||
| 3549 | The \A, \Z, and \z assertions differ from the traditional circumflex | The \A, \Z, and \z assertions differ from the traditional circumflex |
| 3550 | and dollar (described in the next section) in that they only ever match | and dollar (described in the next section) in that they only ever match |
| 3551 | at the very start and end of the subject string, whatever options are | at the very start and end of the subject string, whatever options are |
| 3552 | set. Thus, they are independent of multiline mode. These three asser- | set. Thus, they are independent of multiline mode. These three asser- |
| 3553 | tions are not affected by the PCRE_NOTBOL or PCRE_NOTEOL options, which | tions are not affected by the PCRE_NOTBOL or PCRE_NOTEOL options, which |
| 3554 | affect only the behaviour of the circumflex and dollar metacharacters. | affect only the behaviour of the circumflex and dollar metacharacters. |
| 3555 | However, if the startoffset argument of pcre_exec() is non-zero, indi- | However, if the startoffset argument of pcre_exec() is non-zero, indi- |
| 3556 | cating that matching is to start at a point other than the beginning of | cating that matching is to start at a point other than the beginning of |
| 3557 | the subject, \A can never match. The difference between \Z and \z is | the subject, \A can never match. The difference between \Z and \z is |
| 3558 | that \Z matches before a newline at the end of the string as well as at | that \Z matches before a newline at the end of the string as well as at |
| 3559 | the very end, whereas \z matches only at the end. | the very end, whereas \z matches only at the end. |
| 3560 | ||
| 3561 | The \G assertion is true only when the current matching position is at | The \G assertion is true only when the current matching position is at |
| 3562 | the start point of the match, as specified by the startoffset argument | the start point of the match, as specified by the startoffset argument |
| 3563 | of pcre_exec(). It differs from \A when the value of startoffset is | of pcre_exec(). It differs from \A when the value of startoffset is |
| 3564 | non-zero. By calling pcre_exec() multiple times with appropriate argu- | non-zero. By calling pcre_exec() multiple times with appropriate argu- |
| 3565 | ments, you can mimic Perl's /g option, and it is in this kind of imple- | ments, you can mimic Perl's /g option, and it is in this kind of imple- |
| 3566 | mentation where \G can be useful. | mentation where \G can be useful. |
| 3567 | ||
| 3568 | Note, however, that PCRE's interpretation of \G, as the start of the | Note, however, that PCRE's interpretation of \G, as the start of the |
| 3569 | current match, is subtly different from Perl's, which defines it as the | current match, is subtly different from Perl's, which defines it as the |
| 3570 | end of the previous match. In Perl, these can be different when the | end of the previous match. In Perl, these can be different when the |
| 3571 | previously matched string was empty. Because PCRE does just one match | previously matched string was empty. Because PCRE does just one match |
| 3572 | at a time, it cannot reproduce this behaviour. | at a time, it cannot reproduce this behaviour. |
| 3573 | ||
| 3574 | If all the alternatives of a pattern begin with \G, the expression is | If all the alternatives of a pattern begin with \G, the expression is |
| 3575 | anchored to the starting match position, and the "anchored" flag is set | anchored to the starting match position, and the "anchored" flag is set |
| 3576 | in the compiled regular expression. | in the compiled regular expression. |
| 3577 | ||
| # | Line 3441 BACKSLASH | Line 3579 BACKSLASH |
| 3579 | CIRCUMFLEX AND DOLLAR | CIRCUMFLEX AND DOLLAR |
| 3580 | ||
| 3581 | Outside a character class, in the default matching mode, the circumflex | Outside a character class, in the default matching mode, the circumflex |
| 3582 | character is an assertion that is true only if the current matching | character is an assertion that is true only if the current matching |
| 3583 | point is at the start of the subject string. If the startoffset argu- | point is at the start of the subject string. If the startoffset argu- |
| 3584 | ment of pcre_exec() is non-zero, circumflex can never match if the | ment of pcre_exec() is non-zero, circumflex can never match if the |
| 3585 | PCRE_MULTILINE option is unset. Inside a character class, circumflex | PCRE_MULTILINE option is unset. Inside a character class, circumflex |
| 3586 | has an entirely different meaning (see below). | has an entirely different meaning (see below). |
| 3587 | ||
| 3588 | Circumflex need not be the first character of the pattern if a number | Circumflex need not be the first character of the pattern if a number |
| 3589 | of alternatives are involved, but it should be the first thing in each | of alternatives are involved, but it should be the first thing in each |
| 3590 | alternative in which it appears if the pattern is ever to match that | alternative in which it appears if the pattern is ever to match that |
| 3591 | branch. If all possible alternatives start with a circumflex, that is, | branch. If all possible alternatives start with a circumflex, that is, |
| 3592 | if the pattern is constrained to match only at the start of the sub- | if the pattern is constrained to match only at the start of the sub- |
| 3593 | ject, it is said to be an "anchored" pattern. (There are also other | ject, it is said to be an "anchored" pattern. (There are also other |
| 3594 | constructs that can cause a pattern to be anchored.) | constructs that can cause a pattern to be anchored.) |
| 3595 | ||
| 3596 | A dollar character is an assertion that is true only if the current | A dollar character is an assertion that is true only if the current |
| 3597 | matching point is at the end of the subject string, or immediately | matching point is at the end of the subject string, or immediately |
| 3598 | before a newline at the end of the string (by default). Dollar need not | before a newline at the end of the string (by default). Dollar need not |
| 3599 | be the last character of the pattern if a number of alternatives are | be the last character of the pattern if a number of alternatives are |
| 3600 | involved, but it should be the last item in any branch in which it | involved, but it should be the last item in any branch in which it |
| 3601 | appears. Dollar has no special meaning in a character class. | appears. Dollar has no special meaning in a character class. |
| 3602 | ||
| 3603 | The meaning of dollar can be changed so that it matches only at the | The meaning of dollar can be changed so that it matches only at the |
| 3604 | very end of the string, by setting the PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY option at | very end of the string, by setting the PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY option at |
| 3605 | compile time. This does not affect the \Z assertion. | compile time. This does not affect the \Z assertion. |
| 3606 | ||
| 3607 | The meanings of the circumflex and dollar characters are changed if the | The meanings of the circumflex and dollar characters are changed if the |
| 3608 | PCRE_MULTILINE option is set. When this is the case, a circumflex | PCRE_MULTILINE option is set. When this is the case, a circumflex |
| 3609 | matches immediately after internal newlines as well as at the start of | matches immediately after internal newlines as well as at the start of |
| 3610 | the subject string. It does not match after a newline that ends the | the subject string. It does not match after a newline that ends the |
| 3611 | string. A dollar matches before any newlines in the string, as well as | string. A dollar matches before any newlines in the string, as well as |
| 3612 | at the very end, when PCRE_MULTILINE is set. When newline is specified | at the very end, when PCRE_MULTILINE is set. When newline is specified |
| 3613 | as the two-character sequence CRLF, isolated CR and LF characters do | as the two-character sequence CRLF, isolated CR and LF characters do |
| 3614 | not indicate newlines. | not indicate newlines. |
| 3615 | ||
| 3616 | For example, the pattern /^abc$/ matches the subject string "def\nabc" | For example, the pattern /^abc$/ matches the subject string "def\nabc" |
| 3617 | (where \n represents a newline) in multiline mode, but not otherwise. | (where \n represents a newline) in multiline mode, but not otherwise. |
| 3618 | Consequently, patterns that are anchored in single line mode because | Consequently, patterns that are anchored in single line mode because |
| 3619 | all branches start with ^ are not anchored in multiline mode, and a | all branches start with ^ are not anchored in multiline mode, and a |
| 3620 | match for circumflex is possible when the startoffset argument of | match for circumflex is possible when the startoffset argument of |
| 3621 | pcre_exec() is non-zero. The PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY option is ignored if | pcre_exec() is non-zero. The PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY option is ignored if |
| 3622 | PCRE_MULTILINE is set. | PCRE_MULTILINE is set. |
| 3623 | ||
| 3624 | Note that the sequences \A, \Z, and \z can be used to match the start | Note that the sequences \A, \Z, and \z can be used to match the start |
| 3625 | and end of the subject in both modes, and if all branches of a pattern | and end of the subject in both modes, and if all branches of a pattern |
| 3626 | start with \A it is always anchored, whether or not PCRE_MULTILINE is | start with \A it is always anchored, whether or not PCRE_MULTILINE is |
| 3627 | set. | set. |
| 3628 | ||
| 3629 | ||
| 3630 | FULL STOP (PERIOD, DOT) | FULL STOP (PERIOD, DOT) |
| 3631 | ||
| 3632 | Outside a character class, a dot in the pattern matches any one charac- | Outside a character class, a dot in the pattern matches any one charac- |
| 3633 | ter in the subject string except (by default) a character that signi- | ter in the subject string except (by default) a character that signi- |
| 3634 | fies the end of a line. In UTF-8 mode, the matched character may be | fies the end of a line. In UTF-8 mode, the matched character may be |
| 3635 | more than one byte long. | more than one byte long. |
| 3636 | ||
| 3637 | When a line ending is defined as a single character, dot never matches | When a line ending is defined as a single character, dot never matches |
| 3638 | that character; when the two-character sequence CRLF is used, dot does | that character; when the two-character sequence CRLF is used, dot does |
| 3639 | not match CR if it is immediately followed by LF, but otherwise it | not match CR if it is immediately followed by LF, but otherwise it |
| 3640 | matches all characters (including isolated CRs and LFs). When any Uni- | matches all characters (including isolated CRs and LFs). When any Uni- |
| 3641 | code line endings are being recognized, dot does not match CR or LF or | code line endings are being recognized, dot does not match CR or LF or |
| 3642 | any of the other line ending characters. | any of the other line ending characters. |
| 3643 | ||
| 3644 | The behaviour of dot with regard to newlines can be changed. If the | The behaviour of dot with regard to newlines can be changed. If the |
| 3645 | PCRE_DOTALL option is set, a dot matches any one character, without | PCRE_DOTALL option is set, a dot matches any one character, without |
| 3646 | exception. If the two-character sequence CRLF is present in the subject | exception. If the two-character sequence CRLF is present in the subject |
| 3647 | string, it takes two dots to match it. | string, it takes two dots to match it. |
| 3648 | ||
| 3649 | The handling of dot is entirely independent of the handling of circum- | The handling of dot is entirely independent of the handling of circum- |
| 3650 | flex and dollar, the only relationship being that they both involve | flex and dollar, the only relationship being that they both involve |
| 3651 | newlines. Dot has no special meaning in a character class. | newlines. Dot has no special meaning in a character class. |
| 3652 | ||
| 3653 | ||
| 3654 | MATCHING A SINGLE BYTE | MATCHING A SINGLE BYTE |
| 3655 | ||
