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1*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<html>
2*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<head>
3*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<title>pcre2api specification</title>
4*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</head>
5*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#00005A" link="#0066FF" alink="#3399FF" vlink="#2222BB">
6*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<h1>pcre2api man page</h1>
7*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<p>
8*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn to the <a href="index.html">PCRE2 index page</a>.
9*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</p>
10*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<p>
11*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis page is part of the PCRE2 HTML documentation. It was generated
12*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically from the original man page. If there is any nonsense in it,
13*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiplease consult the man page, in case the conversion went wrong.
14*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
15*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<ul>
16*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC1" href="#SEC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API BASIC FUNCTIONS</a>
17*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC2" href="#SEC2">PCRE2 NATIVE API AUXILIARY MATCH FUNCTIONS</a>
18*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC3" href="#SEC3">PCRE2 NATIVE API GENERAL CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a>
19*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC4" href="#SEC4">PCRE2 NATIVE API COMPILE CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a>
20*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC5" href="#SEC5">PCRE2 NATIVE API MATCH CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a>
21*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC6" href="#SEC6">PCRE2 NATIVE API STRING EXTRACTION FUNCTIONS</a>
22*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC7" href="#SEC7">PCRE2 NATIVE API STRING SUBSTITUTION FUNCTION</a>
23*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC8" href="#SEC8">PCRE2 NATIVE API JIT FUNCTIONS</a>
24*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC9" href="#SEC9">PCRE2 NATIVE API SERIALIZATION FUNCTIONS</a>
25*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC10" href="#SEC10">PCRE2 NATIVE API AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS</a>
26*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC11" href="#SEC11">PCRE2 NATIVE API OBSOLETE FUNCTIONS</a>
27*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC12" href="#SEC12">PCRE2 EXPERIMENTAL PATTERN CONVERSION FUNCTIONS</a>
28*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC13" href="#SEC13">PCRE2 8-BIT, 16-BIT, AND 32-BIT LIBRARIES</a>
29*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC14" href="#SEC14">PCRE2 API OVERVIEW</a>
30*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC15" href="#SEC15">STRING LENGTHS AND OFFSETS</a>
31*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC16" href="#SEC16">NEWLINES</a>
32*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC17" href="#SEC17">MULTITHREADING</a>
33*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC18" href="#SEC18">PCRE2 CONTEXTS</a>
34*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC19" href="#SEC19">CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS</a>
35*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC20" href="#SEC20">COMPILING A PATTERN</a>
36*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC21" href="#SEC21">JUST-IN-TIME (JIT) COMPILATION</a>
37*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC22" href="#SEC22">LOCALE SUPPORT</a>
38*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC23" href="#SEC23">INFORMATION ABOUT A COMPILED PATTERN</a>
39*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC24" href="#SEC24">INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN'S CALLOUTS</a>
40*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC25" href="#SEC25">SERIALIZATION AND PRECOMPILING</a>
41*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC26" href="#SEC26">THE MATCH DATA BLOCK</a>
42*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC27" href="#SEC27">MEMORY USE FOR MATCH DATA BLOCKS</a>
43*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC28" href="#SEC28">MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTION</a>
44*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC29" href="#SEC29">NEWLINE HANDLING WHEN MATCHING</a>
45*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC30" href="#SEC30">HOW PCRE2_MATCH() RETURNS A STRING AND CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS</a>
46*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC31" href="#SEC31">OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT A MATCH</a>
47*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC32" href="#SEC32">ERROR RETURNS FROM <b>pcre2_match()</b></a>
48*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC33" href="#SEC33">OBTAINING A TEXTUAL ERROR MESSAGE</a>
49*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC34" href="#SEC34">EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NUMBER</a>
50*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC35" href="#SEC35">EXTRACTING A LIST OF ALL CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS</a>
51*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC36" href="#SEC36">EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME</a>
52*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC37" href="#SEC37">CREATING A NEW STRING WITH SUBSTITUTIONS</a>
53*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC38" href="#SEC38">DUPLICATE CAPTURE GROUP NAMES</a>
54*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC39" href="#SEC39">FINDING ALL POSSIBLE MATCHES AT ONE POSITION</a>
55*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC40" href="#SEC40">MATCHING A PATTERN: THE ALTERNATIVE FUNCTION</a>
56*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC41" href="#SEC41">SEE ALSO</a>
57*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC42" href="#SEC42">AUTHOR</a>
58*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<li><a name="TOC43" href="#SEC43">REVISION</a>
59*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</ul>
60*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
61*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>#include &#60;pcre2.h&#62;</b>
62*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
63*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
64*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 is a new API for PCRE, starting at release 10.0. This document contains a
65*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidescription of all its native functions. See the
66*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2.html"><b>pcre2</b></a>
67*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocument for an overview of all the PCRE2 documentation.
68*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
69*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC1" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API BASIC FUNCTIONS</a><br>
70*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
71*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_compile(PCRE2_SPTR <i>pattern</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>,</b>
72*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, int *<i>errorcode</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>erroroffset,</i></b>
73*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
74*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
75*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
76*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_code_free(pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
77*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
78*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
79*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_data *pcre2_match_data_create(uint32_t <i>ovecsize</i>,</b>
80*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
81*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
82*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
83*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_data *pcre2_match_data_create_from_pattern(</b>
84*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
85*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
86*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
87*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
88*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
89*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
90*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
91*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
92*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
93*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_dfa_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
94*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
95*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
96*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
97*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int *<i>workspace</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>wscount</i>);</b>
98*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
99*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
100*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_match_data_free(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
101*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
102*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC2" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API AUXILIARY MATCH FUNCTIONS</a><br>
103*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
104*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SPTR pcre2_get_mark(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
105*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
106*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
107*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_match_data_size(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
108*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
109*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
110*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_match_data_heapframes_size(</b>
111*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
112*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
113*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
114*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>uint32_t pcre2_get_ovector_count(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
115*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
116*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
117*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE *pcre2_get_ovector_pointer(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
118*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
119*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
120*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_startchar(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
121*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
122*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC3" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API GENERAL CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a><br>
123*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
124*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_general_context *pcre2_general_context_create(</b>
125*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *(*<i>private_malloc</i>)(PCRE2_SIZE, void *),</b>
126*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void (*<i>private_free</i>)(void *, void *), void *<i>memory_data</i>);</b>
127*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
128*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
129*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_general_context *pcre2_general_context_copy(</b>
130*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
131*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
132*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
133*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_general_context_free(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
134*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
135*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC4" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API COMPILE CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a><br>
136*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
137*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile_context *pcre2_compile_context_create(</b>
138*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
139*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
140*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
141*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile_context *pcre2_compile_context_copy(</b>
142*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
143*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
144*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
145*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_compile_context_free(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
146*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
147*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
148*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_bsr(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
149*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
150*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
151*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
152*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_character_tables(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
153*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const uint8_t *<i>tables</i>);</b>
154*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
155*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
156*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_compile_extra_options(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
157*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>extra_options</i>);</b>
158*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
159*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
160*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_pattern_length(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
161*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
162*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
163*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
164*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_pattern_compiled_length(</b>
165*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
166*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
167*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
168*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_varlookbehind(pcre2_compile_contest *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
169*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>"  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
170*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
171*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
172*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_newline(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
173*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
174*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
175*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
176*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_parens_nest_limit(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
177*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
178*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
179*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
180*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
181*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>guard_function</i>)(uint32_t, void *), void *<i>user_data</i>);</b>
182*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
183*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC5" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API MATCH CONTEXT FUNCTIONS</a><br>
184*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
185*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_context *pcre2_match_context_create(</b>
186*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
187*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
188*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
189*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_context *pcre2_match_context_copy(</b>
190*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
191*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
192*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
193*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_match_context_free(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
194*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
195*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
196*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_callout(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
197*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callout_function</i>)(pcre2_callout_block *, void *),</b>
198*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>callout_data</i>);</b>
199*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
200*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
201*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_substitute_callout(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
202*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callout_function</i>)(pcre2_substitute_callout_block *, void *),</b>
203*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>callout_data</i>);</b>
204*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
205*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
206*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_offset_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
