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regcomp, regexec, regsub, regerror \- regular expression handler
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int regexec(prog, string)
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regsub(prog, source, dest)
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These functions implement
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regular expressions and supporting facilities.
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compiles a regular expression into a structure of type
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and returns a pointer to it.
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The space has been allocated using
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and may be released by
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matches a NUL-terminated \fIstring\fR against the compiled regular expression
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It returns 1 for success and 0 for failure, and adjusts the contents of
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\fIprog\fR's \fIstartp\fR and \fIendp\fR (see below) accordingly.
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structure include at least the following (not necessarily in order):
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char *startp[NSUBEXP];
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is defined (as 10) in the header file.
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Once a successful \fIregexec\fR has been done using the \fIregexp\fR,
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each \fIstartp\fR-\fIendp\fR pair describes one substring
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within the \fIstring\fR,
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with the \fIstartp\fR pointing to the first character of the substring and
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the \fIendp\fR pointing to the first character following the substring.
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The 0th substring is the substring of \fIstring\fR that matched the whole
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The others are those substrings that matched parenthesized expressions
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within the regular expression, with parenthesized expressions numbered
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in left-to-right order of their opening parentheses.
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copies \fIsource\fR to \fIdest\fR, making substitutions according to the
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most recent \fIregexec\fR performed using \fIprog\fR.
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Each instance of `&' in \fIsource\fR is replaced by the substring
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indicated by \fIstartp\fR[\fI0\fR] and
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Each instance of `\e\fIn\fR', where \fIn\fR is a digit, is replaced by
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the substring indicated by
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\fIstartp\fR[\fIn\fR] and
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To get a literal `&' or `\e\fIn\fR' into \fIdest\fR, prefix it with `\e';
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to get a literal `\e' preceding `&' or `\e\fIn\fR', prefix it with
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is called whenever an error is detected in \fIregcomp\fR, \fIregexec\fR,
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The default \fIregerror\fR writes the string \fImsg\fR,
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with a suitable indicator of origin,
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and invokes \fIexit\fR(2).
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can be replaced by the user if other actions are desirable.
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.SH "REGULAR EXPRESSION SYNTAX"
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A regular expression is zero or more \fIbranches\fR, separated by `|'.
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It matches anything that matches one of the branches.
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A branch is zero or more \fIpieces\fR, concatenated.
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It matches a match for the first, followed by a match for the second, etc.
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A piece is an \fIatom\fR possibly followed by `*', `+', or `?'.
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An atom followed by `*' matches a sequence of 0 or more matches of the atom.
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An atom followed by `+' matches a sequence of 1 or more matches of the atom.
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An atom followed by `?' matches a match of the atom, or the null string.
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An atom is a regular expression in parentheses (matching a match for the
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regular expression), a \fIrange\fR (see below), `.'
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(matching any single character), `^' (matching the null string at the
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beginning of the input string), `$' (matching the null string at the
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end of the input string), a `\e' followed by a single character (matching
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that character), or a single character with no other significance
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(matching that character).
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A \fIrange\fR is a sequence of characters enclosed in `[]'.
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It normally matches any single character from the sequence.
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If the sequence begins with `^',
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it matches any single character \fInot\fR from the rest of the sequence.
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If two characters in the sequence are separated by `\-', this is shorthand
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for the full list of ASCII characters between them
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(e.g. `[0-9]' matches any decimal digit).
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To include a literal `]' in the sequence, make it the first character
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(following a possible `^').
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To include a literal `\-', make it the first or last character.
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If a regular expression could match two different parts of the input string,
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it will match the one which begins earliest.
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If both begin in the same place but match different lengths, or match
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the same length in different ways, life gets messier, as follows.
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In general, the possibilities in a list of branches are considered in
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left-to-right order, the possibilities for `*', `+', and `?' are
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considered longest-first, nested constructs are considered from the
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outermost in, and concatenated constructs are considered leftmost-first.
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The match that will be chosen is the one that uses the earliest
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possibility in the first choice that has to be made.
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If there is more than one choice, the next will be made in the same manner
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(earliest possibility) subject to the decision on the first choice.
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For example, `(ab|a)b*c' could match `abc' in one of two ways.
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The first choice is between `ab' and `a'; since `ab' is earlier, and does
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lead to a successful overall match, it is chosen.
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Since the `b' is already spoken for,
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the `b*' must match its last possibility\(emthe empty string\(emsince
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it must respect the earlier choice.
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In the particular case where no `|'s are present and there is only one
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`*', `+', or `?', the net effect is that the longest possible
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match will be chosen.
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So `ab*', presented with `xabbbby', will match `abbbb'.
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Note that if `ab*' is tried against `xabyabbbz', it
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will match `ab' just after `x', due to the begins-earliest rule.
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(In effect, the decision on where to start the match is the first choice
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to be made, hence subsequent choices must respect it even if this leads them
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to less-preferred alternatives.)
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\fIRegcomp\fR returns NULL for a failure
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(\fIregerror\fR permitting),
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where failures are syntax errors, exceeding implementation limits,
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or applying `+' or `*' to a possibly-null operand.
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Both code and manual page were
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They are intended to be compatible with the Bell V8 \fIregexp\fR(3),
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but are not derived from Bell code.
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Empty branches and empty regular expressions are not portable to V8.
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The restriction against
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applying `*' or `+' to a possibly-null operand is an artifact of the
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simplistic implementation.
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Does not support \fIegrep\fR's newline-separated branches;
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neither does the V8 \fIregexp\fR(3), though.
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compactness and simplicity,
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it's not strikingly fast.
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It does give special attention to handling simple cases quickly.
added
removed
src/regexp.3