| 3656 | Outside a character class, the escape sequence \C matches any one byte, | Outside a character class, the escape sequence \C matches any one byte, |
| 3657 | both in and out of UTF-8 mode. Unlike a dot, it always matches any | both in and out of UTF-8 mode. Unlike a dot, it always matches any |
| 3658 | line-ending characters. The feature is provided in Perl in order to | line-ending characters. The feature is provided in Perl in order to |
| 3659 | match individual bytes in UTF-8 mode. Because it breaks up UTF-8 char- | match individual bytes in UTF-8 mode. Because it breaks up UTF-8 char- |
| 3660 | acters into individual bytes, what remains in the string may be a mal- | acters into individual bytes, what remains in the string may be a mal- |
| 3661 | formed UTF-8 string. For this reason, the \C escape sequence is best | formed UTF-8 string. For this reason, the \C escape sequence is best |
| 3662 | avoided. | avoided. |
| 3663 | ||
| 3664 | PCRE does not allow \C to appear in lookbehind assertions (described | PCRE does not allow \C to appear in lookbehind assertions (described |
| 3665 | below), because in UTF-8 mode this would make it impossible to calcu- | below), because in UTF-8 mode this would make it impossible to calcu- |
| 3666 | late the length of the lookbehind. | late the length of the lookbehind. |
| 3667 | ||
| 3668 | ||
| # | Line 3533 SQUARE BRACKETS AND CHARACTER CLASSES | Line 3671 SQUARE BRACKETS AND CHARACTER CLASSES |
| 3671 | An opening square bracket introduces a character class, terminated by a | An opening square bracket introduces a character class, terminated by a |
| 3672 | closing square bracket. A closing square bracket on its own is not spe- | closing square bracket. A closing square bracket on its own is not spe- |
| 3673 | cial. If a closing square bracket is required as a member of the class, | cial. If a closing square bracket is required as a member of the class, |
| 3674 | it should be the first data character in the class (after an initial | it should be the first data character in the class (after an initial |
| 3675 | circumflex, if present) or escaped with a backslash. | circumflex, if present) or escaped with a backslash. |
| 3676 | ||
| 3677 | A character class matches a single character in the subject. In UTF-8 | A character class matches a single character in the subject. In UTF-8 |
| 3678 | mode, the character may occupy more than one byte. A matched character | mode, the character may occupy more than one byte. A matched character |
| 3679 | must be in the set of characters defined by the class, unless the first | must be in the set of characters defined by the class, unless the first |
| 3680 | character in the class definition is a circumflex, in which case the | character in the class definition is a circumflex, in which case the |
| 3681 | subject character must not be in the set defined by the class. If a | subject character must not be in the set defined by the class. If a |
| 3682 | circumflex is actually required as a member of the class, ensure it is | circumflex is actually required as a member of the class, ensure it is |
| 3683 | not the first character, or escape it with a backslash. | not the first character, or escape it with a backslash. |
| 3684 | ||
| 3685 | For example, the character class [aeiou] matches any lower case vowel, | For example, the character class [aeiou] matches any lower case vowel, |
| 3686 | while [^aeiou] matches any character that is not a lower case vowel. | while [^aeiou] matches any character that is not a lower case vowel. |
| 3687 | Note that a circumflex is just a convenient notation for specifying the | Note that a circumflex is just a convenient notation for specifying the |
| 3688 | characters that are in the class by enumerating those that are not. A | characters that are in the class by enumerating those that are not. A |
| 3689 | class that starts with a circumflex is not an assertion: it still con- | class that starts with a circumflex is not an assertion: it still con- |
| 3690 | sumes a character from the subject string, and therefore it fails if | sumes a character from the subject string, and therefore it fails if |
| 3691 | the current pointer is at the end of the string. | the current pointer is at the end of the string. |
| 3692 | ||
| 3693 | In UTF-8 mode, characters with values greater than 255 can be included | In UTF-8 mode, characters with values greater than 255 can be included |
| 3694 | in a class as a literal string of bytes, or by using the \x{ escaping | in a class as a literal string of bytes, or by using the \x{ escaping |
| 3695 | mechanism. | mechanism. |
| 3696 | ||
| 3697 | When caseless matching is set, any letters in a class represent both | When caseless matching is set, any letters in a class represent both |
| 3698 | their upper case and lower case versions, so for example, a caseless | their upper case and lower case versions, so for example, a caseless |
| 3699 | [aeiou] matches "A" as well as "a", and a caseless [^aeiou] does not | [aeiou] matches "A" as well as "a", and a caseless [^aeiou] does not |
| 3700 | match "A", whereas a caseful version would. In UTF-8 mode, PCRE always | match "A", whereas a caseful version would. In UTF-8 mode, PCRE always |
| 3701 | understands the concept of case for characters whose values are less | understands the concept of case for characters whose values are less |
| 3702 | than 128, so caseless matching is always possible. For characters with | than 128, so caseless matching is always possible. For characters with |
| 3703 | higher values, the concept of case is supported if PCRE is compiled | higher values, the concept of case is supported if PCRE is compiled |
| 3704 | with Unicode property support, but not otherwise. If you want to use | with Unicode property support, but not otherwise. If you want to use |
| 3705 | caseless matching for characters 128 and above, you must ensure that | caseless matching for characters 128 and above, you must ensure that |
| 3706 | PCRE is compiled with Unicode property support as well as with UTF-8 | PCRE is compiled with Unicode property support as well as with UTF-8 |
| 3707 | support. | support. |
| 3708 | ||
| 3709 | Characters that might indicate line breaks are never treated in any | Characters that might indicate line breaks are never treated in any |
| 3710 | special way when matching character classes, whatever line-ending | special way when matching character classes, whatever line-ending |
| 3711 | sequence is in use, and whatever setting of the PCRE_DOTALL and | sequence is in use, and whatever setting of the PCRE_DOTALL and |
| 3712 | PCRE_MULTILINE options is used. A class such as [^a] always matches one | PCRE_MULTILINE options is used. A class such as [^a] always matches one |
| 3713 | of these characters. | of these characters. |
| 3714 | ||
| 3715 | The minus (hyphen) character can be used to specify a range of charac- | The minus (hyphen) character can be used to specify a range of charac- |
| 3716 | ters in a character class. For example, [d-m] matches any letter | ters in a character class. For example, [d-m] matches any letter |
| 3717 | between d and m, inclusive. If a minus character is required in a | between d and m, inclusive. If a minus character is required in a |
| 3718 | class, it must be escaped with a backslash or appear in a position | class, it must be escaped with a backslash or appear in a position |
| 3719 | where it cannot be interpreted as indicating a range, typically as the | where it cannot be interpreted as indicating a range, typically as the |
| 3720 | first or last character in the class. | first or last character in the class. |
| 3721 | ||
| 3722 | It is not possible to have the literal character "]" as the end charac- | It is not possible to have the literal character "]" as the end charac- |
| 3723 | ter of a range. A pattern such as [W-]46] is interpreted as a class of | ter of a range. A pattern such as [W-]46] is interpreted as a class of |
| 3724 | two characters ("W" and "-") followed by a literal string "46]", so it | two characters ("W" and "-") followed by a literal string "46]", so it |
| 3725 | would match "W46]" or "-46]". However, if the "]" is escaped with a | would match "W46]" or "-46]". However, if the "]" is escaped with a |
| 3726 | backslash it is interpreted as the end of range, so [W-\]46] is inter- | backslash it is interpreted as the end of range, so [W-\]46] is inter- |
| 3727 | preted as a class containing a range followed by two other characters. | preted as a class containing a range followed by two other characters. |
| 3728 | The octal or hexadecimal representation of "]" can also be used to end | The octal or hexadecimal representation of "]" can also be used to end |
| 3729 | a range. | a range. |
| 3730 | ||
| 3731 | Ranges operate in the collating sequence of character values. They can | Ranges operate in the collating sequence of character values. They can |
| 3732 | also be used for characters specified numerically, for example | also be used for characters specified numerically, for example |
| 3733 | [\000-\037]. In UTF-8 mode, ranges can include characters whose values | [\000-\037]. In UTF-8 mode, ranges can include characters whose values |
| 3734 | are greater than 255, for example [\x{100}-\x{2ff}]. | are greater than 255, for example [\x{100}-\x{2ff}]. |
| 3735 | ||
| 3736 | If a range that includes letters is used when caseless matching is set, | If a range that includes letters is used when caseless matching is set, |
| 3737 | it matches the letters in either case. For example, [W-c] is equivalent | it matches the letters in either case. For example, [W-c] is equivalent |
| 3738 | to [][\\^_`wxyzabc], matched caselessly, and in non-UTF-8 mode, if | to [][\\^_`wxyzabc], matched caselessly, and in non-UTF-8 mode, if |
| 3739 | character tables for a French locale are in use, [\xc8-\xcb] matches | character tables for a French locale are in use, [\xc8-\xcb] matches |
| 3740 | accented E characters in both cases. In UTF-8 mode, PCRE supports the | accented E characters in both cases. In UTF-8 mode, PCRE supports the |
| 3741 | concept of case for characters with values greater than 128 only when | concept of case for characters with values greater than 128 only when |
| 3742 | it is compiled with Unicode property support. | it is compiled with Unicode property support. |
| 3743 | ||
| 3744 | The character types \d, \D, \p, \P, \s, \S, \w, and \W may also appear | The character types \d, \D, \p, \P, \s, \S, \w, and \W may also appear |
| 3745 | in a character class, and add the characters that they match to the | in a character class, and add the characters that they match to the |
| 3746 | class. For example, [\dABCDEF] matches any hexadecimal digit. A circum- | class. For example, [\dABCDEF] matches any hexadecimal digit. A circum- |
| 3747 | flex can conveniently be used with the upper case character types to | flex can conveniently be used with the upper case character types to |
| 3748 | specify a more restricted set of characters than the matching lower | specify a more restricted set of characters than the matching lower |
| 3749 | case type. For example, the class [^\W_] matches any letter or digit, | case type. For example, the class [^\W_] matches any letter or digit, |
| 3750 | but not underscore. | but not underscore. |
| 3751 | ||
| 3752 | The only metacharacters that are recognized in character classes are | The only metacharacters that are recognized in character classes are |
| 3753 | backslash, hyphen (only where it can be interpreted as specifying a | backslash, hyphen (only where it can be interpreted as specifying a |
| 3754 | range), circumflex (only at the start), opening square bracket (only | range), circumflex (only at the start), opening square bracket (only |
| 3755 | when it can be interpreted as introducing a POSIX class name - see the | when it can be interpreted as introducing a POSIX class name - see the |
| 3756 | next section), and the terminating closing square bracket. However, | next section), and the terminating closing square bracket. However, |
| 3757 | escaping other non-alphanumeric characters does no harm. | escaping other non-alphanumeric characters does no harm. |
| 3758 | ||
| 3759 | ||
| 3760 | POSIX CHARACTER CLASSES | POSIX CHARACTER CLASSES |
| 3761 | ||