207*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
208*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
209*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
210*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_heap_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
211*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
212*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
213*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
214*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_match_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
215*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
216*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
217*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
218*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_depth_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
219*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
220*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
221*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC6" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API STRING EXTRACTION FUNCTIONS</a><br>
222*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
223*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_copy_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
224*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
225*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
226*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
227*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
228*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>,</b>
229*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
230*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
231*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
232*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_substring_free(PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>);</b>
233*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
234*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
235*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_get_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
236*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>bufferptr</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
237*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
238*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
239*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_get_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
240*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>bufferptr</i>,</b>
241*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
242*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
243*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
244*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_length_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
245*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>length</i>);</b>
246*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
247*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
248*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_length_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
249*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>length</i>);</b>
250*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
251*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
252*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_nametable_scan(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
253*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_SPTR *<i>first</i>, PCRE2_SPTR *<i>last</i>);</b>
254*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
255*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
256*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_number_from_name(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
257*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>);</b>
258*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
259*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
260*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_substring_list_free(PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>list</i>);</b>
261*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
262*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
263*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_list_get(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
264*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>"  PCRE2_UCHAR ***<i>listptr</i>, PCRE2_SIZE **<i>lengthsptr</i>);</b>
265*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
266*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC7" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API STRING SUBSTITUTION FUNCTION</a><br>
267*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
268*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substitute(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
269*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
270*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
271*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>replacementz</i>,</b>
272*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>rlength</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>outputbuffer</i>,</b>
273*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>outlengthptr</i>);</b>
274*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
275*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC8" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API JIT FUNCTIONS</a><br>
276*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
277*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_jit_compile(pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, uint32_t <i>options</i>);</b>
278*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
279*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
280*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_jit_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
281*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
282*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
283*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
284*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
285*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
286*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_free_unused_memory(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
287*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
288*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
289*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_stack *pcre2_jit_stack_create(size_t <i>startsize</i>,</b>
290*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  size_t <i>maxsize</i>, pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
291*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
292*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
293*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_stack_assign(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
294*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_jit_callback <i>callback_function</i>, void *<i>callback_data</i>);</b>
295*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
296*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
297*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_stack_free(pcre2_jit_stack *<i>jit_stack</i>);</b>
298*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
299*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC9" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API SERIALIZATION FUNCTIONS</a><br>
300*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
301*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int32_t pcre2_serialize_decode(pcre2_code **<i>codes</i>,</b>
302*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int32_t <i>number_of_codes</i>, const uint8_t *<i>bytes</i>,</b>
303*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
304*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
305*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
306*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int32_t pcre2_serialize_encode(const pcre2_code **<i>codes</i>,</b>
307*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int32_t <i>number_of_codes</i>, uint8_t **<i>serialized_bytes</i>,</b>
308*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>serialized_size</i>, pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
309*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
310*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
311*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_serialize_free(uint8_t *<i>bytes</i>);</b>
312*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
313*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
314*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int32_t pcre2_serialize_get_number_of_codes(const uint8_t *<i>bytes</i>);</b>
315*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
316*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC10" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS</a><br>
317*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
318*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_code_copy(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
319*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
320*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
321*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_code_copy_with_tables(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
322*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
323*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
324*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_get_error_message(int <i>errorcode</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>,</b>
325*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>bufflen</i>);</b>
326*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
327*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
328*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>const uint8_t *pcre2_maketables(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
329*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
330*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
331*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_maketables_free(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>,</b>
332*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const uint8_t *<i>tables</i>);</b>
333*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
334*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
335*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_pattern_info(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, uint32_t <i>what</i>,</b>
336*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>where</i>);</b>
337*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
338*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
339*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_callout_enumerate(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
340*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callback</i>)(pcre2_callout_enumerate_block *, void *),</b>
341*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>user_data</i>);</b>
342*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
343*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
344*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_config(uint32_t <i>what</i>, void *<i>where</i>);</b>
345*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
346*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC11" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 NATIVE API OBSOLETE FUNCTIONS</a><br>
347*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
348*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_recursion_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
349*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
350*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
351*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
352*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_recursion_memory_management(</b>
353*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
354*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *(*<i>private_malloc</i>)(size_t, void *),</b>
355*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void (*<i>private_free</i>)(void *, void *), void *<i>memory_data</i>);</b>
356*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
357*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
358*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese functions became obsolete at release 10.30 and are retained only for
359*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibackward compatibility. They should not be used in new code. The first is
360*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplaced by <b>pcre2_set_depth_limit()</b>; the second is no longer needed and
361*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihas no effect (it always returns zero).
362*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
363*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC12" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 EXPERIMENTAL PATTERN CONVERSION FUNCTIONS</a><br>
364*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
365*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_convert_context *pcre2_convert_context_create(</b>
366*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
367*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
368*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
369*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_convert_context *pcre2_convert_context_copy(</b>
370*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_convert_context *<i>cvcontext</i>);</b>
371*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
372*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
373*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_convert_context_free(pcre2_convert_context *<i>cvcontext</i>);</b>
374*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
375*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
376*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_glob_escape(pcre2_convert_context *<i>cvcontext</i>,</b>
377*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>escape_char</i>);</b>
378*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
379*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
380*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_glob_separator(pcre2_convert_context *<i>cvcontext</i>,</b>
381*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>separator_char</i>);</b>
382*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
383*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
384*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_pattern_convert(PCRE2_SPTR <i>pattern</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>,</b>
385*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>buffer</i>,</b>
386*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>blength</i>, pcre2_convert_context *<i>cvcontext</i>);</b>
387*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
388*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
389*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_converted_pattern_free(PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>converted_pattern</i>);</b>
390*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
391*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
392*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese functions provide a way of converting non-PCRE2 patterns into
393*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns that can be processed by <b>pcre2_compile()</b>. This facility is
394*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexperimental and may be changed in future releases. At present, "globs" and
395*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPOSIX basic and extended patterns can be converted. Details are given in the
396*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2convert.html"><b>pcre2convert</b></a>
397*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
398*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
399*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC13" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 8-BIT, 16-BIT, AND 32-BIT LIBRARIES</a><br>
400*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
401*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are three PCRE2 libraries, supporting 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit code
402*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits, respectively. However, there is just one header file, <b>pcre2.h</b>.
403*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis contains the function prototypes and other definitions for all three
404*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibraries. One, two, or all three can be installed simultaneously. On Unix-like
405*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisystems the libraries are called <b>libpcre2-8</b>, <b>libpcre2-16</b>, and
406*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>libpcre2-32</b>, and they can also co-exist with the original PCRE libraries.
407*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiEvery PCRE2 function comes in three different forms, one for each library, for
408*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexample:
409*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
410*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_compile_8()</b>
411*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_compile_16()</b>
412*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_compile_32()</b>
413*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
414*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are also three different sets of data types:
415*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
416*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>PCRE2_UCHAR8, PCRE2_UCHAR16, PCRE2_UCHAR32</b>
417*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>PCRE2_SPTR8,  PCRE2_SPTR16,  PCRE2_SPTR32</b>
418*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
419*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe UCHAR types define unsigned code units of the appropriate widths.
