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.TH PCREPARTIAL 3
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.SH NAME
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PCRE - Perl-compatible regular expressions
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.SH "PARTIAL MATCHING IN PCRE"
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.rs
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.sp
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In normal use of PCRE, if the subject string that is passed to
|
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\fBpcre_exec()\fP or \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP matches as far as it goes, but is
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too short to match the entire pattern, PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH is returned. There
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are circumstances where it might be helpful to distinguish this case from other
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cases in which there is no match.
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.P
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Consider, for example, an application where a human is required to type in data
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for a field with specific formatting requirements. An example might be a date
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in the form \fIddmmmyy\fP, defined by this pattern:
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.sp
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^\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed$
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.sp
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If the application sees the user's keystrokes one by one, and can check that
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what has been typed so far is potentially valid, it is able to raise an error
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as soon as a mistake is made, by beeping and not reflecting the character that
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has been typed, for example. This immediate feedback is likely to be a better
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user interface than a check that is delayed until the entire string has been
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entered. Partial matching can also be useful when the subject string is very
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long and is not all available at once.
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.P
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PCRE supports partial matching by means of the PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT and
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PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD options, which can be set when calling \fBpcre_exec()\fP or
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\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP. For backwards compatibility, PCRE_PARTIAL is a synonym
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for PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT. The essential difference between the two options is
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whether or not a partial match is preferred to an alternative complete match,
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though the details differ between the two matching functions. If both options
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are set, PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD takes precedence.
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.P
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Setting a partial matching option for \fBpcre_exec()\fP disables the use of any
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just-in-time code that was set up by calling \fBpcre_study()\fP with the
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PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE option. It also disables two of PCRE's standard
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optimizations. PCRE remembers the last literal byte in a pattern, and abandons
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matching immediately if such a byte is not present in the subject string. This
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optimization cannot be used for a subject string that might match only
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partially. If the pattern was studied, PCRE knows the minimum length of a
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matching string, and does not bother to run the matching function on shorter
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strings. This optimization is also disabled for partial matching.
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.
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.
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.SH "PARTIAL MATCHING USING pcre_exec()"
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.rs
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.sp
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A partial match occurs during a call to \fBpcre_exec()\fP when the end of the
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subject string is reached successfully, but matching cannot continue because
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more characters are needed. However, at least one character in the subject must
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have been inspected. This character need not form part of the final matched
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string; lookbehind assertions and the \eK escape sequence provide ways of
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inspecting characters before the start of a matched substring. The requirement
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for inspecting at least one character exists because an empty string can always
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be matched; without such a restriction there would always be a partial match of
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an empty string at the end of the subject.
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.P
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If there are at least two slots in the offsets vector when \fBpcre_exec()\fP
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returns with a partial match, the first slot is set to the offset of the
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earliest character that was inspected when the partial match was found. For
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convenience, the second offset points to the end of the subject so that a
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substring can easily be identified.
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.P
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For the majority of patterns, the first offset identifies the start of the
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partially matched string. However, for patterns that contain lookbehind
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assertions, or \eK, or begin with \eb or \eB, earlier characters have been
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inspected while carrying out the match. For example:
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.sp
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/(?<=abc)123/
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.sp
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This pattern matches "123", but only if it is preceded by "abc". If the subject
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string is "xyzabc12", the offsets after a partial match are for the substring
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"abc12", because all these characters are needed if another match is tried
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with extra characters added to the subject.
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.P
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What happens when a partial match is identified depends on which of the two
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partial matching options are set.
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.
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.
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.SS "PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT with pcre_exec()"
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.rs
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.sp
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If PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT is set when \fBpcre_exec()\fP identifies a partial match,
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the partial match is remembered, but matching continues as normal, and other
|
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alternatives in the pattern are tried. If no complete match can be found,
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\fBpcre_exec()\fP returns PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL instead of PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH.
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.P
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This option is "soft" because it prefers a complete match over a partial match.