| 3762 | Perl supports the POSIX notation for character classes. This uses names | Perl supports the POSIX notation for character classes. This uses names |
| 3763 | enclosed by [: and :] within the enclosing square brackets. PCRE also | enclosed by [: and :] within the enclosing square brackets. PCRE also |
| 3764 | supports this notation. For example, | supports this notation. For example, |
| 3765 | ||
| 3766 | [01[:alpha:]%] | [01[:alpha:]%] |
| # | Line 3645 POSIX CHARACTER CLASSES | Line 3783 POSIX CHARACTER CLASSES |
| 3783 | word "word" characters (same as \w) | word "word" characters (same as \w) |
| 3784 | xdigit hexadecimal digits | xdigit hexadecimal digits |
| 3785 | ||
| 3786 | The "space" characters are HT (9), LF (10), VT (11), FF (12), CR (13), | The "space" characters are HT (9), LF (10), VT (11), FF (12), CR (13), |
| 3787 | and space (32). Notice that this list includes the VT character (code | and space (32). Notice that this list includes the VT character (code |
| 3788 | 11). This makes "space" different to \s, which does not include VT (for | 11). This makes "space" different to \s, which does not include VT (for |
| 3789 | Perl compatibility). | Perl compatibility). |
| 3790 | ||
| 3791 | The name "word" is a Perl extension, and "blank" is a GNU extension | The name "word" is a Perl extension, and "blank" is a GNU extension |
| 3792 | from Perl 5.8. Another Perl extension is negation, which is indicated | from Perl 5.8. Another Perl extension is negation, which is indicated |
| 3793 | by a ^ character after the colon. For example, | by a ^ character after the colon. For example, |
| 3794 | ||
| 3795 | [12[:^digit:]] | [12[:^digit:]] |
| 3796 | ||
| 3797 | matches "1", "2", or any non-digit. PCRE (and Perl) also recognize the | matches "1", "2", or any non-digit. PCRE (and Perl) also recognize the |
| 3798 | POSIX syntax [.ch.] and [=ch=] where "ch" is a "collating element", but | POSIX syntax [.ch.] and [=ch=] where "ch" is a "collating element", but |
| 3799 | these are not supported, and an error is given if they are encountered. | these are not supported, and an error is given if they are encountered. |
| 3800 | ||
| # | Line 3676 VERTICAL BAR | Line 3814 VERTICAL BAR |
| 3814 | string). The matching process tries each alternative in turn, from left | string). The matching process tries each alternative in turn, from left |
| 3815 | to right, and the first one that succeeds is used. If the alternatives | to right, and the first one that succeeds is used. If the alternatives |
| 3816 | are within a subpattern (defined below), "succeeds" means matching the | are within a subpattern (defined below), "succeeds" means matching the |
| 3817 | rest of the main pattern as well as the alternative in the subpattern. | rest of the main pattern as well as the alternative in the subpattern. |
| 3818 | ||
| 3819 | ||
| 3820 | INTERNAL OPTION SETTING | INTERNAL OPTION SETTING |
| 3821 | ||
| 3822 | The settings of the PCRE_CASELESS, PCRE_MULTILINE, PCRE_DOTALL, and | The settings of the PCRE_CASELESS, PCRE_MULTILINE, PCRE_DOTALL, and |
| 3823 | PCRE_EXTENDED options (which are Perl-compatible) can be changed from | PCRE_EXTENDED options (which are Perl-compatible) can be changed from |
| 3824 | within the pattern by a sequence of Perl option letters enclosed | within the pattern by a sequence of Perl option letters enclosed |
| 3825 | between "(?" and ")". The option letters are | between "(?" and ")". The option letters are |
| 3826 | ||
| 3827 | i for PCRE_CASELESS | i for PCRE_CASELESS |
| # | Line 3693 INTERNAL OPTION SETTING | Line 3831 INTERNAL OPTION SETTING |
| 3831 | ||
| 3832 | For example, (?im) sets caseless, multiline matching. It is also possi- | For example, (?im) sets caseless, multiline matching. It is also possi- |
| 3833 | ble to unset these options by preceding the letter with a hyphen, and a | ble to unset these options by preceding the letter with a hyphen, and a |
| 3834 | combined setting and unsetting such as (?im-sx), which sets PCRE_CASE- | combined setting and unsetting such as (?im-sx), which sets PCRE_CASE- |
| 3835 | LESS and PCRE_MULTILINE while unsetting PCRE_DOTALL and PCRE_EXTENDED, | LESS and PCRE_MULTILINE while unsetting PCRE_DOTALL and PCRE_EXTENDED, |
| 3836 | is also permitted. If a letter appears both before and after the | is also permitted. If a letter appears both before and after the |
| 3837 | hyphen, the option is unset. | hyphen, the option is unset. |
| 3838 | ||
| 3839 | The PCRE-specific options PCRE_DUPNAMES, PCRE_UNGREEDY, and PCRE_EXTRA | The PCRE-specific options PCRE_DUPNAMES, PCRE_UNGREEDY, and PCRE_EXTRA |
| 3840 | can be changed in the same way as the Perl-compatible options by using | can be changed in the same way as the Perl-compatible options by using |
| 3841 | the characters J, U and X respectively. | the characters J, U and X respectively. |
| 3842 | ||
| 3843 | When an option change occurs at top level (that is, not inside subpat- | When one of these option changes occurs at top level (that is, not |
| 3844 | tern parentheses), the change applies to the remainder of the pattern | inside subpattern parentheses), the change applies to the remainder of |
| 3845 | that follows. If the change is placed right at the start of a pattern, | the pattern that follows. If the change is placed right at the start of |
| 3846 | PCRE extracts it into the global options (and it will therefore show up | a pattern, PCRE extracts it into the global options (and it will there- |
| 3847 | in data extracted by the pcre_fullinfo() function). | fore show up in data extracted by the pcre_fullinfo() function). |
| 3848 | ||
| 3849 | An option change within a subpattern (see below for a description of | An option change within a subpattern (see below for a description of |
| 3850 | subpatterns) affects only that part of the current pattern that follows | subpatterns) affects only that part of the current pattern that follows |
| 3851 | it, so | it, so |
| 3852 | ||
| 3853 | (a(?i)b)c | (a(?i)b)c |
| 3854 | ||
| 3855 | matches abc and aBc and no other strings (assuming PCRE_CASELESS is not | matches abc and aBc and no other strings (assuming PCRE_CASELESS is not |
| 3856 | used). By this means, options can be made to have different settings | used). By this means, options can be made to have different settings |
| 3857 | in different parts of the pattern. Any changes made in one alternative | in different parts of the pattern. Any changes made in one alternative |
| 3858 | do carry on into subsequent branches within the same subpattern. For | do carry on into subsequent branches within the same subpattern. For |
| 3859 | example, | example, |
| 3860 | ||
| 3861 | (a(?i)b|c) | (a(?i)b|c) |
| 3862 | ||
| 3863 | matches "ab", "aB", "c", and "C", even though when matching "C" the | matches "ab", "aB", "c", and "C", even though when matching "C" the |
| 3864 | first branch is abandoned before the option setting. This is because | first branch is abandoned before the option setting. This is because |
| 3865 | the effects of option settings happen at compile time. There would be | the effects of option settings happen at compile time. There would be |
| 3866 | some very weird behaviour otherwise. | some very weird behaviour otherwise. |
| 3867 | ||
| 3868 | Note: There are other PCRE-specific options that can be set by the | Note: There are other PCRE-specific options that can be set by the |
| 3869 | application when the compile or match functions are called. In some | application when the compile or match functions are called. In some |
| 3870 | cases the pattern can contain special leading sequences to override | cases the pattern can contain special leading sequences such as (*CRLF) |
| 3871 | what the application has set or what has been defaulted. Details are | to override what the application has set or what has been defaulted. |
| 3872 | given in the section entitled "Newline sequences" above. | Details are given in the section entitled "Newline sequences" above. |
| 3873 | There is also the (*UTF8) leading sequence that can be used to set | |
| 3874 | UTF-8 mode; this is equivalent to setting the PCRE_UTF8 option. | |
| 3875 | ||
| 3876 | ||
| 3877 | SUBPATTERNS | SUBPATTERNS |
| # | Line 3743 SUBPATTERNS | Line 3883 SUBPATTERNS |
| 3883 | ||
| 3884 | cat(aract|erpillar|) | cat(aract|erpillar|) |
| 3885 | ||
| 3886 | matches one of the words "cat", "cataract", or "caterpillar". Without | matches one of the words "cat", "cataract", or "caterpillar". Without |
| 3887 | the parentheses, it would match "cataract", "erpillar" or an empty | the parentheses, it would match "cataract", "erpillar" or an empty |
| 3888 | string. | string. |
| 3889 | ||
| 3890 | 2. It sets up the subpattern as a capturing subpattern. This means | 2. It sets up the subpattern as a capturing subpattern. This means |
| 3891 | that, when the whole pattern matches, that portion of the subject | that, when the whole pattern matches, that portion of the subject |
| 3892 | string that matched the subpattern is passed back to the caller via the | string that matched the subpattern is passed back to the caller via the |
| 3893 | ovector argument of pcre_exec(). Opening parentheses are counted from | ovector argument of pcre_exec(). Opening parentheses are counted from |
| 3894 | left to right (starting from 1) to obtain numbers for the capturing | left to right (starting from 1) to obtain numbers for the capturing |
| 3895 | subpatterns. | subpatterns. |
| 3896 | ||
| 3897 | For example, if the string "the red king" is matched against the pat- | For example, if the string "the red king" is matched against the pat- |
| 3898 | tern | tern |
| 3899 | ||
| 3900 | the ((red|white) (king|queen)) | the ((red|white) (king|queen)) |
| # | Line 3762 SUBPATTERNS | Line 3902 SUBPATTERNS |
| 3902 | the captured substrings are "red king", "red", and "king", and are num- | the captured substrings are "red king", "red", and "king", and are num- |
| 3903 | bered 1, 2, and 3, respectively. | bered 1, 2, and 3, respectively. |
| 3904 | ||
| 3905 | The fact that plain parentheses fulfil two functions is not always | The fact that plain parentheses fulfil two functions is not always |
| 3906 | helpful. There are often times when a grouping subpattern is required | helpful. There are often times when a grouping subpattern is required |
| 3907 | without a capturing requirement. If an opening parenthesis is followed | without a capturing requirement. If an opening parenthesis is followed |
| 3908 | by a question mark and a colon, the subpattern does not do any captur- | by a question mark and a colon, the subpattern does not do any captur- |
| 3909 | ing, and is not counted when computing the number of any subsequent | ing, and is not counted when computing the number of any subsequent |
| 3910 | capturing subpatterns. For example, if the string "the white queen" is | capturing subpatterns. For example, if the string "the white queen" is |
| 3911 | matched against the pattern | matched against the pattern |
| 3912 | ||
| 3913 | the ((?:red|white) (king|queen)) | the ((?:red|white) (king|queen)) |
| # | Line 3775 SUBPATTERNS | Line 3915 SUBPATTERNS |
| 3915 | the captured substrings are "white queen" and "queen", and are numbered | the captured substrings are "white queen" and "queen", and are numbered |
| 3916 | 1 and 2. The maximum number of capturing subpatterns is 65535. | 1 and 2. The maximum number of capturing subpatterns is 65535. |
| 3917 | ||
| 3918 | As a convenient shorthand, if any option settings are required at the | As a convenient shorthand, if any option settings are required at the |
| 3919 | start of a non-capturing subpattern, the option letters may appear | start of a non-capturing subpattern, the option letters may appear |
| 3920 | between the "?" and the ":". Thus the two patterns | between the "?" and the ":". Thus the two patterns |
| 3921 | ||
| 3922 | (?i:saturday|sunday) | (?i:saturday|sunday) |
| 3923 | (?:(?i)saturday|sunday) | (?:(?i)saturday|sunday) |
| 3924 | ||
| 3925 | match exactly the same set of strings. Because alternative branches are | match exactly the same set of strings. Because alternative branches are |
| 3926 | tried from left to right, and options are not reset until the end of | tried from left to right, and options are not reset until the end of |