420*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, PCRE2_UCHAR16 is usually defined as `uint16_t'.
421*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe SPTR types are pointers to constants of the equivalent UCHAR types,
422*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is, they are pointers to vectors of unsigned code units.
423*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
424*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
425*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCharacter strings are passed to a PCRE2 library as sequences of unsigned
426*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiintegers in code units of the appropriate width. The length of a string may
427*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe given as a number of code units, or the string may be specified as
428*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero-terminated.
429*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
430*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
431*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMany applications use only one code unit width. For their convenience, macros
432*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare defined whose names are the generic forms such as <b>pcre2_compile()</b> and
433*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SPTR. These macros use the value of the macro PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH to
434*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigenerate the appropriate width-specific function and macro names.
435*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH is not defined by default. An application must define it
436*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito be 8, 16, or 32 before including <b>pcre2.h</b> in order to make use of the
437*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigeneric names.
438*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
439*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
440*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiApplications that use more than one code unit width can be linked with more
441*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithan one PCRE2 library, but must define PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH to be 0 before
442*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiincluding <b>pcre2.h</b>, and then use the real function names. Any code that is
443*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito be included in an environment where the value of PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH is
444*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunknown should also use the real function names. (Unfortunately, it is not
445*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipossible in C code to save and restore the value of a macro.)
446*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
447*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
448*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH is not defined before including <b>pcre2.h</b>, a
449*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiler error occurs.
450*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
451*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
452*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen using multiple libraries in an application, you must take care when
453*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprocessing any particular pattern to use only functions from a single library.
454*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if you want to run a match using a pattern that was compiled with
455*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile_16()</b>, you must do so with <b>pcre2_match_16()</b>, not
456*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_8()</b> or <b>pcre2_match_32()</b>.
457*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
458*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
459*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn the function summaries above, and in the rest of this document and other
460*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 documents, functions and data types are described using their generic
461*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminames, without the _8, _16, or _32 suffix.
462*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
463*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC14" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 API OVERVIEW</a><br>
464*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
465*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 has its own native API, which is described in this document. There are
466*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialso some wrapper functions for the 8-bit library that correspond to the
467*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPOSIX regular expression API, but they do not give access to all the
468*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctionality of PCRE2 and they are not thread-safe. They are described in the
469*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2posix.html"><b>pcre2posix</b></a>
470*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation. Both these APIs define a set of C function calls.
471*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
472*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
473*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe native API C data types, function prototypes, option values, and error
474*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicodes are defined in the header file <b>pcre2.h</b>, which also contains
475*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefinitions of PCRE2_MAJOR and PCRE2_MINOR, the major and minor release numbers
476*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the library. Applications can use these to include support for different
477*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireleases of PCRE2.
478*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
479*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
480*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn a Windows environment, if you want to statically link an application program
481*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiagainst a non-dll PCRE2 library, you must define PCRE2_STATIC before including
482*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2.h</b>.
483*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
484*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
485*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe functions <b>pcre2_compile()</b> and <b>pcre2_match()</b> are used for
486*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiling and matching regular expressions in a Perl-compatible manner. A
487*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisample program that demonstrates the simplest way of using them is provided in
488*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe file called <i>pcre2demo.c</i> in the PCRE2 source distribution. A listing
489*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof this program is given in the
490*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2demo.html"><b>pcre2demo</b></a>
491*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation, and the
492*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2sample.html"><b>pcre2sample</b></a>
493*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation describes how to compile and run it.
494*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
495*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
496*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe compiling and matching functions recognize various options that are passed
497*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias bits in an options argument. There are also some more complicated parameters
498*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuch as custom memory management functions and resource limits that are passed
499*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin "contexts" (which are just memory blocks, described below). Simple
500*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiapplications do not need to make use of contexts.
501*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
502*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
503*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiJust-in-time (JIT) compiler support is an optional feature of PCRE2 that can be
504*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibuilt in appropriate hardware environments. It greatly speeds up the matching
505*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiperformance of many patterns. Programs can request that it be used if
506*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiavailable by calling <b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b> after a pattern has been
507*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuccessfully compiled by <b>pcre2_compile()</b>. This does nothing if JIT
508*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisupport is not available.
509*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
510*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
511*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMore complicated programs might need to make use of the specialist functions
512*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_stack_create()</b>, <b>pcre2_jit_stack_free()</b>, and
513*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_stack_assign()</b> in order to control the JIT code's memory usage.
514*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
515*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
516*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiJIT matching is automatically used by <b>pcre2_match()</b> if it is available,
517*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunless the PCRE2_NO_JIT option is set. There is also a direct interface for JIT
518*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching, which gives improved performance at the expense of less sanity
519*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimichecking. The JIT-specific functions are discussed in the
520*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
521*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
522*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
523*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
524*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA second matching function, <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, which is not
525*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPerl-compatible, is also provided. This uses a different algorithm for the
526*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching. The alternative algorithm finds all possible matches (at a given
527*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoint in the subject), and scans the subject just once (unless there are
528*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilookaround assertions). However, this algorithm does not return captured
529*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings. A description of the two matching algorithms and their advantages
530*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand disadvantages is given in the
531*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2matching.html"><b>pcre2matching</b></a>
532*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation. There is no JIT support for <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>.
533*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
534*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
535*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn addition to the main compiling and matching functions, there are convenience
536*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions for extracting captured substrings from a subject string that has
537*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibeen matched by <b>pcre2_match()</b>. They are:
538*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
539*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_copy_byname()</b>
540*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber()</b>
541*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_get_byname()</b>
542*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_get_bynumber()</b>
543*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_list_get()</b>
544*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_length_byname()</b>
545*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_length_bynumber()</b>
546*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_nametable_scan()</b>
547*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>pcre2_substring_number_from_name()</b>
548*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
549*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_substring_free()</b> and <b>pcre2_substring_list_free()</b> are also
550*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprovided, to free memory used for extracted strings. If either of these
551*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions is called with a NULL argument, the function returns immediately
552*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwithout doing anything.
553*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
554*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
555*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> can be called to match a pattern and
556*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn a copy of the subject string with substitutions for parts that were
557*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatched.
558*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
559*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
560*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFunctions whose names begin with <b>pcre2_serialize_</b> are used for saving
561*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled patterns on disc or elsewhere, and reloading them later.
562*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
563*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
564*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFinally, there are functions for finding out information about a compiled
565*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern (<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b>) and about the configuration with which
566*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 was built (<b>pcre2_config()</b>).
567*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
568*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
569*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFunctions with names ending with <b>_free()</b> are used for freeing memory
570*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiblocks of various sorts. In all cases, if one of these functions is called with
571*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia NULL argument, it does nothing.
572*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
573*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC15" href="#TOC1">STRING LENGTHS AND OFFSETS</a><br>
574*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
575*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe PCRE2 API uses string lengths and offsets into strings of code units in
576*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiseveral places. These values are always of type PCRE2_SIZE, which is an
577*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunsigned integer type, currently always defined as <i>size_t</i>. The largest
578*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue that can be stored in such a type (that is ~(PCRE2_SIZE)0) is reserved
579*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias a special indicator for zero-terminated strings and unset offsets.