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All the various matching items in a pattern behave as if the subject string is
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potentially complete. For example, \ez, \eZ, and $ match at the end of the
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subject, as normal, and for \eb and \eB the end of the subject is treated as a
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non-alphanumeric.
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.P
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If there is more than one partial match, the first one that was found provides
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the data that is returned. Consider this pattern:
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.sp
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/123\ew+X|dogY/
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.sp
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If this is matched against the subject string "abc123dog", both
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alternatives fail to match, but the end of the subject is reached during
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matching, so PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL is returned. The offsets are set to 3 and 9,
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identifying "123dog" as the first partial match that was found. (In this
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example, there are two partial matches, because "dog" on its own partially
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matches the second alternative.)
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.
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.
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.SS "PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD with pcre_exec()"
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.rs
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.sp
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If PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set for \fBpcre_exec()\fP, it returns
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PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL as soon as a partial match is found, without continuing to
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search for possible complete matches. This option is "hard" because it prefers
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an earlier partial match over a later complete match. For this reason, the
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assumption is made that the end of the supplied subject string may not be the
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true end of the available data, and so, if \ez, \eZ, \eb, \eB, or $ are
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encountered at the end of the subject, the result is PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL.
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.P
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Setting PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD also affects the way \fBpcre_exec()\fP checks UTF-8
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subject strings for validity. Normally, an invalid UTF-8 sequence causes the
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error PCRE_ERROR_BADUTF8. However, in the special case of a truncated UTF-8
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character at the end of the subject, PCRE_ERROR_SHORTUTF8 is returned when
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PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set.
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.
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.
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.SS "Comparing hard and soft partial matching"
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.rs
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.sp
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The difference between the two partial matching options can be illustrated by a
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pattern such as:
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.sp
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/dog(sbody)?/
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.sp
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This matches either "dog" or "dogsbody", greedily (that is, it prefers the
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longer string if possible). If it is matched against the string "dog" with
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PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT, it yields a complete match for "dog". However, if
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PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set, the result is PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL. On the other hand,
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if the pattern is made ungreedy the result is different:
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.sp
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/dog(sbody)??/
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.sp
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In this case the result is always a complete match because \fBpcre_exec()\fP
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finds that first, and it never continues after finding a match. It might be
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easier to follow this explanation by thinking of the two patterns like this:
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.sp
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/dog(sbody)?/ is the same as /dogsbody|dog/
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/dog(sbody)??/ is the same as /dog|dogsbody/
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.sp
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The second pattern will never match "dogsbody" when \fBpcre_exec()\fP is
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used, because it will always find the shorter match first.
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.
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.
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.SH "PARTIAL MATCHING USING pcre_dfa_exec()"
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.rs
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.sp
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The \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP function moves along the subject string character by
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character, without backtracking, searching for all possible matches
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simultaneously. If the end of the subject is reached before the end of the
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pattern, there is the possibility of a partial match, again provided that at
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least one character has been inspected.
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.P
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When PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT is set, PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL is returned only if there
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have been no complete matches. Otherwise, the complete matches are returned.
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However, if PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set, a partial match takes precedence over any
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complete matches. The portion of the string that was inspected when the longest
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partial match was found is set as the first matching string, provided there are
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at least two slots in the offsets vector.
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.P
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Because \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP always searches for all possible matches, and
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there is no difference between greedy and ungreedy repetition, its behaviour is
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different from \fBpcre_exec\fP when PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set. Consider the
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string "dog" matched against the ungreedy pattern shown above:
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.sp
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/dog(sbody)??/
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.sp
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Whereas \fBpcre_exec()\fP stops as soon as it finds the complete match for
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"dog", \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP also finds the partial match for "dogsbody", and
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so returns that when PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD is set.
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.
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.