| 3927 | the subpattern is reached, an option setting in one branch does affect | the subpattern is reached, an option setting in one branch does affect |
| 3928 | subsequent branches, so the above patterns match "SUNDAY" as well as | subsequent branches, so the above patterns match "SUNDAY" as well as |
| 3929 | "Saturday". | "Saturday". |
| 3930 | ||
| 3931 | ||
| 3932 | DUPLICATE SUBPATTERN NUMBERS | DUPLICATE SUBPATTERN NUMBERS |
| 3933 | ||
| 3934 | Perl 5.10 introduced a feature whereby each alternative in a subpattern | Perl 5.10 introduced a feature whereby each alternative in a subpattern |
| 3935 | uses the same numbers for its capturing parentheses. Such a subpattern | uses the same numbers for its capturing parentheses. Such a subpattern |
| 3936 | starts with (?| and is itself a non-capturing subpattern. For example, | starts with (?| and is itself a non-capturing subpattern. For example, |
| 3937 | consider this pattern: | consider this pattern: |
| 3938 | ||
| 3939 | (?|(Sat)ur|(Sun))day | (?|(Sat)ur|(Sun))day |
| 3940 | ||
| 3941 | Because the two alternatives are inside a (?| group, both sets of cap- | Because the two alternatives are inside a (?| group, both sets of cap- |
| 3942 | turing parentheses are numbered one. Thus, when the pattern matches, | turing parentheses are numbered one. Thus, when the pattern matches, |
| 3943 | you can look at captured substring number one, whichever alternative | you can look at captured substring number one, whichever alternative |
| 3944 | matched. This construct is useful when you want to capture part, but | matched. This construct is useful when you want to capture part, but |
| 3945 | not all, of one of a number of alternatives. Inside a (?| group, paren- | not all, of one of a number of alternatives. Inside a (?| group, paren- |
| 3946 | theses are numbered as usual, but the number is reset at the start of | theses are numbered as usual, but the number is reset at the start of |
| 3947 | each branch. The numbers of any capturing buffers that follow the sub- | each branch. The numbers of any capturing buffers that follow the sub- |
| 3948 | pattern start after the highest number used in any branch. The follow- | pattern start after the highest number used in any branch. The follow- |
| 3949 | ing example is taken from the Perl documentation. The numbers under- | ing example is taken from the Perl documentation. The numbers under- |
| 3950 | neath show in which buffer the captured content will be stored. | neath show in which buffer the captured content will be stored. |
| 3951 | ||
| 3952 | # before ---------------branch-reset----------- after | # before ---------------branch-reset----------- after |
| 3953 | / ( a ) (?| x ( y ) z | (p (q) r) | (t) u (v) ) ( z ) /x | / ( a ) (?| x ( y ) z | (p (q) r) | (t) u (v) ) ( z ) /x |
| 3954 | # 1 2 2 3 2 3 4 | # 1 2 2 3 2 3 4 |
| 3955 | ||
| 3956 | A backreference or a recursive call to a numbered subpattern always | A backreference or a recursive call to a numbered subpattern always |
| 3957 | refers to the first one in the pattern with the given number. | refers to the first one in the pattern with the given number. |
| 3958 | ||
| 3959 | An alternative approach to using this "branch reset" feature is to use | An alternative approach to using this "branch reset" feature is to use |
| 3960 | duplicate named subpatterns, as described in the next section. | duplicate named subpatterns, as described in the next section. |
| 3961 | ||
| 3962 | ||
| 3963 | NAMED SUBPATTERNS | NAMED SUBPATTERNS |
| 3964 | ||
| 3965 | Identifying capturing parentheses by number is simple, but it can be | Identifying capturing parentheses by number is simple, but it can be |
| 3966 | very hard to keep track of the numbers in complicated regular expres- | very hard to keep track of the numbers in complicated regular expres- |
| 3967 | sions. Furthermore, if an expression is modified, the numbers may | sions. Furthermore, if an expression is modified, the numbers may |
| 3968 | change. To help with this difficulty, PCRE supports the naming of sub- | change. To help with this difficulty, PCRE supports the naming of sub- |
| 3969 | patterns. This feature was not added to Perl until release 5.10. Python | patterns. This feature was not added to Perl until release 5.10. Python |
| 3970 | had the feature earlier, and PCRE introduced it at release 4.0, using | had the feature earlier, and PCRE introduced it at release 4.0, using |
| 3971 | the Python syntax. PCRE now supports both the Perl and the Python syn- | the Python syntax. PCRE now supports both the Perl and the Python syn- |
| 3972 | tax. | tax. |
| 3973 | ||
| 3974 | In PCRE, a subpattern can be named in one of three ways: (?<name>...) | In PCRE, a subpattern can be named in one of three ways: (?<name>...) |
| 3975 | or (?'name'...) as in Perl, or (?P<name>...) as in Python. References | or (?'name'...) as in Perl, or (?P<name>...) as in Python. References |
| 3976 | to capturing parentheses from other parts of the pattern, such as back- | to capturing parentheses from other parts of the pattern, such as back- |
| 3977 | references, recursion, and conditions, can be made by name as well as | references, recursion, and conditions, can be made by name as well as |
| 3978 | by number. | by number. |
| 3979 | ||
| 3980 | Names consist of up to 32 alphanumeric characters and underscores. | Names consist of up to 32 alphanumeric characters and underscores. |
| 3981 | Named capturing parentheses are still allocated numbers as well as | Named capturing parentheses are still allocated numbers as well as |
| 3982 | names, exactly as if the names were not present. The PCRE API provides | names, exactly as if the names were not present. The PCRE API provides |
| 3983 | function calls for extracting the name-to-number translation table from | function calls for extracting the name-to-number translation table from |
| 3984 | a compiled pattern. There is also a convenience function for extracting | a compiled pattern. There is also a convenience function for extracting |
| 3985 | a captured substring by name. | a captured substring by name. |
| 3986 | ||
| 3987 | By default, a name must be unique within a pattern, but it is possible | By default, a name must be unique within a pattern, but it is possible |
| 3988 | to relax this constraint by setting the PCRE_DUPNAMES option at compile | to relax this constraint by setting the PCRE_DUPNAMES option at compile |
| 3989 | time. This can be useful for patterns where only one instance of the | time. This can be useful for patterns where only one instance of the |
| 3990 | named parentheses can match. Suppose you want to match the name of a | named parentheses can match. Suppose you want to match the name of a |
| 3991 | weekday, either as a 3-letter abbreviation or as the full name, and in | weekday, either as a 3-letter abbreviation or as the full name, and in |
| 3992 | both cases you want to extract the abbreviation. This pattern (ignoring | both cases you want to extract the abbreviation. This pattern (ignoring |
| 3993 | the line breaks) does the job: | the line breaks) does the job: |
| 3994 | ||
| # | Line 3858 NAMED SUBPATTERNS | Line 3998 NAMED SUBPATTERNS |
| 3998 | (?<DN>Thu)(?:rsday)?| | (?<DN>Thu)(?:rsday)?| |
| 3999 | (?<DN>Sat)(?:urday)? | (?<DN>Sat)(?:urday)? |
| 4000 | ||
| 4001 | There are five capturing substrings, but only one is ever set after a | There are five capturing substrings, but only one is ever set after a |
| 4002 | match. (An alternative way of solving this problem is to use a "branch | match. (An alternative way of solving this problem is to use a "branch |
| 4003 | reset" subpattern, as described in the previous section.) | reset" subpattern, as described in the previous section.) |
| 4004 | ||
| 4005 | The convenience function for extracting the data by name returns the | The convenience function for extracting the data by name returns the |
| 4006 | substring for the first (and in this example, the only) subpattern of | substring for the first (and in this example, the only) subpattern of |
| 4007 | that name that matched. This saves searching to find which numbered | that name that matched. This saves searching to find which numbered |
| 4008 | subpattern it was. If you make a reference to a non-unique named sub- | subpattern it was. If you make a reference to a non-unique named sub- |
| 4009 | pattern from elsewhere in the pattern, the one that corresponds to the | pattern from elsewhere in the pattern, the one that corresponds to the |
| 4010 | lowest number is used. For further details of the interfaces for han- | lowest number is used. For further details of the interfaces for han- |
| 4011 | dling named subpatterns, see the pcreapi documentation. | dling named subpatterns, see the pcreapi documentation. |
| 4012 | ||
| 4013 | Warning: You cannot use different names to distinguish between two sub- | |
| 4014 | patterns with the same number (see the previous section) because PCRE | |
| 4015 | uses only the numbers when matching. | |
| 4016 | ||
| 4017 | ||
| 4018 | REPETITION | REPETITION |
| 4019 | ||
| 4020 | Repetition is specified by quantifiers, which can follow any of the | Repetition is specified by quantifiers, which can follow any of the |
| 4021 | following items: | following items: |
| 4022 | ||
| 4023 | a literal data character | a literal data character |
| # | Line 3886 REPETITION | Line 4030 REPETITION |
| 4030 | a back reference (see next section) | a back reference (see next section) |
| 4031 | a parenthesized subpattern (unless it is an assertion) | a parenthesized subpattern (unless it is an assertion) |
| 4032 | ||
| 4033 | The general repetition quantifier specifies a minimum and maximum num- | The general repetition quantifier specifies a minimum and maximum num- |
| 4034 | ber of permitted matches, by giving the two numbers in curly brackets | ber of permitted matches, by giving the two numbers in curly brackets |
| 4035 | (braces), separated by a comma. The numbers must be less than 65536, | (braces), separated by a comma. The numbers must be less than 65536, |
| 4036 | and the first must be less than or equal to the second. For example: | and the first must be less than or equal to the second. For example: |
| 4037 | ||
| 4038 | z{2,4} | z{2,4} |
| 4039 | ||
| 4040 | matches "zz", "zzz", or "zzzz". A closing brace on its own is not a | matches "zz", "zzz", or "zzzz". A closing brace on its own is not a |
| 4041 | special character. If the second number is omitted, but the comma is | special character. If the second number is omitted, but the comma is |
| 4042 | present, there is no upper limit; if the second number and the comma | present, there is no upper limit; if the second number and the comma |
| 4043 | are both omitted, the quantifier specifies an exact number of required | are both omitted, the quantifier specifies an exact number of required |
| 4044 | matches. Thus | matches. Thus |
| 4045 | ||
| 4046 | [aeiou]{3,} | [aeiou]{3,} |
| # | Line 3905 REPETITION | Line 4049 REPETITION |
| 4049 | ||
| 4050 | \d{8} | \d{8} |
| 4051 | ||
| 4052 | matches exactly 8 digits. An opening curly bracket that appears in a | matches exactly 8 digits. An opening curly bracket that appears in a |
| 4053 | position where a quantifier is not allowed, or one that does not match | position where a quantifier is not allowed, or one that does not match |
| 4054 | the syntax of a quantifier, is taken as a literal character. For exam- | the syntax of a quantifier, is taken as a literal character. For exam- |
| 4055 | ple, {,6} is not a quantifier, but a literal string of four characters. | ple, {,6} is not a quantifier, but a literal string of four characters. |
| 4056 | ||
| 4057 | In UTF-8 mode, quantifiers apply to UTF-8 characters rather than to | In UTF-8 mode, quantifiers apply to UTF-8 characters rather than to |
| # | Line 3918 REPETITION | Line 4062 REPETITION |
| 4062 | may be of different lengths). | may be of different lengths). |
| 4063 | ||
| 4064 | The quantifier {0} is permitted, causing the expression to behave as if | The quantifier {0} is permitted, causing the expression to behave as if |
| 4065 | the previous item and the quantifier were not present. | the previous item and the quantifier were not present. This may be use- |
| 4066 | ful for subpatterns that are referenced as subroutines from elsewhere | |