580*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiTherefore, the longest string that can be handled is one less than this
581*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimaximum. Note that string lengths are always given in code units. Only in the
582*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi8-bit library is such a length the same as the number of bytes in the string.
583*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="newlines"></a></P>
584*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC16" href="#TOC1">NEWLINES</a><br>
585*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
586*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 supports five different conventions for indicating line breaks in
587*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistrings: a single CR (carriage return) character, a single LF (linefeed)
588*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter, the two-character sequence CRLF, any of the three preceding, or any
589*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUnicode newline sequence. The Unicode newline sequences are the three just
590*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimentioned, plus the single characters VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF (form feed,
591*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiU+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and PS
592*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(paragraph separator, U+2029).
593*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
594*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
595*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiEach of the first three conventions is used by at least one operating system as
596*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiits standard newline sequence. When PCRE2 is built, a default can be specified.
597*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf it is not, the default is set to LF, which is the Unix standard. However,
598*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe newline convention can be changed by an application when calling
599*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b>, or it can be specified by special text at the start of
600*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe pattern itself; this overrides any other settings. See the
601*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
602*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage for details of the special character sequences.
603*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
604*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
605*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn the PCRE2 documentation the word "newline" is used to mean "the character or
606*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipair of characters that indicate a line break". The choice of newline
607*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconvention affects the handling of the dot, circumflex, and dollar
608*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimetacharacters, the handling of #-comments in /x mode, and, when CRLF is a
609*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecognized line ending sequence, the match position advancement for a
610*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminon-anchored pattern. There is more detail about this in the
611*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchoptions">section on <b>pcre2_match()</b> options</a>
612*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibelow.
613*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
614*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
615*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe choice of newline convention does not affect the interpretation of
616*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe \n or \r escape sequences, nor does it affect what \R matches; this has
617*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiits own separate convention.
618*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
619*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC17" href="#TOC1">MULTITHREADING</a><br>
620*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
621*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn a multithreaded application it is important to keep thread-specific data
622*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiseparate from data that can be shared between threads. The PCRE2 library code
623*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiitself is thread-safe: it contains no static or global variables. The API is
624*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidesigned to be fairly simple for non-threaded applications while at the same
625*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitime ensuring that multithreaded applications can use it.
626*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
627*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
628*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are several different blocks of data that are used to pass information
629*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibetween the application and the PCRE2 libraries.
630*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
631*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
632*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe compiled pattern
633*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
634*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
635*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA pointer to the compiled form of a pattern is returned to the user when
636*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b> is successful. The data in the compiled pattern is fixed,
637*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand does not change when the pattern is matched. Therefore, it is thread-safe,
638*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is, the same compiled pattern can be used by more than one thread
639*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisimultaneously. For example, an application can compile all its patterns at the
640*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistart, before forking off multiple threads that use them. However, if the
641*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimijust-in-time (JIT) optimization feature is being used, it needs separate memory
642*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistack areas for each thread. See the
643*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
644*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for more details.
645*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
646*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
647*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn a more complicated situation, where patterns are compiled only when they are
648*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst needed, but are still shared between threads, pointers to compiled
649*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns must be protected from simultaneous writing by multiple threads. This
650*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis somewhat tricky to do correctly. If you know that writing to a pointer is
651*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiatomic in your environment, you can use logic like this:
652*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
653*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Get a read-only (shared) lock (mutex) for pointer
654*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  if (pointer == NULL)
655*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    {
656*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    Get a write (unique) lock for pointer
657*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    if (pointer == NULL) pointer = pcre2_compile(...
658*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    }
659*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Release the lock
660*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Use pointer in pcre2_match()
661*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
662*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOf course, testing for compilation errors should also be included in the code.
663*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
664*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
665*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe reason for checking the pointer a second time is as follows: Several
666*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithreads may have acquired the shared lock and tested the pointer for being
667*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNULL, but only one of them will be given the write lock, with the rest kept
668*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwaiting. The winning thread will compile the pattern and store the result.
669*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter this thread releases the write lock, another thread will get it, and if
670*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit does not retest pointer for being NULL, will recompile the pattern and
671*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioverwrite the pointer, creating a memory leak and possibly causing other
672*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiissues.
673*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
674*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
675*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn an environment where writing to a pointer may not be atomic, the above logic
676*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis not sufficient. The thread that is doing the compiling may be descheduled
677*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafter writing only part of the pointer, which could cause other threads to use
678*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimian invalid value. Instead of checking the pointer itself, a separate "pointer
679*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis valid" flag (that can be updated atomically) must be used:
680*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
681*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Get a read-only (shared) lock (mutex) for pointer
682*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  if (!pointer_is_valid)
683*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    {
684*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    Get a write (unique) lock for pointer
685*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    if (!pointer_is_valid)
686*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      {
687*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      pointer = pcre2_compile(...
688*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      pointer_is_valid = TRUE
689*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      }
690*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    }
691*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Release the lock
692*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Use pointer in pcre2_match()
693*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
694*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf JIT is being used, but the JIT compilation is not being done immediately
695*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(perhaps waiting to see if the pattern is used often enough), similar logic is
696*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequired. JIT compilation updates a value within the compiled code block, so a
697*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithread must gain unique write access to the pointer before calling
698*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b>. Alternatively, <b>pcre2_code_copy()</b> or
699*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code_copy_with_tables()</b> can be used to obtain a private copy of the
700*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled code before calling the JIT compiler.
701*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
702*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
703*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiContext blocks
704*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
705*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
706*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe next main section below introduces the idea of "contexts" in which PCRE2
707*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions are called. A context is nothing more than a collection of parameters
708*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat control the way PCRE2 operates. Grouping a number of parameters together
709*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin a context is a convenient way of passing them to a PCRE2 function without
710*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing lots of arguments. The parameters that are stored in contexts are in some
711*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisense "advanced features" of the API. Many straightforward applications will
712*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot need to use contexts.
713*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
714*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
715*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn a multithreaded application, if the parameters in a context are values that
716*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare never changed, the same context can be used by all the threads. However, if
717*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiany thread needs to change any value in a context, it must make its own
718*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithread-specific copy.
719*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
720*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
721*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMatch blocks
722*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
723*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
724*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe matching functions need a block of memory for storing the results of a
725*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch. This includes details of what was matched, as well as additional
726*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinformation such as the name of a (*MARK) setting. Each thread must provide its
727*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiown copy of this memory.
728*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
729*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC18" href="#TOC1">PCRE2 CONTEXTS</a><br>
730*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
731*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSome PCRE2 functions have a lot of parameters, many of which are used only by
732*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimispecialist applications, for example, those that use custom memory management
733*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior non-standard character tables. To keep function argument lists at a
734*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireasonable size, and at the same time to keep the API extensible, "uncommon"
735*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparameters are passed to certain functions in a <b>context</b> instead of
736*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidirectly. A context is just a block of memory that holds the parameter values.
737*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiApplications that do not need to adjust any of the context parameters can pass
738*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNULL when a context pointer is required.
739*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
740*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
741*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are three different types of context: a general context that is relevant
742*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor several PCRE2 operations, a compile-time context, and a match-time context.