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.SH "PARTIAL MATCHING AND WORD BOUNDARIES"
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.rs
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.sp
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If a pattern ends with one of sequences \eb or \eB, which test for word
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boundaries, partial matching with PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT can give counter-intuitive
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results. Consider this pattern:
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.sp
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/\ebcat\eb/
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.sp
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This matches "cat", provided there is a word boundary at either end. If the
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subject string is "the cat", the comparison of the final "t" with a following
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character cannot take place, so a partial match is found. However,
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\fBpcre_exec()\fP carries on with normal matching, which matches \eb at the end
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of the subject when the last character is a letter, thus finding a complete
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match. The result, therefore, is \fInot\fP PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL. The same thing
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happens with \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP, because it also finds the complete match.
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.P
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Using PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD in this case does yield PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL, because
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then the partial match takes precedence.
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.
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.
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.SH "FORMERLY RESTRICTED PATTERNS"
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.rs
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.sp
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For releases of PCRE prior to 8.00, because of the way certain internal
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optimizations were implemented in the \fBpcre_exec()\fP function, the
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PCRE_PARTIAL option (predecessor of PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT) could not be used with
|
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all patterns. From release 8.00 onwards, the restrictions no longer apply, and
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partial matching with \fBpcre_exec()\fP can be requested for any pattern.
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.P
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Items that were formerly restricted were repeated single characters and
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repeated metasequences. If PCRE_PARTIAL was set for a pattern that did not
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conform to the restrictions, \fBpcre_exec()\fP returned the error code
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PCRE_ERROR_BADPARTIAL (-13). This error code is no longer in use. The
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PCRE_INFO_OKPARTIAL call to \fBpcre_fullinfo()\fP to find out if a compiled
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pattern can be used for partial matching now always returns 1.
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.
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.
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.SH "EXAMPLE OF PARTIAL MATCHING USING PCRETEST"
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.rs
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.sp
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If the escape sequence \eP is present in a \fBpcretest\fP data line, the
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PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT option is used for the match. Here is a run of \fBpcretest\fP
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that uses the date example quoted above:
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.sp
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re> /^\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed$/
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data> 25jun04\eP
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0: 25jun04
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1: jun
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data> 25dec3\eP
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Partial match: 23dec3
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data> 3ju\eP
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Partial match: 3ju
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data> 3juj\eP
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No match
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data> j\eP
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No match
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.sp
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The first data string is matched completely, so \fBpcretest\fP shows the
|
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matched substrings. The remaining four strings do not match the complete
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pattern, but the first two are partial matches. Similar output is obtained
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when \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP is used.
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.P
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If the escape sequence \eP is present more than once in a \fBpcretest\fP data
|
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line, the PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD option is set for the match.
|
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.
|
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.
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.SH "MULTI-SEGMENT MATCHING WITH pcre_dfa_exec()"
|
| 249 |
.rs
|
| 250 |
.sp
|
| 251 |
When a partial match has been found using \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP, it is possible
|
| 252 |
to continue the match by providing additional subject data and calling
|
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\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP again with the same compiled regular expression, this
|
| 254 |
time setting the PCRE_DFA_RESTART option. You must pass the same working
|
| 255 |
space as before, because this is where details of the previous partial match
|
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are stored. Here is an example using \fBpcretest\fP, using the \eR escape
|
| 257 |
sequence to set the PCRE_DFA_RESTART option (\eD specifies the use of
|
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\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP):
|
| 259 |
.sp
|
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re> /^\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed$/
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data> 23ja\eP\eD
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Partial match: 23ja
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| 263 |
data> n05\eR\eD
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0: n05
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.sp
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| 266 |
The first call has "23ja" as the subject, and requests partial matching; the
|
| 267 |
second call has "n05" as the subject for the continued (restarted) match.
|
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Notice that when the match is complete, only the last part is shown; PCRE does
|
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not retain the previously partially-matched string. It is up to the calling
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program to do that if it needs to.
|
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.P
|
| 272 |
You can set the PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT or PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD options with
|
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PCRE_DFA_RESTART to continue partial matching over multiple segments. This
|
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facility can be used to pass very long subject strings to
|
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\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP.
|
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.
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.