| 4067 | in the pattern. Items other than subpatterns that have a {0} quantifier | |
| 4068 | are omitted from the compiled pattern. | |
| 4069 | ||
| 4070 | For convenience, the three most common quantifiers have single-charac- | For convenience, the three most common quantifiers have single-charac- |
| 4071 | ter abbreviations: | ter abbreviations: |
| 4072 | ||
| 4073 | * is equivalent to {0,} | * is equivalent to {0,} |
| 4074 | + is equivalent to {1,} | + is equivalent to {1,} |
| 4075 | ? is equivalent to {0,1} | ? is equivalent to {0,1} |
| 4076 | ||
| 4077 | It is possible to construct infinite loops by following a subpattern | It is possible to construct infinite loops by following a subpattern |
| 4078 | that can match no characters with a quantifier that has no upper limit, | that can match no characters with a quantifier that has no upper limit, |
| 4079 | for example: | for example: |
| 4080 | ||
| 4081 | (a?)* | (a?)* |
| 4082 | ||
| 4083 | Earlier versions of Perl and PCRE used to give an error at compile time | Earlier versions of Perl and PCRE used to give an error at compile time |
| 4084 | for such patterns. However, because there are cases where this can be | for such patterns. However, because there are cases where this can be |
| 4085 | useful, such patterns are now accepted, but if any repetition of the | useful, such patterns are now accepted, but if any repetition of the |
| 4086 | subpattern does in fact match no characters, the loop is forcibly bro- | subpattern does in fact match no characters, the loop is forcibly bro- |
| 4087 | ken. | ken. |
| 4088 | ||
| 4089 | By default, the quantifiers are "greedy", that is, they match as much | By default, the quantifiers are "greedy", that is, they match as much |
| 4090 | as possible (up to the maximum number of permitted times), without | as possible (up to the maximum number of permitted times), without |
| 4091 | causing the rest of the pattern to fail. The classic example of where | causing the rest of the pattern to fail. The classic example of where |
| 4092 | this gives problems is in trying to match comments in C programs. These | this gives problems is in trying to match comments in C programs. These |
| 4093 | appear between /* and */ and within the comment, individual * and / | appear between /* and */ and within the comment, individual * and / |
| 4094 | characters may appear. An attempt to match C comments by applying the | characters may appear. An attempt to match C comments by applying the |
| 4095 | pattern | pattern |
| 4096 | ||
| 4097 | /\*.*\*/ | /\*.*\*/ |
| # | Line 3953 REPETITION | Line 4100 REPETITION |
| 4100 | ||
| 4101 | /* first comment */ not comment /* second comment */ | /* first comment */ not comment /* second comment */ |
| 4102 | ||
| 4103 | fails, because it matches the entire string owing to the greediness of | fails, because it matches the entire string owing to the greediness of |
| 4104 | the .* item. | the .* item. |
| 4105 | ||
| 4106 | However, if a quantifier is followed by a question mark, it ceases to | However, if a quantifier is followed by a question mark, it ceases to |
| 4107 | be greedy, and instead matches the minimum number of times possible, so | be greedy, and instead matches the minimum number of times possible, so |
| 4108 | the pattern | the pattern |
| 4109 | ||
| 4110 | /\*.*?\*/ | /\*.*?\*/ |
| 4111 | ||
| 4112 | does the right thing with the C comments. The meaning of the various | does the right thing with the C comments. The meaning of the various |
| 4113 | quantifiers is not otherwise changed, just the preferred number of | quantifiers is not otherwise changed, just the preferred number of |
| 4114 | matches. Do not confuse this use of question mark with its use as a | matches. Do not confuse this use of question mark with its use as a |
| 4115 | quantifier in its own right. Because it has two uses, it can sometimes | quantifier in its own right. Because it has two uses, it can sometimes |
| 4116 | appear doubled, as in | appear doubled, as in |
| 4117 | ||
| 4118 | \d??\d | \d??\d |
| # | Line 3973 REPETITION | Line 4120 REPETITION |
| 4120 | which matches one digit by preference, but can match two if that is the | which matches one digit by preference, but can match two if that is the |
| 4121 | only way the rest of the pattern matches. | only way the rest of the pattern matches. |
| 4122 | ||
| 4123 | If the PCRE_UNGREEDY option is set (an option that is not available in | If the PCRE_UNGREEDY option is set (an option that is not available in |
| 4124 | Perl), the quantifiers are not greedy by default, but individual ones | Perl), the quantifiers are not greedy by default, but individual ones |
| 4125 | can be made greedy by following them with a question mark. In other | can be made greedy by following them with a question mark. In other |
| 4126 | words, it inverts the default behaviour. | words, it inverts the default behaviour. |
| 4127 | ||
| 4128 | When a parenthesized subpattern is quantified with a minimum repeat | When a parenthesized subpattern is quantified with a minimum repeat |
| 4129 | count that is greater than 1 or with a limited maximum, more memory is | count that is greater than 1 or with a limited maximum, more memory is |
| 4130 | required for the compiled pattern, in proportion to the size of the | required for the compiled pattern, in proportion to the size of the |
| 4131 | minimum or maximum. | minimum or maximum. |
| 4132 | ||
| 4133 | If a pattern starts with .* or .{0,} and the PCRE_DOTALL option (equiv- | If a pattern starts with .* or .{0,} and the PCRE_DOTALL option (equiv- |
| 4134 | alent to Perl's /s) is set, thus allowing the dot to match newlines, | alent to Perl's /s) is set, thus allowing the dot to match newlines, |
| 4135 | the pattern is implicitly anchored, because whatever follows will be | the pattern is implicitly anchored, because whatever follows will be |
| 4136 | tried against every character position in the subject string, so there | tried against every character position in the subject string, so there |
| 4137 | is no point in retrying the overall match at any position after the | is no point in retrying the overall match at any position after the |
| 4138 | first. PCRE normally treats such a pattern as though it were preceded | first. PCRE normally treats such a pattern as though it were preceded |
| 4139 | by \A. | by \A. |
| 4140 | ||
| 4141 | In cases where it is known that the subject string contains no new- | In cases where it is known that the subject string contains no new- |
| 4142 | lines, it is worth setting PCRE_DOTALL in order to obtain this opti- | lines, it is worth setting PCRE_DOTALL in order to obtain this opti- |
| 4143 | mization, or alternatively using ^ to indicate anchoring explicitly. | mization, or alternatively using ^ to indicate anchoring explicitly. |
| 4144 | ||
| 4145 | However, there is one situation where the optimization cannot be used. | However, there is one situation where the optimization cannot be used. |
| 4146 | When .* is inside capturing parentheses that are the subject of a | When .* is inside capturing parentheses that are the subject of a |
| 4147 | backreference elsewhere in the pattern, a match at the start may fail | backreference elsewhere in the pattern, a match at the start may fail |
| 4148 | where a later one succeeds. Consider, for example: | where a later one succeeds. Consider, for example: |
| 4149 | ||
| 4150 | (.*)abc\1 | (.*)abc\1 |
| 4151 | ||
| 4152 | If the subject is "xyz123abc123" the match point is the fourth charac- | If the subject is "xyz123abc123" the match point is the fourth charac- |
| 4153 | ter. For this reason, such a pattern is not implicitly anchored. | ter. For this reason, such a pattern is not implicitly anchored. |
| 4154 | ||
| 4155 | When a capturing subpattern is repeated, the value captured is the sub- | When a capturing subpattern is repeated, the value captured is the sub- |
| # | Line 4011 REPETITION | Line 4158 REPETITION |
| 4158 | (tweedle[dume]{3}\s*)+ | (tweedle[dume]{3}\s*)+ |
| 4159 | ||
| 4160 | has matched "tweedledum tweedledee" the value of the captured substring | has matched "tweedledum tweedledee" the value of the captured substring |
| 4161 | is "tweedledee". However, if there are nested capturing subpatterns, | is "tweedledee". However, if there are nested capturing subpatterns, |
| 4162 | the corresponding captured values may have been set in previous itera- | the corresponding captured values may have been set in previous itera- |
| 4163 | tions. For example, after | tions. For example, after |
| 4164 | ||
| 4165 | /(a|(b))+/ | /(a|(b))+/ |
| # | Line 4022 REPETITION | Line 4169 REPETITION |
| 4169 | ||
| 4170 | ATOMIC GROUPING AND POSSESSIVE QUANTIFIERS | ATOMIC GROUPING AND POSSESSIVE QUANTIFIERS |
| 4171 | ||
| 4172 | With both maximizing ("greedy") and minimizing ("ungreedy" or "lazy") | With both maximizing ("greedy") and minimizing ("ungreedy" or "lazy") |
| 4173 | repetition, failure of what follows normally causes the repeated item | repetition, failure of what follows normally causes the repeated item |
| 4174 | to be re-evaluated to see if a different number of repeats allows the | to be re-evaluated to see if a different number of repeats allows the |
| 4175 | rest of the pattern to match. Sometimes it is useful to prevent this, | rest of the pattern to match. Sometimes it is useful to prevent this, |
| 4176 | either to change the nature of the match, or to cause it fail earlier | either to change the nature of the match, or to cause it fail earlier |
| 4177 | than it otherwise might, when the author of the pattern knows there is | than it otherwise might, when the author of the pattern knows there is |
| 4178 | no point in carrying on. | no point in carrying on. |
| 4179 | ||
| 4180 | Consider, for example, the pattern \d+foo when applied to the subject | Consider, for example, the pattern \d+foo when applied to the subject |
| 4181 | line | line |
| 4182 | ||
| 4183 | 123456bar | 123456bar |
| 4184 | ||
| 4185 | After matching all 6 digits and then failing to match "foo", the normal | After matching all 6 digits and then failing to match "foo", the normal |
| 4186 | action of the matcher is to try again with only 5 digits matching the | action of the matcher is to try again with only 5 digits matching the |
| 4187 | \d+ item, and then with 4, and so on, before ultimately failing. | \d+ item, and then with 4, and so on, before ultimately failing. |
| 4188 | "Atomic grouping" (a term taken from Jeffrey Friedl's book) provides | "Atomic grouping" (a term taken from Jeffrey Friedl's book) provides |
| 4189 | the means for specifying that once a subpattern has matched, it is not | the means for specifying that once a subpattern has matched, it is not |
| 4190 | to be re-evaluated in this way. | to be re-evaluated in this way. |
| 4191 | ||
| 4192 | If we use atomic grouping for the previous example, the matcher gives | If we use atomic grouping for the previous example, the matcher gives |
| 4193 | up immediately on failing to match "foo" the first time. The notation | up immediately on failing to match "foo" the first time. The notation |
| 4194 | is a kind of special parenthesis, starting with (?> as in this example: | is a kind of special parenthesis, starting with (?> as in this example: |
| 4195 | ||
| 4196 | (?>\d+)foo | (?>\d+)foo |
| # | Line 4121 ATOMIC GROUPING AND POSSESSIVE QUANTIFIE | Line 4268 ATOMIC GROUPING AND POSSESSIVE QUANTIFIE |
| 4268 | ||
| 4269 | ((?>\D+)|<\d+>)*[!?] | ((?>\D+)|<\d+>)*[!?] |
| 4270 | ||
| 4271 | sequences of non-digits cannot be broken, and failure happens quickly. | sequences of non-digits cannot be broken, and failure happens quickly. |
| 4272 | ||
| 4273 | ||
| 4274 | BACK REFERENCES | BACK REFERENCES |
| 4275 | ||
| 4276 | Outside a character class, a backslash followed by a digit greater than | Outside a character class, a backslash followed by a digit greater than |
| 4277 | 0 (and possibly further digits) is a back reference to a capturing sub- | 0 (and possibly further digits) is a back reference to a capturing sub- |
| 4278 | pattern earlier (that is, to its left) in the pattern, provided there | pattern earlier (that is, to its left) in the pattern, provided there |