743*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
744*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
745*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe general context
746*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
747*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
748*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAt present, this context just contains pointers to (and data for) external
749*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory management functions that are called from several places in the PCRE2
750*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary. The context is named `general' rather than specifically `memory'
751*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibecause in future other fields may be added. If you do not want to supply your
752*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiown custom memory management functions, you do not need to bother with a
753*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigeneral context. A general context is created by:
754*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
755*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
756*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_general_context *pcre2_general_context_create(</b>
757*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *(*<i>private_malloc</i>)(PCRE2_SIZE, void *),</b>
758*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void (*<i>private_free</i>)(void *, void *), void *<i>memory_data</i>);</b>
759*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
760*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
761*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe two function pointers specify custom memory management functions, whose
762*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprototypes are:
763*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
764*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>void *private_malloc(PCRE2_SIZE, void *);</b>
765*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  <b>void  private_free(void *, void *);</b>
766*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
767*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhenever code in PCRE2 calls these functions, the final argument is the value
768*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof <i>memory_data</i>. Either of the first two arguments of the creation
769*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction may be NULL, in which case the system memory management functions
770*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>malloc()</i> and <i>free()</i> are used. (This is not currently useful, as
771*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithere are no other fields in a general context, but in future there might be.)
772*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>private_malloc()</i> function is used (if supplied) to obtain memory for
773*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistoring the context, and all three values are saved as part of the context.
774*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
775*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
776*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhenever PCRE2 creates a data block of any kind, the block contains a pointer
777*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito the <i>free()</i> function that matches the <i>malloc()</i> function that was
778*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused. When the time comes to free the block, this function is called.
779*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
780*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
781*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA general context can be copied by calling:
782*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
783*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
784*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_general_context *pcre2_general_context_copy(</b>
785*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
786*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
787*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
788*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe memory used for a general context should be freed by calling:
789*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
790*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
791*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_general_context_free(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
792*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
793*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
794*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this function is passed a NULL argument, it returns immediately without
795*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidoing anything.
796*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="compilecontext"></a></P>
797*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
798*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe compile context
799*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
800*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
801*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA compile context is required if you want to provide an external function for
802*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistack checking during compilation or to change the default values of any of the
803*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifollowing compile-time parameters:
804*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
805*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  What \R matches (Unicode newlines or CR, LF, CRLF only)
806*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2's character tables
807*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  The newline character sequence
808*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  The compile time nested parentheses limit
809*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  The maximum length of the pattern string
810*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  The extra options bits (none set by default)
811*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
812*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA compile context is also required if you are using custom memory management.
813*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf none of these apply, just pass NULL as the context argument of
814*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>pcre2_compile()</i>.
815*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
816*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
817*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA compile context is created, copied, and freed by the following functions:
818*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
819*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
820*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile_context *pcre2_compile_context_create(</b>
821*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
822*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
823*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
824*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile_context *pcre2_compile_context_copy(</b>
825*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
826*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
827*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
828*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_compile_context_free(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
829*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
830*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
831*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA compile context is created with default values for its parameters. These can
832*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe changed by calling the following functions, which return 0 on success, or
833*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_BADDATA if invalid data is detected.
834*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
835*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
836*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_bsr(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
837*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
838*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
839*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
840*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe value must be PCRE2_BSR_ANYCRLF, to specify that \R matches only CR, LF,
841*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior CRLF, or PCRE2_BSR_UNICODE, to specify that \R matches any Unicode line
842*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiending sequence. The value is used by the JIT compiler and by the two
843*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinterpreted matching functions, <i>pcre2_match()</i> and
844*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>pcre2_dfa_match()</i>.
845*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
846*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
847*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_character_tables(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
848*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const uint8_t *<i>tables</i>);</b>
849*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
850*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
851*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe value must be the result of a call to <b>pcre2_maketables()</b>, whose only
852*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument is a general context. This function builds a set of character tables
853*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the current locale.
854*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
855*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
856*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_compile_extra_options(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
857*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>extra_options</i>);</b>
858*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
859*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
860*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs PCRE2 has developed, almost all the 32 option bits that are available in
861*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe <i>options</i> argument of <b>pcre2_compile()</b> have been used up. To avoid
862*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirunning out, the compile context contains a set of extra option bits which are
863*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused for some newer, assumed rarer, options. This function sets those bits. It
864*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialways sets all the bits (either on or off). It does not modify any existing
865*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisetting. The available options are defined in the section entitled "Extra
866*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompile options"
867*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#extracompileoptions">below.</a>
868*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
869*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
870*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_pattern_length(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
871*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
872*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
873*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
874*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis sets a maximum length, in code units, for any pattern string that is
875*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled with this context. If the pattern is longer, an error is generated.
876*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis facility is provided so that applications that accept patterns from
877*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexternal sources can limit their size. The default is the largest number that a
878*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SIZE variable can hold, which is effectively unlimited.
879*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
880*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
881*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_pattern_compiled_length(</b>
882*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
883*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
884*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
885*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis sets a maximum size, in bytes, for the memory needed to hold the compiled
886*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiversion of a pattern that is compiled with this context. If the pattern needs
887*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimore memory, an error is generated. This facility is provided so that
888*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiapplications that accept patterns from external sources can limit the amount of
889*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory they use. The default is the largest number that a PCRE2_SIZE variable
890*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican hold, which is effectively unlimited.
891*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
892*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
893*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_max_varlookbehind(pcre2_compile_contest *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
894*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>"  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
895*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
896*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
897*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis sets a maximum length for the number of characters matched by a
898*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivariable-length lookbehind assertion. The default is set when PCRE2 is built,
899*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith the ultimate default being 255, the same as Perl. Lookbehind assertions
900*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwithout a bounding length are not supported.
901*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
902*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
903*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_newline(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
904*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
905*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
906*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
907*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis specifies which characters or character sequences are to be recognized as
908*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewlines. The value must be one of PCRE2_NEWLINE_CR (carriage return only),
909*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NEWLINE_LF (linefeed only), PCRE2_NEWLINE_CRLF (the two-character
910*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequence CR followed by LF), PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF (any of the above),
911*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NEWLINE_ANY (any Unicode newline sequence), or PCRE2_NEWLINE_NUL (the
912*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNUL character, that is a binary zero).
913*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
914*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
915*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA pattern can override the value set in the compile context by starting with a
916*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequence such as (*CRLF). See the
917*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
918*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage for details.
919*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
920*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
921*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen a pattern is compiled with the PCRE2_EXTENDED or PCRE2_EXTENDED_MORE
922*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption, the newline convention affects the recognition of the end of internal
923*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicomments starting with #. The value is saved with the compiled pattern for
924*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubsequent use by the JIT compiler and by the two interpreted matching
925*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions, <i>pcre2_match()</i> and <i>pcre2_dfa_match()</i>.
926*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
927*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
928*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_parens_nest_limit(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
929*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
930*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
931*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
932*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis parameter adjusts the limit, set when PCRE2 is built (default 250), on the
933*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidepth of parenthesis nesting in a pattern. This limit stops rogue patterns
934*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing up too much system stack when being compiled. The limit applies to
935*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparentheses of all kinds, not just capturing parentheses.
936*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
937*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
938*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard(pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>,</b>
939*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>guard_function</i>)(uint32_t, void *), void *<i>user_data</i>);</b>
940*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
941*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
942*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere is at least one application that runs PCRE2 in threads with very limited
943*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisystem stack, where running out of stack is to be avoided at all costs. The
944*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparenthesis limit above cannot take account of how much stack is actually
945*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiavailable during compilation. For a finer control, you can supply a function
946*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is called whenever <b>pcre2_compile()</b> starts to compile a parenthesized
947*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipart of a pattern. This function can check the actual stack size (or anything
948*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimielse that it wants to, of course).