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.SH "MULTI-SEGMENT MATCHING WITH pcre_exec()"
|
| 279 |
.rs
|
| 280 |
.sp
|
| 281 |
From release 8.00, \fBpcre_exec()\fP can also be used to do multi-segment
|
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matching. Unlike \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP, it is not possible to restart the
|
| 283 |
previous match with a new segment of data. Instead, new data must be added to
|
| 284 |
the previous subject string, and the entire match re-run, starting from the
|
| 285 |
point where the partial match occurred. Earlier data can be discarded. It is
|
| 286 |
best to use PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD in this situation, because it does not treat the
|
| 287 |
end of a segment as the end of the subject when matching \ez, \eZ, \eb, \eB,
|
| 288 |
and $. Consider an unanchored pattern that matches dates:
|
| 289 |
.sp
|
| 290 |
re> /\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed/
|
| 291 |
data> The date is 23ja\eP\eP
|
| 292 |
Partial match: 23ja
|
| 293 |
.sp
|
| 294 |
At this stage, an application could discard the text preceding "23ja", add on
|
| 295 |
text from the next segment, and call \fBpcre_exec()\fP again. Unlike
|
| 296 |
\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP, the entire matching string must always be available, and
|
| 297 |
the complete matching process occurs for each call, so more memory and more
|
| 298 |
processing time is needed.
|
| 299 |
.P
|
| 300 |
\fBNote:\fP If the pattern contains lookbehind assertions, or \eK, or starts
|
| 301 |
with \eb or \eB, the string that is returned for a partial match will include
|
| 302 |
characters that precede the partially matched string itself, because these must
|
| 303 |
be retained when adding on more characters for a subsequent matching attempt.
|
| 304 |
.
|
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.
|
| 306 |
.SH "ISSUES WITH MULTI-SEGMENT MATCHING"
|
| 307 |
.rs
|
| 308 |
.sp
|
| 309 |
Certain types of pattern may give problems with multi-segment matching,
|
| 310 |
whichever matching function is used.
|
| 311 |
.P
|
| 312 |
1. If the pattern contains a test for the beginning of a line, you need to pass
|
| 313 |
the PCRE_NOTBOL option when the subject string for any call does start at the
|
| 314 |
beginning of a line. There is also a PCRE_NOTEOL option, but in practice when
|
| 315 |
doing multi-segment matching you should be using PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD, which
|
| 316 |
includes the effect of PCRE_NOTEOL.
|
| 317 |
.P
|
| 318 |
2. Lookbehind assertions at the start of a pattern are catered for in the
|
| 319 |
offsets that are returned for a partial match. However, in theory, a lookbehind
|
| 320 |
assertion later in the pattern could require even earlier characters to be
|
| 321 |
inspected, and it might not have been reached when a partial match occurs. This
|
| 322 |
is probably an extremely unlikely case; you could guard against it to a certain
|
| 323 |
extent by always including extra characters at the start.
|
| 324 |
.P
|
| 325 |
3. Matching a subject string that is split into multiple segments may not
|
| 326 |
always produce exactly the same result as matching over one single long string,
|
| 327 |
especially when PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT is used. The section "Partial Matching and
|
| 328 |
Word Boundaries" above describes an issue that arises if the pattern ends with
|
| 329 |
\eb or \eB. Another kind of difference may occur when there are multiple
|
| 330 |
matching possibilities, because (for PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT) a partial match result
|
| 331 |
is given only when there are no completed matches. This means that as soon as
|
| 332 |
the shortest match has been found, continuation to a new subject segment is no
|
| 333 |
longer possible. Consider again this \fBpcretest\fP example:
|
| 334 |
.sp
|
| 335 |
re> /dog(sbody)?/
|
| 336 |
data> dogsb\eP
|
| 337 |
0: dog
|
| 338 |
data> do\eP\eD
|
| 339 |
Partial match: do
|
| 340 |
data> gsb\eR\eP\eD
|
| 341 |
0: g
|
| 342 |
data> dogsbody\eD
|
| 343 |
0: dogsbody
|
| 344 |
1: dog
|
| 345 |
.sp
|
| 346 |
The first data line passes the string "dogsb" to \fBpcre_exec()\fP, setting the
|
| 347 |
PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT option. Although the string is a partial match for
|
| 348 |
"dogsbody", the result is not PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL, because the shorter string
|
| 349 |
"dog" is a complete match. Similarly, when the subject is presented to
|
| 350 |
\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP in several parts ("do" and "gsb" being the first two) the
|
| 351 |
match stops when "dog" has been found, and it is not possible to continue. On
|
| 352 |
the other hand, if "dogsbody" is presented as a single string,
|
| 353 |
\fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP finds both matches.