| 4279 | have been that many previous capturing left parentheses. | have been that many previous capturing left parentheses. |
| 4280 | ||
| 4281 | However, if the decimal number following the backslash is less than 10, | However, if the decimal number following the backslash is less than 10, |
| 4282 | it is always taken as a back reference, and causes an error only if | it is always taken as a back reference, and causes an error only if |
| 4283 | there are not that many capturing left parentheses in the entire pat- | there are not that many capturing left parentheses in the entire pat- |
| 4284 | tern. In other words, the parentheses that are referenced need not be | tern. In other words, the parentheses that are referenced need not be |
| 4285 | to the left of the reference for numbers less than 10. A "forward back | to the left of the reference for numbers less than 10. A "forward back |
| 4286 | reference" of this type can make sense when a repetition is involved | reference" of this type can make sense when a repetition is involved |
| 4287 | and the subpattern to the right has participated in an earlier itera- | and the subpattern to the right has participated in an earlier itera- |
| 4288 | tion. | tion. |
| 4289 | ||
| 4290 | It is not possible to have a numerical "forward back reference" to a | It is not possible to have a numerical "forward back reference" to a |
| 4291 | subpattern whose number is 10 or more using this syntax because a | subpattern whose number is 10 or more using this syntax because a |
| 4292 | sequence such as \50 is interpreted as a character defined in octal. | sequence such as \50 is interpreted as a character defined in octal. |
| 4293 | See the subsection entitled "Non-printing characters" above for further | See the subsection entitled "Non-printing characters" above for further |
| 4294 | details of the handling of digits following a backslash. There is no | details of the handling of digits following a backslash. There is no |
| 4295 | such problem when named parentheses are used. A back reference to any | such problem when named parentheses are used. A back reference to any |
| 4296 | subpattern is possible using named parentheses (see below). | subpattern is possible using named parentheses (see below). |
| 4297 | ||
| 4298 | Another way of avoiding the ambiguity inherent in the use of digits | Another way of avoiding the ambiguity inherent in the use of digits |
| 4299 | following a backslash is to use the \g escape sequence, which is a fea- | following a backslash is to use the \g escape sequence, which is a fea- |
| 4300 | ture introduced in Perl 5.10. This escape must be followed by an | ture introduced in Perl 5.10. This escape must be followed by an |
| 4301 | unsigned number or a negative number, optionally enclosed in braces. | unsigned number or a negative number, optionally enclosed in braces. |
| 4302 | These examples are all identical: | These examples are all identical: |
| 4303 | ||
| 4304 | (ring), \1 | (ring), \1 |
| 4305 | (ring), \g1 | (ring), \g1 |
| 4306 | (ring), \g{1} | (ring), \g{1} |
| 4307 | ||
| 4308 | An unsigned number specifies an absolute reference without the ambigu- | An unsigned number specifies an absolute reference without the ambigu- |
| 4309 | ity that is present in the older syntax. It is also useful when literal | ity that is present in the older syntax. It is also useful when literal |
| 4310 | digits follow the reference. A negative number is a relative reference. | digits follow the reference. A negative number is a relative reference. |
| 4311 | Consider this example: | Consider this example: |
| # | Line 4166 BACK REFERENCES | Line 4313 BACK REFERENCES |
| 4313 | (abc(def)ghi)\g{-1} | (abc(def)ghi)\g{-1} |
| 4314 | ||
| 4315 | The sequence \g{-1} is a reference to the most recently started captur- | The sequence \g{-1} is a reference to the most recently started captur- |
| 4316 | ing subpattern before \g, that is, is it equivalent to \2. Similarly, | ing subpattern before \g, that is, is it equivalent to \2. Similarly, |
| 4317 | \g{-2} would be equivalent to \1. The use of relative references can be | \g{-2} would be equivalent to \1. The use of relative references can be |
| 4318 | helpful in long patterns, and also in patterns that are created by | helpful in long patterns, and also in patterns that are created by |
| 4319 | joining together fragments that contain references within themselves. | joining together fragments that contain references within themselves. |
| 4320 | ||
| 4321 | A back reference matches whatever actually matched the capturing sub- | A back reference matches whatever actually matched the capturing sub- |
| 4322 | pattern in the current subject string, rather than anything matching | pattern in the current subject string, rather than anything matching |
| 4323 | the subpattern itself (see "Subpatterns as subroutines" below for a way | the subpattern itself (see "Subpatterns as subroutines" below for a way |
| 4324 | of doing that). So the pattern | of doing that). So the pattern |
| 4325 | ||
| 4326 | (sens|respons)e and \1ibility | (sens|respons)e and \1ibility |
| 4327 | ||
| 4328 | matches "sense and sensibility" and "response and responsibility", but | matches "sense and sensibility" and "response and responsibility", but |
| 4329 | not "sense and responsibility". If caseful matching is in force at the | not "sense and responsibility". If caseful matching is in force at the |
| 4330 | time of the back reference, the case of letters is relevant. For exam- | time of the back reference, the case of letters is relevant. For exam- |
| 4331 | ple, | ple, |
| 4332 | ||
| 4333 | ((?i)rah)\s+\1 | ((?i)rah)\s+\1 |
| 4334 | ||
| 4335 | matches "rah rah" and "RAH RAH", but not "RAH rah", even though the | matches "rah rah" and "RAH RAH", but not "RAH rah", even though the |
| 4336 | original capturing subpattern is matched caselessly. | original capturing subpattern is matched caselessly. |
| 4337 | ||
| 4338 | There are several different ways of writing back references to named | There are several different ways of writing back references to named |
| 4339 | subpatterns. The .NET syntax \k{name} and the Perl syntax \k<name> or | subpatterns. The .NET syntax \k{name} and the Perl syntax \k<name> or |
| 4340 | \k'name' are supported, as is the Python syntax (?P=name). Perl 5.10's | \k'name' are supported, as is the Python syntax (?P=name). Perl 5.10's |
| 4341 | unified back reference syntax, in which \g can be used for both numeric | unified back reference syntax, in which \g can be used for both numeric |
| 4342 | and named references, is also supported. We could rewrite the above | and named references, is also supported. We could rewrite the above |
| 4343 | example in any of the following ways: | example in any of the following ways: |
| 4344 | ||
| 4345 | (?<p1>(?i)rah)\s+\k<p1> | (?<p1>(?i)rah)\s+\k<p1> |
| # | Line 4200 BACK REFERENCES | Line 4347 BACK REFERENCES |
| 4347 | (?P<p1>(?i)rah)\s+(?P=p1) | (?P<p1>(?i)rah)\s+(?P=p1) |
| 4348 | (?<p1>(?i)rah)\s+\g{p1} | (?<p1>(?i)rah)\s+\g{p1} |
| 4349 | ||
| 4350 | A subpattern that is referenced by name may appear in the pattern | A subpattern that is referenced by name may appear in the pattern |
| 4351 | before or after the reference. | before or after the reference. |
| 4352 | ||
| 4353 | There may be more than one back reference to the same subpattern. If a | There may be more than one back reference to the same subpattern. If a |
| 4354 | subpattern has not actually been used in a particular match, any back | subpattern has not actually been used in a particular match, any back |
| 4355 | references to it always fail. For example, the pattern | references to it always fail. For example, the pattern |
| 4356 | ||
| 4357 | (a|(bc))\2 | (a|(bc))\2 |
| 4358 | ||
| 4359 | always fails if it starts to match "a" rather than "bc". Because there | always fails if it starts to match "a" rather than "bc". Because there |
| 4360 | may be many capturing parentheses in a pattern, all digits following | may be many capturing parentheses in a pattern, all digits following |
| 4361 | the backslash are taken as part of a potential back reference number. | the backslash are taken as part of a potential back reference number. |
| 4362 | If the pattern continues with a digit character, some delimiter must be | If the pattern continues with a digit character, some delimiter must be |
| 4363 | used to terminate the back reference. If the PCRE_EXTENDED option is | used to terminate the back reference. If the PCRE_EXTENDED option is |
| 4364 | set, this can be whitespace. Otherwise an empty comment (see "Com- | set, this can be whitespace. Otherwise an empty comment (see "Com- |
| 4365 | ments" below) can be used. | ments" below) can be used. |
| 4366 | ||
| 4367 | A back reference that occurs inside the parentheses to which it refers | A back reference that occurs inside the parentheses to which it refers |
| 4368 | fails when the subpattern is first used, so, for example, (a\1) never | fails when the subpattern is first used, so, for example, (a\1) never |
| 4369 | matches. However, such references can be useful inside repeated sub- | matches. However, such references can be useful inside repeated sub- |
| 4370 | patterns. For example, the pattern | patterns. For example, the pattern |
| 4371 | ||
| 4372 | (a|b\1)+ | (a|b\1)+ |
| 4373 | ||
| 4374 | matches any number of "a"s and also "aba", "ababbaa" etc. At each iter- | matches any number of "a"s and also "aba", "ababbaa" etc. At each iter- |
| 4375 | ation of the subpattern, the back reference matches the character | ation of the subpattern, the back reference matches the character |
| 4376 | string corresponding to the previous iteration. In order for this to | string corresponding to the previous iteration. In order for this to |
| 4377 | work, the pattern must be such that the first iteration does not need | work, the pattern must be such that the first iteration does not need |
| 4378 | to match the back reference. This can be done using alternation, as in | to match the back reference. This can be done using alternation, as in |
| 4379 | the example above, or by a quantifier with a minimum of zero. | the example above, or by a quantifier with a minimum of zero. |
| 4380 | ||
| 4381 | ||
| 4382 | ASSERTIONS | ASSERTIONS |
| 4383 | ||
| 4384 | An assertion is a test on the characters following or preceding the | An assertion is a test on the characters following or preceding the |
| 4385 | current matching point that does not actually consume any characters. | current matching point that does not actually consume any characters. |
| 4386 | The simple assertions coded as \b, \B, \A, \G, \Z, \z, ^ and $ are | The simple assertions coded as \b, \B, \A, \G, \Z, \z, ^ and $ are |
| 4387 | described above. | described above. |
| 4388 | ||
| 4389 | More complicated assertions are coded as subpatterns. There are two | More complicated assertions are coded as subpatterns. There are two |
| 4390 | kinds: those that look ahead of the current position in the subject | kinds: those that look ahead of the current position in the subject |
| 4391 | string, and those that look behind it. An assertion subpattern is | string, and those that look behind it. An assertion subpattern is |
| 4392 | matched in the normal way, except that it does not cause the current | matched in the normal way, except that it does not cause the current |
| 4393 | matching position to be changed. | matching position to be changed. |
| 4394 | ||
| 4395 | Assertion subpatterns are not capturing subpatterns, and may not be | Assertion subpatterns are not capturing subpatterns, and may not be |
| 4396 | repeated, because it makes no sense to assert the same thing several | repeated, because it makes no sense to assert the same thing several |
| 4397 | times. If any kind of assertion contains capturing subpatterns within | times. If any kind of assertion contains capturing subpatterns within |
| 4398 | it, these are counted for the purposes of numbering the capturing sub- | it, these are counted for the purposes of numbering the capturing sub- |
| 4399 | patterns in the whole pattern. However, substring capturing is carried | patterns in the whole pattern. However, substring capturing is carried |
| 4400 | out only for positive assertions, because it does not make sense for | out only for positive assertions, because it does not make sense for |