949*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
950*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
951*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe first argument to the callout function gives the current depth of
952*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminesting, and the second is user data that is set up by the last argument of
953*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard()</b>. The callout function should return
954*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero if all is well, or non-zero to force an error.
955*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="matchcontext"></a></P>
956*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
957*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe match context
958*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
959*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
960*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA match context is required if you want to:
961*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
962*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Set up a callout function
963*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Set an offset limit for matching an unanchored pattern
964*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Change the limit on the amount of heap used when matching
965*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Change the backtracking match limit
966*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Change the backtracking depth limit
967*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Set custom memory management specifically for the match
968*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
969*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf none of these apply, just pass NULL as the context argument of
970*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>, <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, or <b>pcre2_jit_match()</b>.
971*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
972*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
973*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA match context is created, copied, and freed by the following functions:
974*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
975*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
976*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_context *pcre2_match_context_create(</b>
977*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
978*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
979*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
980*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_context *pcre2_match_context_copy(</b>
981*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
982*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
983*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
984*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_match_context_free(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
985*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
986*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
987*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA match context is created with default values for its parameters. These can
988*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe changed by calling the following functions, which return 0 on success, or
989*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_BADDATA if invalid data is detected.
990*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
991*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
992*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_callout(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
993*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callout_function</i>)(pcre2_callout_block *, void *),</b>
994*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>callout_data</i>);</b>
995*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
996*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
997*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis sets up a callout function for PCRE2 to call at specified points
998*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiduring a matching operation. Details are given in the
999*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2callout.html"><b>pcre2callout</b></a>
1000*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
1001*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1002*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1003*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_substitute_callout(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
1004*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callout_function</i>)(pcre2_substitute_callout_block *, void *),</b>
1005*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>callout_data</i>);</b>
1006*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1007*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1008*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis sets up a callout function for PCRE2 to call after each substitution
1009*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimade by <b>pcre2_substitute()</b>. Details are given in the section entitled
1010*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"Creating a new string with substitutions"
1011*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#substitutions">below.</a>
1012*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1013*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1014*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_offset_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
1015*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>value</i>);</b>
1016*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1017*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1018*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>offset_limit</i> parameter limits how far an unanchored search can
1019*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiadvance in the subject string. The default value is PCRE2_UNSET. The
1020*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> and <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> functions return
1021*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH if a match with a starting point before or at the given
1022*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioffset is not found. The <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> function makes no more
1023*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstitutions.
1024*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1025*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1026*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if the pattern /abc/ is matched against "123abc" with an offset
1027*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit less than 3, the result is PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH. A match can never be
1028*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifound if the <i>startoffset</i> argument of <b>pcre2_match()</b>,
1029*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, or <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> is greater than the offset
1030*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit set in the match context.
1031*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1032*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1033*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen using this facility, you must set the PCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT option when
1034*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_compile()</b> so that when JIT is in use, different code can be
1035*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled. If a match is started with a non-default match limit when
1036*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT is not set, an error is generated.
1037*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1038*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1039*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe offset limit facility can be used to track progress when searching large
1040*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject strings or to limit the extent of global substitutions. See also the
1041*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_FIRSTLINE option, which requires a match to start before or at the first
1042*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline that follows the start of matching in the subject. If this is set with
1043*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimian offset limit, a match must occur in the first line and also within the
1044*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioffset limit. In other words, whichever limit comes first is used.
1045*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1046*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1047*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_heap_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
1048*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
1049*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1050*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1051*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>heap_limit</i> parameter specifies, in units of kibibytes (1024 bytes),
1052*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe maximum amount of heap memory that <b>pcre2_match()</b> may use to hold
1053*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibacktracking information when running an interpretive match. This limit also
1054*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiapplies to <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, which may use the heap when processing
1055*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns with a lot of nested pattern recursion or lookarounds or atomic
1056*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups. This limit does not apply to matching with the JIT optimization, which
1057*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihas its own memory control arrangements (see the
1058*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
1059*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for more details). If the limit is reached, the negative error
1060*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode PCRE2_ERROR_HEAPLIMIT is returned. The default limit can be set when PCRE2
1061*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis built; if it is not, the default is set very large and is essentially
1062*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunlimited.
1063*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1064*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1065*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA value for the heap limit may also be supplied by an item at the start of a
1066*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern of the form
1067*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1068*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (*LIMIT_HEAP=ddd)
1069*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1070*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhere ddd is a decimal number. However, such a setting is ignored unless ddd is
1071*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiless than the limit set by the caller of <b>pcre2_match()</b> or, if no such
1072*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit is set, less than the default.
1073*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1074*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1075*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_match()</b> function always needs some heap memory, so setting a
1076*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue of zero guarantees a "heap limit exceeded" error. Details of how
1077*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> uses the heap are given in the
1078*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2perform.html"><b>pcre2perform</b></a>
1079*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
1080*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1081*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1082*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, a vector on the system stack is used when
1083*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprocessing pattern recursions, lookarounds, or atomic groups, and only if this
1084*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis not big enough is heap memory used. In this case, setting a value of zero
1085*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidisables the use of the heap.
1086*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1087*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1088*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_match_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
1089*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
1090*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1091*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1092*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>match_limit</i> parameter provides a means of preventing PCRE2 from using
1093*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiup too many computing resources when processing patterns that are not going to
1094*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch, but which have a very large number of possibilities in their search
1095*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitrees. The classic example is a pattern that uses nested unlimited repeats.
1096*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1097*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1098*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere is an internal counter in <b>pcre2_match()</b> that is incremented each
1099*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitime round its main matching loop. If this value reaches the match limit,
1100*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> returns the negative value PCRE2_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT. This has
1101*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe effect of limiting the amount of backtracking that can take place. For
1102*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns that are not anchored, the count restarts from zero for each position
1103*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the subject string. This limit also applies to <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>,
1104*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithough the counting is done in a different way.
1105*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1106*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1107*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen <b>pcre2_match()</b> is called with a pattern that was successfully
1108*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprocessed by <b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b>, the way in which matching is executed
1109*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis entirely different. However, there is still the possibility of runaway
1110*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching that goes on for a very long time, and so the <i>match_limit</i> value
1111*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis also used in this case (but in a different way) to limit how long the
1112*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching can continue.
1113*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1114*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1115*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe default value for the limit can be set when PCRE2 is built; the default is
1116*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi10 million, which handles all but the most extreme cases. A value for the match
1117*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit may also be supplied by an item at the start of a pattern of the form
1118*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1119*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (*LIMIT_MATCH=ddd)
1120*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1121*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhere ddd is a decimal number. However, such a setting is ignored unless ddd is
1122*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiless than the limit set by the caller of <b>pcre2_match()</b> or
1123*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> or, if no such limit is set, less than the default.
1124*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1125*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1126*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_depth_limit(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
1127*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>value</i>);</b>
1128*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1129*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1130*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis parameter limits the depth of nested backtracking in <b>pcre2_match()</b>.
1131*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiEach time a nested backtracking point is passed, a new memory frame is used
1132*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito remember the state of matching at that point. Thus, this parameter
1133*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiindirectly limits the amount of memory that is used in a match. However,
1134*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibecause the size of each memory frame depends on the number of capturing
1135*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparentheses, the actual memory limit varies from pattern to pattern. This limit
1136*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwas more useful in versions before 10.30, where function recursion was used for
1137*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibacktracking.