|
| 354 |
.P
|
| 355 |
Because of these problems, it is best to use PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD when matching
|
| 356 |
multi-segment data. The example above then behaves differently:
|
| 357 |
.sp
|
| 358 |
re> /dog(sbody)?/
|
| 359 |
data> dogsb\eP\eP
|
| 360 |
Partial match: dogsb
|
| 361 |
data> do\eP\eD
|
| 362 |
Partial match: do
|
| 363 |
data> gsb\eR\eP\eP\eD
|
| 364 |
Partial match: gsb
|
| 365 |
.sp
|
| 366 |
4. Patterns that contain alternatives at the top level which do not all
|
| 367 |
start with the same pattern item may not work as expected when
|
| 368 |
PCRE_DFA_RESTART is used with \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP. For example, consider this
|
| 369 |
pattern:
|
| 370 |
.sp
|
| 371 |
1234|3789
|
| 372 |
.sp
|
| 373 |
If the first part of the subject is "ABC123", a partial match of the first
|
| 374 |
alternative is found at offset 3. There is no partial match for the second
|
| 375 |
alternative, because such a match does not start at the same point in the
|
| 376 |
subject string. Attempting to continue with the string "7890" does not yield a
|
| 377 |
match because only those alternatives that match at one point in the subject
|
| 378 |
are remembered. The problem arises because the start of the second alternative
|
| 379 |
matches within the first alternative. There is no problem with anchored
|
| 380 |
patterns or patterns such as:
|
| 381 |
.sp
|
| 382 |
1234|ABCD
|
| 383 |
.sp
|
| 384 |
where no string can be a partial match for both alternatives. This is not a
|
| 385 |
problem if \fBpcre_exec()\fP is used, because the entire match has to be rerun
|
| 386 |
each time:
|
| 387 |
.sp
|
| 388 |
re> /1234|3789/
|
| 389 |
data> ABC123\eP\eP
|
| 390 |
Partial match: 123
|
| 391 |
data> 1237890
|
| 392 |
0: 3789
|
| 393 |
.sp
|
| 394 |
Of course, instead of using PCRE_DFA_RESTART, the same technique of re-running
|
| 395 |
the entire match can also be used with \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP. Another
|
| 396 |
possibility is to work with two buffers. If a partial match at offset \fIn\fP
|
| 397 |
in the first buffer is followed by "no match" when PCRE_DFA_RESTART is used on
|
| 398 |
the second buffer, you can then try a new match starting at offset \fIn+1\fP in
|
| 399 |
the first buffer.
|
| 400 |
.
|
| 401 |
.
|
| 402 |
.SH AUTHOR
|
| 403 |
.rs
|
| 404 |
.sp
|
| 405 |
.nf
|
| 406 |
Philip Hazel
|
| 407 |
University Computing Service
|
| 408 |
Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
|
| 409 |
.fi
|
| 410 |
.
|
| 411 |
.
|
| 412 |
.SH REVISION
|
| 413 |
.rs
|
| 414 |
.sp
|
| 415 |
.nf
|
| 416 |
Last updated: 26 August 2011
|
| 417 |
Copyright (c) 1997-2011 University of Cambridge.
|
| 418 |
.fi
|