| 4401 | negative assertions. | negative assertions. |
| 4402 | ||
| 4403 | Lookahead assertions | Lookahead assertions |
| # | Line 4260 ASSERTIONS | Line 4407 ASSERTIONS |
| 4407 | ||
| 4408 | \w+(?=;) | \w+(?=;) |
| 4409 | ||
| 4410 | matches a word followed by a semicolon, but does not include the semi- | matches a word followed by a semicolon, but does not include the semi- |
| 4411 | colon in the match, and | colon in the match, and |
| 4412 | ||
| 4413 | foo(?!bar) | foo(?!bar) |
| 4414 | ||
| 4415 | matches any occurrence of "foo" that is not followed by "bar". Note | matches any occurrence of "foo" that is not followed by "bar". Note |
| 4416 | that the apparently similar pattern | that the apparently similar pattern |
| 4417 | ||
| 4418 | (?!foo)bar | (?!foo)bar |
| 4419 | ||
| 4420 | does not find an occurrence of "bar" that is preceded by something | does not find an occurrence of "bar" that is preceded by something |
| 4421 | other than "foo"; it finds any occurrence of "bar" whatsoever, because | other than "foo"; it finds any occurrence of "bar" whatsoever, because |
| 4422 | the assertion (?!foo) is always true when the next three characters are | the assertion (?!foo) is always true when the next three characters are |
| 4423 | "bar". A lookbehind assertion is needed to achieve the other effect. | "bar". A lookbehind assertion is needed to achieve the other effect. |
| 4424 | ||
| 4425 | If you want to force a matching failure at some point in a pattern, the | If you want to force a matching failure at some point in a pattern, the |
| 4426 | most convenient way to do it is with (?!) because an empty string | most convenient way to do it is with (?!) because an empty string |
| 4427 | always matches, so an assertion that requires there not to be an empty | always matches, so an assertion that requires there not to be an empty |
| 4428 | string must always fail. | string must always fail. |
| 4429 | ||
| 4430 | Lookbehind assertions | Lookbehind assertions |
| 4431 | ||
| 4432 | Lookbehind assertions start with (?<= for positive assertions and (?<! | Lookbehind assertions start with (?<= for positive assertions and (?<! |
| 4433 | for negative assertions. For example, | for negative assertions. For example, |
| 4434 | ||
| 4435 | (?<!foo)bar | (?<!foo)bar |
| 4436 | ||
| 4437 | does find an occurrence of "bar" that is not preceded by "foo". The | does find an occurrence of "bar" that is not preceded by "foo". The |
| 4438 | contents of a lookbehind assertion are restricted such that all the | contents of a lookbehind assertion are restricted such that all the |
| 4439 | strings it matches must have a fixed length. However, if there are sev- | strings it matches must have a fixed length. However, if there are sev- |
| 4440 | eral top-level alternatives, they do not all have to have the same | eral top-level alternatives, they do not all have to have the same |
| 4441 | fixed length. Thus | fixed length. Thus |
| 4442 | ||
| 4443 | (?<=bullock|donkey) | (?<=bullock|donkey) |
| # | Line 4299 ASSERTIONS | Line 4446 ASSERTIONS |
| 4446 | ||
| 4447 | (?<!dogs?|cats?) | (?<!dogs?|cats?) |
| 4448 | ||
| 4449 | causes an error at compile time. Branches that match different length | causes an error at compile time. Branches that match different length |
| 4450 | strings are permitted only at the top level of a lookbehind assertion. | strings are permitted only at the top level of a lookbehind assertion. |
| 4451 | This is an extension compared with Perl (at least for 5.8), which | This is an extension compared with Perl (at least for 5.8), which |
| 4452 | requires all branches to match the same length of string. An assertion | requires all branches to match the same length of string. An assertion |
| 4453 | such as | such as |
| 4454 | ||
| 4455 | (?<=ab(c|de)) | (?<=ab(c|de)) |
| 4456 | ||
| 4457 | is not permitted, because its single top-level branch can match two | is not permitted, because its single top-level branch can match two |
| 4458 | different lengths, but it is acceptable if rewritten to use two top- | different lengths, but it is acceptable if rewritten to use two top- |
| 4459 | level branches: | level branches: |
| 4460 | ||
| 4461 | (?<=abc|abde) | (?<=abc|abde) |
| 4462 | ||
| 4463 | In some cases, the Perl 5.10 escape sequence \K (see above) can be used | In some cases, the Perl 5.10 escape sequence \K (see above) can be used |
| 4464 | instead of a lookbehind assertion; this is not restricted to a fixed- | instead of a lookbehind assertion; this is not restricted to a fixed- |
| 4465 | length. | length. |
| 4466 | ||
| 4467 | The implementation of lookbehind assertions is, for each alternative, | The implementation of lookbehind assertions is, for each alternative, |
| 4468 | to temporarily move the current position back by the fixed length and | to temporarily move the current position back by the fixed length and |
| 4469 | then try to match. If there are insufficient characters before the cur- | then try to match. If there are insufficient characters before the cur- |
| 4470 | rent position, the assertion fails. | rent position, the assertion fails. |
| 4471 | ||
| 4472 | PCRE does not allow the \C escape (which matches a single byte in UTF-8 | PCRE does not allow the \C escape (which matches a single byte in UTF-8 |
| 4473 | mode) to appear in lookbehind assertions, because it makes it impossi- | mode) to appear in lookbehind assertions, because it makes it impossi- |
| 4474 | ble to calculate the length of the lookbehind. The \X and \R escapes, | ble to calculate the length of the lookbehind. The \X and \R escapes, |
| 4475 | which can match different numbers of bytes, are also not permitted. | which can match different numbers of bytes, are also not permitted. |
| 4476 | ||
| 4477 | Possessive quantifiers can be used in conjunction with lookbehind | Possessive quantifiers can be used in conjunction with lookbehind |
| 4478 | assertions to specify efficient matching at the end of the subject | assertions to specify efficient matching at the end of the subject |
| 4479 | string. Consider a simple pattern such as | string. Consider a simple pattern such as |
| 4480 | ||
| 4481 | abcd$ | abcd$ |
| 4482 | ||
| 4483 | when applied to a long string that does not match. Because matching | when applied to a long string that does not match. Because matching |
| 4484 | proceeds from left to right, PCRE will look for each "a" in the subject | proceeds from left to right, PCRE will look for each "a" in the subject |
| 4485 | and then see if what follows matches the rest of the pattern. If the | and then see if what follows matches the rest of the pattern. If the |
| 4486 | pattern is specified as | pattern is specified as |
| 4487 | ||
| 4488 | ^.*abcd$ | ^.*abcd$ |
| 4489 | ||
| 4490 | the initial .* matches the entire string at first, but when this fails | the initial .* matches the entire string at first, but when this fails |
| 4491 | (because there is no following "a"), it backtracks to match all but the | (because there is no following "a"), it backtracks to match all but the |
| 4492 | last character, then all but the last two characters, and so on. Once | last character, then all but the last two characters, and so on. Once |
| 4493 | again the search for "a" covers the entire string, from right to left, | again the search for "a" covers the entire string, from right to left, |
| 4494 | so we are no better off. However, if the pattern is written as | so we are no better off. However, if the pattern is written as |
| 4495 | ||
| 4496 | ^.*+(?<=abcd) | ^.*+(?<=abcd) |
| 4497 | ||
| 4498 | there can be no backtracking for the .*+ item; it can match only the | there can be no backtracking for the .*+ item; it can match only the |
| 4499 | entire string. The subsequent lookbehind assertion does a single test | entire string. The subsequent lookbehind assertion does a single test |
| 4500 | on the last four characters. If it fails, the match fails immediately. | on the last four characters. If it fails, the match fails immediately. |
| 4501 | For long strings, this approach makes a significant difference to the | For long strings, this approach makes a significant difference to the |
| 4502 | processing time. | processing time. |
| 4503 | ||
| 4504 | Using multiple assertions | Using multiple assertions |
| # | Line 4360 ASSERTIONS | Line 4507 ASSERTIONS |
| 4507 | ||
| 4508 | (?<=\d{3})(?<!999)foo | (?<=\d{3})(?<!999)foo |
| 4509 | ||
| 4510 | matches "foo" preceded by three digits that are not "999". Notice that | matches "foo" preceded by three digits that are not "999". Notice that |
| 4511 | each of the assertions is applied independently at the same point in | each of the assertions is applied independently at the same point in |
| 4512 | the subject string. First there is a check that the previous three | the subject string. First there is a check that the previous three |
| 4513 | characters are all digits, and then there is a check that the same | characters are all digits, and then there is a check that the same |
| 4514 | three characters are not "999". This pattern does not match "foo" pre- | three characters are not "999". This pattern does not match "foo" pre- |
| 4515 | ceded by six characters, the first of which are digits and the last | ceded by six characters, the first of which are digits and the last |
| 4516 | three of which are not "999". For example, it doesn't match "123abc- | three of which are not "999". For example, it doesn't match "123abc- |
| 4517 | foo". A pattern to do that is | foo". A pattern to do that is |
| 4518 | ||
| 4519 | (?<=\d{3}...)(?<!999)foo | (?<=\d{3}...)(?<!999)foo |
| 4520 | ||
| 4521 | This time the first assertion looks at the preceding six characters, | This time the first assertion looks at the preceding six characters, |
| 4522 | checking that the first three are digits, and then the second assertion | checking that the first three are digits, and then the second assertion |
| 4523 | checks that the preceding three characters are not "999". | checks that the preceding three characters are not "999". |
| 4524 | ||
| # | Line 4379 ASSERTIONS | Line 4526 ASSERTIONS |
| 4526 | ||
| 4527 | (?<=(?<!foo)bar)baz | (?<=(?<!foo)bar)baz |
| 4528 | ||
| 4529 | matches an occurrence of "baz" that is preceded by "bar" which in turn | matches an occurrence of "baz" that is preceded by "bar" which in turn |
| 4530 | is not preceded by "foo", while | is not preceded by "foo", while |
| 4531 | ||
| 4532 | (?<=\d{3}(?!999)...)foo | (?<=\d{3}(?!999)...)foo |
| 4533 | ||
| 4534 | is another pattern that matches "foo" preceded by three digits and any | is another pattern that matches "foo" preceded by three digits and any |
| 4535 | three characters that are not "999". | three characters that are not "999". |
| 4536 | ||
| 4537 | ||
| 4538 | CONDITIONAL SUBPATTERNS | CONDITIONAL SUBPATTERNS |
| 4539 | ||
| 4540 | It is possible to cause the matching process to obey a subpattern con- | It is possible to cause the matching process to obey a subpattern con- |
| 4541 | ditionally or to choose between two alternative subpatterns, depending | ditionally or to choose between two alternative subpatterns, depending |
| 4542 | on the result of an assertion, or whether a previous capturing subpat- | on the result of an assertion, or whether a previous capturing subpat- |
| 4543 | tern matched or not. The two possible forms of conditional subpattern | tern matched or not. The two possible forms of conditional subpattern |
| 4544 | are | are |
| 4545 | ||
| 4546 | (?(condition)yes-pattern) | (?(condition)yes-pattern) |
| 4547 | (?(condition)yes-pattern|no-pattern) | (?(condition)yes-pattern|no-pattern) |
| 4548 | ||
| 4549 | If the condition is satisfied, the yes-pattern is used; otherwise the | If the condition is satisfied, the yes-pattern is used; otherwise the |
| 4550 | no-pattern (if present) is used. If there are more than two alterna- | no-pattern (if present) is used. If there are more than two alterna- |
| 4551 | tives in the subpattern, a compile-time error occurs. | tives in the subpattern, a compile-time error occurs. |
| 4552 | ||
| 4553 | There are four kinds of condition: references to subpatterns, refer- | There are four kinds of condition: references to subpatterns, refer- |