1138*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1139*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1140*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe depth limit is not relevant, and is ignored, when matching is done using
1141*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiJIT compiled code. However, it is supported by <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, which
1142*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuses it to limit the depth of nested internal recursive function calls that
1143*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiimplement atomic groups, lookaround assertions, and pattern recursions. This
1144*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimits, indirectly, the amount of system stack that is used. It was more useful
1145*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin versions before 10.32, when stack memory was used for local workspace
1146*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivectors for recursive function calls. From version 10.32, only local variables
1147*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare allocated on the stack and as each call uses only a few hundred bytes, even
1148*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia small stack can support quite a lot of recursion.
1149*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1150*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1151*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the depth of internal recursive function calls is great enough, local
1152*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiworkspace vectors are allocated on the heap from version 10.32 onwards, so the
1153*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidepth limit also indirectly limits the amount of heap memory that is used. A
1154*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecursive pattern such as /(.(?2))((?1)|)/, when matched to a very long string
1155*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, can use a great deal of memory. However, it is
1156*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprobably better to limit heap usage directly by calling
1157*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_heap_limit()</b>.
1158*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1159*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1160*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe default value for the depth limit can be set when PCRE2 is built; if it is
1161*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot, the default is set to the same value as the default for the match limit.
1162*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the limit is exceeded, <b>pcre2_match()</b> or <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>
1163*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturns PCRE2_ERROR_DEPTHLIMIT. A value for the depth limit may also be
1164*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisupplied by an item at the start of a pattern of the form
1165*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1166*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (*LIMIT_DEPTH=ddd)
1167*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1168*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhere ddd is a decimal number. However, such a setting is ignored unless ddd is
1169*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiless than the limit set by the caller of <b>pcre2_match()</b> or
1170*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> or, if no such limit is set, less than the default.
1171*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1172*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC19" href="#TOC1">CHECKING BUILD-TIME OPTIONS</a><br>
1173*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1174*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_config(uint32_t <i>what</i>, void *<i>where</i>);</b>
1175*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1176*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1177*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_config()</b> makes it possible for a PCRE2 client to find
1178*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe value of certain configuration parameters and to discover which optional
1179*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifeatures have been compiled into the PCRE2 library. The
1180*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2build.html"><b>pcre2build</b></a>
1181*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation has more details about these features.
1182*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1183*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1184*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe first argument for <b>pcre2_config()</b> specifies which information is
1185*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequired. The second argument is a pointer to memory into which the information
1186*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis placed. If NULL is passed, the function returns the amount of memory that is
1187*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimineeded for the requested information. For calls that return numerical values,
1188*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe value is in bytes; when requesting these values, <i>where</i> should point
1189*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito appropriately aligned memory. For calls that return strings, the required
1190*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilength is given in code units, not counting the terminating zero.
1191*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1192*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1193*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen requesting information, the returned value from <b>pcre2_config()</b> is
1194*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminon-negative on success, or the negative error code PCRE2_ERROR_BADOPTION if
1195*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe value in the first argument is not recognized. The following information is
1196*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiavailable:
1197*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1198*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_BSR
1199*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1200*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer whose value indicates what character
1201*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequences the \R escape sequence matches by default. A value of
1202*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_BSR_UNICODE means that \R matches any Unicode line ending sequence; a
1203*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue of PCRE2_BSR_ANYCRLF means that \R matches only CR, LF, or CRLF. The
1204*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefault can be overridden when a pattern is compiled.
1205*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1206*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_COMPILED_WIDTHS
1207*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1208*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer whose lower bits indicate which code unit
1209*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwidths were selected when PCRE2 was built. The 1-bit indicates 8-bit support,
1210*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand the 2-bit and 4-bit indicate 16-bit and 32-bit support, respectively.
1211*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1212*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_DEPTHLIMIT
1213*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1214*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that gives the default limit for the depth of
1215*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminested backtracking in <b>pcre2_match()</b> or the depth of nested recursions,
1216*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilookarounds, and atomic groups in <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>. Further details are
1217*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigiven with <b>pcre2_set_depth_limit()</b> above.
1218*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1219*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_HEAPLIMIT
1220*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1221*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that gives, in kibibytes, the default limit
1222*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the amount of heap memory used by <b>pcre2_match()</b> or
1223*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>. Further details are given with
1224*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_heap_limit()</b> above.
1225*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1226*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_JIT
1227*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1228*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that is set to one if support for just-in-time
1229*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiling is included in the library; otherwise it is set to zero. Note that
1230*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihaving the support in the library does not guarantee that JIT will be used for
1231*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiany given match. See the
1232*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
1233*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for more details.
1234*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1235*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_JITTARGET
1236*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1237*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>where</i> argument should point to a buffer that is at least 48 code
1238*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits long. (The exact length required can be found by calling
1239*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_config()</b> with <b>where</b> set to NULL.) The buffer is filled with a
1240*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring that contains the name of the architecture for which the JIT compiler is
1241*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconfigured, for example "x86 32bit (little endian + unaligned)". If JIT support
1242*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis not available, PCRE2_ERROR_BADOPTION is returned, otherwise the number of
1243*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode units used is returned. This is the length of the string, plus one unit
1244*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the terminating zero.
1245*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1246*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_LINKSIZE
1247*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1248*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that contains the number of bytes used for
1249*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinternal linkage in compiled regular expressions. When PCRE2 is configured, the
1250*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue can be set to 2, 3, or 4, with the default being 2. This is the value
1251*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is returned by <b>pcre2_config()</b>. However, when the 16-bit library is
1252*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled, a value of 3 is rounded up to 4, and when the 32-bit library is
1253*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled, internal linkages always use 4 bytes, so the configured value is not
1254*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirelevant.
1255*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1256*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1257*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe default value of 2 for the 8-bit and 16-bit libraries is sufficient for all
1258*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibut the most massive patterns, since it allows the size of the compiled pattern
1259*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito be up to 65535 code units. Larger values allow larger regular expressions to
1260*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe compiled by those two libraries, but at the expense of slower matching.
1261*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1262*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_MATCHLIMIT
1263*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1264*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that gives the default match limit for
1265*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>. Further details are given with
1266*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_match_limit()</b> above.
1267*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1268*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_NEWLINE
1269*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1270*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer whose value specifies the default character
1271*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequence that is recognized as meaning "newline". The values are:
1272*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1273*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_CR       Carriage return (CR)
1274*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_LF       Linefeed (LF)
1275*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_CRLF     Carriage return, linefeed (CRLF)
1276*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANY      Any Unicode line ending
1277*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF  Any of CR, LF, or CRLF
1278*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_NUL      The NUL character (binary zero)
1279*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1280*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe default should normally correspond to the standard sequence for your
1281*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioperating system.
1282*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1283*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_NEVER_BACKSLASH_C
1284*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1285*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that is set to one if the use of \C was
1286*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipermanently disabled when PCRE2 was built; otherwise it is set to zero.
1287*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1288*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_PARENSLIMIT
1289*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1290*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that gives the maximum depth of nesting
1291*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof parentheses (of any kind) in a pattern. This limit is imposed to cap the
1292*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiamount of system stack used when a pattern is compiled. It is specified when
1293*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 is built; the default is 250. This limit does not take into account the
1294*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistack that may already be used by the calling application. For finer control
1295*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiover compilation stack usage, see <b>pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard()</b>.
1296*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1297*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_STACKRECURSE
1298*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1299*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis parameter is obsolete and should not be used in new code. The output is a
1300*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuint32_t integer that is always set to zero.
1301*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1302*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_TABLES_LENGTH
1303*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1304*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that gives the length of PCRE2's character
1305*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprocessing tables in bytes. For details of these tables see the
1306*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#localesupport">section on locale support</a>
1307*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibelow.