| 4554 | ences to recursion, a pseudo-condition called DEFINE, and assertions. | ences to recursion, a pseudo-condition called DEFINE, and assertions. |
| 4555 | ||
| 4556 | Checking for a used subpattern by number | Checking for a used subpattern by number |
| 4557 | ||
| 4558 | If the text between the parentheses consists of a sequence of digits, | If the text between the parentheses consists of a sequence of digits, |
| 4559 | the condition is true if the capturing subpattern of that number has | the condition is true if the capturing subpattern of that number has |
| 4560 | previously matched. An alternative notation is to precede the digits | previously matched. An alternative notation is to precede the digits |
| 4561 | with a plus or minus sign. In this case, the subpattern number is rela- | with a plus or minus sign. In this case, the subpattern number is rela- |
| 4562 | tive rather than absolute. The most recently opened parentheses can be | tive rather than absolute. The most recently opened parentheses can be |
| 4563 | referenced by (?(-1), the next most recent by (?(-2), and so on. In | referenced by (?(-1), the next most recent by (?(-2), and so on. In |
| 4564 | looping constructs it can also make sense to refer to subsequent groups | looping constructs it can also make sense to refer to subsequent groups |
| 4565 | with constructs such as (?(+2). | with constructs such as (?(+2). |
| 4566 | ||
| 4567 | Consider the following pattern, which contains non-significant white | Consider the following pattern, which contains non-significant white |
| 4568 | space to make it more readable (assume the PCRE_EXTENDED option) and to | space to make it more readable (assume the PCRE_EXTENDED option) and to |
| 4569 | divide it into three parts for ease of discussion: | divide it into three parts for ease of discussion: |
| 4570 | ||
| 4571 | ( \( )? [^()]+ (?(1) \) ) | ( \( )? [^()]+ (?(1) \) ) |
| 4572 | ||
| 4573 | The first part matches an optional opening parenthesis, and if that | The first part matches an optional opening parenthesis, and if that |
| 4574 | character is present, sets it as the first captured substring. The sec- | character is present, sets it as the first captured substring. The sec- |
| 4575 | ond part matches one or more characters that are not parentheses. The | ond part matches one or more characters that are not parentheses. The |
| 4576 | third part is a conditional subpattern that tests whether the first set | third part is a conditional subpattern that tests whether the first set |
| 4577 | of parentheses matched or not. If they did, that is, if subject started | of parentheses matched or not. If they did, that is, if subject started |
| 4578 | with an opening parenthesis, the condition is true, and so the yes-pat- | with an opening parenthesis, the condition is true, and so the yes-pat- |
| 4579 | tern is executed and a closing parenthesis is required. Otherwise, | tern is executed and a closing parenthesis is required. Otherwise, |
| 4580 | since no-pattern is not present, the subpattern matches nothing. In | since no-pattern is not present, the subpattern matches nothing. In |
| 4581 | other words, this pattern matches a sequence of non-parentheses, | other words, this pattern matches a sequence of non-parentheses, |
| 4582 | optionally enclosed in parentheses. | optionally enclosed in parentheses. |
| 4583 | ||
| 4584 | If you were embedding this pattern in a larger one, you could use a | If you were embedding this pattern in a larger one, you could use a |
| 4585 | relative reference: | relative reference: |
| 4586 | ||
| 4587 | ...other stuff... ( \( )? [^()]+ (?(-1) \) ) ... | ...other stuff... ( \( )? [^()]+ (?(-1) \) ) ... |
| 4588 | ||
| 4589 | This makes the fragment independent of the parentheses in the larger | This makes the fragment independent of the parentheses in the larger |
| 4590 | pattern. | pattern. |
| 4591 | ||
| 4592 | Checking for a used subpattern by name | Checking for a used subpattern by name |
| 4593 | ||
| 4594 | Perl uses the syntax (?(<name>)...) or (?('name')...) to test for a | Perl uses the syntax (?(<name>)...) or (?('name')...) to test for a |
| 4595 | used subpattern by name. For compatibility with earlier versions of | used subpattern by name. For compatibility with earlier versions of |
| 4596 | PCRE, which had this facility before Perl, the syntax (?(name)...) is | PCRE, which had this facility before Perl, the syntax (?(name)...) is |
| 4597 | also recognized. However, there is a possible ambiguity with this syn- | also recognized. However, there is a possible ambiguity with this syn- |
| 4598 | tax, because subpattern names may consist entirely of digits. PCRE | tax, because subpattern names may consist entirely of digits. PCRE |
| 4599 | looks first for a named subpattern; if it cannot find one and the name | looks first for a named subpattern; if it cannot find one and the name |
| 4600 | consists entirely of digits, PCRE looks for a subpattern of that num- | consists entirely of digits, PCRE looks for a subpattern of that num- |
| 4601 | ber, which must be greater than zero. Using subpattern names that con- | ber, which must be greater than zero. Using subpattern names that con- |
| 4602 | sist entirely of digits is not recommended. | sist entirely of digits is not recommended. |
| 4603 | ||
| 4604 | Rewriting the above example to use a named subpattern gives this: | Rewriting the above example to use a named subpattern gives this: |
| # | Line 4462 CONDITIONAL SUBPATTERNS | Line 4609 CONDITIONAL SUBPATTERNS |
| 4609 | Checking for pattern recursion | Checking for pattern recursion |
| 4610 | ||
| 4611 | If the condition is the string (R), and there is no subpattern with the | If the condition is the string (R), and there is no subpattern with the |
| 4612 | name R, the condition is true if a recursive call to the whole pattern | name R, the condition is true if a recursive call to the whole pattern |
| 4613 | or any subpattern has been made. If digits or a name preceded by amper- | or any subpattern has been made. If digits or a name preceded by amper- |
| 4614 | sand follow the letter R, for example: | sand follow the letter R, for example: |
| 4615 | ||
| 4616 | (?(R3)...) or (?(R&name)...) | (?(R3)...) or (?(R&name)...) |
| 4617 | ||
| 4618 | the condition is true if the most recent recursion is into the subpat- | the condition is true if the most recent recursion is into the subpat- |
| 4619 | tern whose number or name is given. This condition does not check the | tern whose number or name is given. This condition does not check the |
| 4620 | entire recursion stack. | entire recursion stack. |
| 4621 | ||
| 4622 | At "top level", all these recursion test conditions are false. Recur- | At "top level", all these recursion test conditions are false. Recur- |
| 4623 | sive patterns are described below. | sive patterns are described below. |
| 4624 | ||
| 4625 | Defining subpatterns for use by reference only | Defining subpatterns for use by reference only |
| 4626 | ||
| 4627 | If the condition is the string (DEFINE), and there is no subpattern | If the condition is the string (DEFINE), and there is no subpattern |
| 4628 | with the name DEFINE, the condition is always false. In this case, | with the name DEFINE, the condition is always false. In this case, |
| 4629 | there may be only one alternative in the subpattern. It is always | there may be only one alternative in the subpattern. It is always |
| 4630 | skipped if control reaches this point in the pattern; the idea of | skipped if control reaches this point in the pattern; the idea of |
| 4631 | DEFINE is that it can be used to define "subroutines" that can be ref- | DEFINE is that it can be used to define "subroutines" that can be ref- |
| 4632 | erenced from elsewhere. (The use of "subroutines" is described below.) | erenced from elsewhere. (The use of "subroutines" is described below.) |
| 4633 | For example, a pattern to match an IPv4 address could be written like | For example, a pattern to match an IPv4 address could be written like |
| 4634 | this (ignore whitespace and line breaks): | this (ignore whitespace and line breaks): |
| 4635 | ||
| 4636 | (?(DEFINE) (?<byte> 2[0-4]\d | 25[0-5] | 1\d\d | [1-9]?\d) ) | (?(DEFINE) (?<byte> 2[0-4]\d | 25[0-5] | 1\d\d | [1-9]?\d) ) |
| 4637 | \b (?&byte) (\.(?&byte)){3} \b | \b (?&byte) (\.(?&byte)){3} \b |
| 4638 | ||
| 4639 | The first part of the pattern is a DEFINE group inside which a another | The first part of the pattern is a DEFINE group inside which a another |
| 4640 | group named "byte" is defined. This matches an individual component of | group named "byte" is defined. This matches an individual component of |
| 4641 | an IPv4 address (a number less than 256). When matching takes place, | an IPv4 address (a number less than 256). When matching takes place, |
| 4642 | this part of the pattern is skipped because DEFINE acts like a false | this part of the pattern is skipped because DEFINE acts like a false |
| 4643 | condition. | condition. |
| 4644 | ||
| 4645 | The rest of the pattern uses references to the named group to match the | The rest of the pattern uses references to the named group to match the |
| 4646 | four dot-separated components of an IPv4 address, insisting on a word | four dot-separated components of an IPv4 address, insisting on a word |
| 4647 | boundary at each end. | boundary at each end. |
| 4648 | ||
| 4649 | Assertion conditions | Assertion conditions |
| 4650 | ||
| 4651 | If the condition is not in any of the above formats, it must be an | If the condition is not in any of the above formats, it must be an |
| 4652 | assertion. This may be a positive or negative lookahead or lookbehind | assertion. This may be a positive or negative lookahead or lookbehind |
| 4653 | assertion. Consider this pattern, again containing non-significant | assertion. Consider this pattern, again containing non-significant |
| 4654 | white space, and with the two alternatives on the second line: | white space, and with the two alternatives on the second line: |
| 4655 | ||
| 4656 | (?(?=[^a-z]*[a-z]) | (?(?=[^a-z]*[a-z]) |
| 4657 | \d{2}-[a-z]{3}-\d{2} | \d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2} ) | \d{2}-[a-z]{3}-\d{2} | \d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2} ) |
| 4658 | ||
| 4659 | The condition is a positive lookahead assertion that matches an | The condition is a positive lookahead assertion that matches an |
| 4660 | optional sequence of non-letters followed by a letter. In other words, | optional sequence of non-letters followed by a letter. In other words, |
| 4661 | it tests for the presence of at least one letter in the subject. If a | it tests for the presence of at least one letter in the subject. If a |
| 4662 | letter is found, the subject is matched against the first alternative; | letter is found, the subject is matched against the first alternative; |
| 4663 | otherwise it is matched against the second. This pattern matches | otherwise it is matched against the second. This pattern matches |
| 4664 | strings in one of the two forms dd-aaa-dd or dd-dd-dd, where aaa are | strings in one of the two forms dd-aaa-dd or dd-dd-dd, where aaa are |
| 4665 | letters and dd are digits. | letters and dd are digits. |
| 4666 | ||
| 4667 | ||
| 4668 | COMMENTS | COMMENTS |
| 4669 | ||
| 4670 | The sequence (?# marks the start of a comment that continues up to the | The sequence (?# marks the start of a comment that continues up to the |
| 4671 | next closing parenthesis. Nested parentheses are not permitted. The | next closing parenthesis. Nested parentheses are not permitted. The |
| 4672 | characters that make up a comment play no part in the pattern matching | characters that make up a comment play no part in the pattern matching |
| 4673 | at all. | at all. |
| 4674 | ||
| 4675 | If the PCRE_EXTENDED option is set, an unescaped # character outside a | If the PCRE_EXTENDED option is set, an unescaped # character outside a |
| 4676 | character class introduces a comment that continues to immediately | character class introduces a comment that continues to immediately |
| 4677 | after the next newline in the pattern. | after the next newline in the pattern. |
| 4678 | ||
| 4679 | ||
| 4680 | RECURSIVE PATTERNS | RECURSIVE PATTERNS |