1308*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1309*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_UNICODE_VERSION
1310*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1311*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>where</i> argument should point to a buffer that is at least 24 code
1312*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits long. (The exact length required can be found by calling
1313*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_config()</b> with <b>where</b> set to NULL.) If PCRE2 has been compiled
1314*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwithout Unicode support, the buffer is filled with the text "Unicode not
1315*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisupported". Otherwise, the Unicode version string (for example, "8.0.0") is
1316*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinserted. The number of code units used is returned. This is the length of the
1317*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring plus one unit for the terminating zero.
1318*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1319*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_UNICODE
1320*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1321*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer that is set to one if Unicode support is
1322*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiavailable; otherwise it is set to zero. Unicode support implies UTF support.
1323*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1324*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CONFIG_VERSION
1325*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1326*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>where</i> argument should point to a buffer that is at least 24 code
1327*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits long. (The exact length required can be found by calling
1328*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_config()</b> with <b>where</b> set to NULL.) The buffer is filled with
1329*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe PCRE2 version string, zero-terminated. The number of code units used is
1330*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. This is the length of the string plus one unit for the terminating
1331*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero.
1332*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="compiling"></a></P>
1333*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC20" href="#TOC1">COMPILING A PATTERN</a><br>
1334*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1335*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_compile(PCRE2_SPTR <i>pattern</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>,</b>
1336*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, int *<i>errorcode</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>erroroffset,</i></b>
1337*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_compile_context *<i>ccontext</i>);</b>
1338*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1339*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1340*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_code_free(pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
1341*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1342*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1343*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_code_copy(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
1344*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1345*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
1346*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code *pcre2_code_copy_with_tables(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>);</b>
1347*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1348*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1349*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_compile()</b> function compiles a pattern into an internal form.
1350*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe pattern is defined by a pointer to a string of code units and a length in
1351*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode units. If the pattern is zero-terminated, the length can be specified as
1352*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED. A NULL pattern pointer with a length of zero is treated
1353*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias an empty string (NULL with a non-zero length causes an error return). The
1354*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction returns a pointer to a block of memory that contains the compiled
1355*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern and related data, or NULL if an error occurred.
1356*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1357*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1358*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the compile context argument <i>ccontext</i> is NULL, memory for the compiled
1359*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern is obtained by calling <b>malloc()</b>. Otherwise, it is obtained from
1360*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe same memory function that was used for the compile context. The caller must
1361*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifree the memory by calling <b>pcre2_code_free()</b> when it is no longer needed.
1362*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf <b>pcre2_code_free()</b> is called with a NULL argument, it returns
1363*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiimmediately, without doing anything.
1364*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1365*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1366*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_code_copy()</b> makes a copy of the compiled code in new
1367*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory, using the same memory allocator as was used for the original. However,
1368*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiif the code has been processed by the JIT compiler (see
1369*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#jitcompiling">below),</a>
1370*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe JIT information cannot be copied (because it is position-dependent).
1371*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe new copy can initially be used only for non-JIT matching, though it can be
1372*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipassed to <b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b> if required. If <b>pcre2_code_copy()</b> is
1373*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalled with a NULL argument, it returns NULL.
1374*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1375*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1376*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_code_copy()</b> function provides a way for individual threads in a
1377*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimultithreaded application to acquire a private copy of shared compiled code.
1378*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHowever, it does not make a copy of the character tables used by the compiled
1379*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern; the new pattern code points to the same tables as the original code.
1380*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(See
1381*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#jitcompiling">"Locale Support"</a>
1382*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibelow for details of these character tables.) In many applications the same
1383*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitables are used throughout, so this behaviour is appropriate. Nevertheless,
1384*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithere are occasions when a copy of a compiled pattern and the relevant tables
1385*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare needed. The <b>pcre2_code_copy_with_tables()</b> provides this facility.
1386*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCopies of both the code and the tables are made, with the new code pointing to
1387*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe new tables. The memory for the new tables is automatically freed when
1388*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code_free()</b> is called for the new copy of the compiled code. If
1389*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_code_copy_with_tables()</b> is called with a NULL argument, it returns
1390*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNULL.
1391*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1392*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1393*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNOTE: When one of the matching functions is called, pointers to the compiled
1394*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern and the subject string are set in the match data block so that they can
1395*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe referenced by the substring extraction functions after a successful match.
1396*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter running a match, you must not free a compiled pattern or a subject string
1397*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuntil after all operations on the
1398*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchdatablock">match data block</a>
1399*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihave taken place, unless, in the case of the subject string, you have used the
1400*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT option, which is described in the section entitled
1401*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"Option bits for <b>pcre2_match()</b>"
1402*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchoptions>">below.</a>
1403*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1404*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1405*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>options</i> argument for <b>pcre2_compile()</b> contains various bit
1406*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisettings that affect the compilation. It should be zero if none of them are
1407*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequired. The available options are described below. Some of them (in
1408*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparticular, those that are compatible with Perl, but some others as well) can
1409*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialso be set and unset from within the pattern (see the detailed description in
1410*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe
1411*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
1412*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation).
1413*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1414*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1415*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor those options that can be different in different parts of the pattern, the
1416*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontents of the <i>options</i> argument specifies their settings at the start of
1417*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompilation. The PCRE2_ANCHORED, PCRE2_ENDANCHORED, and PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
1418*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptions can be set at the time of matching as well as at compile time.
1419*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1420*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1421*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSome additional options and less frequently required compile-time parameters
1422*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(for example, the newline setting) can be provided in a compile context (as
1423*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidescribed
1424*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#compilecontext">above).</a>
1425*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1426*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1427*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf <i>errorcode</i> or <i>erroroffset</i> is NULL, <b>pcre2_compile()</b> returns
1428*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNULL immediately. Otherwise, the variables to which these point are set to an
1429*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror code and an offset (number of code units) within the pattern,
1430*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirespectively, when <b>pcre2_compile()</b> returns NULL because a compilation
1431*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror has occurred.
1432*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1433*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1434*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are nearly 100 positive error codes that <b>pcre2_compile()</b> may return
1435*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiif it finds an error in the pattern. There are also some negative error codes
1436*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat are used for invalid UTF strings when validity checking is in force. These
1437*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare the same as given by <b>pcre2_match()</b> and <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, and
1438*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare described in the
1439*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
1440*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation. There is no separate documentation for the positive error codes,
1441*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibecause the textual error messages that are obtained by calling the
1442*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_get_error_message()</b> function (see "Obtaining a textual error
1443*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimessage"
1444*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#geterrormessage">below)</a>
1445*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould be self-explanatory. Macro names starting with PCRE2_ERROR_ are defined
1446*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor both positive and negative error codes in <b>pcre2.h</b>. When compilation
1447*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis successful <i>errorcode</i> is set to a value that returns the message "no
1448*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror" if passed to <b>pcre2_get_error_message()</b>.
1449*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1450*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1451*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe value returned in <i>erroroffset</i> is an indication of where in the
1452*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern an error occurred. When there is no error, zero is returned. A non-zero
1453*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue is not necessarily the furthest point in the pattern that was read. For
1454*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexample, after the error "lookbehind assertion is not fixed length", the error
1455*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioffset points to the start of the failing assertion. For an invalid UTF-8 or
1456*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF-16 string, the offset is that of the first code unit of the failing
1457*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter.
1458*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1459*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1460*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSome errors are not detected until the whole pattern has been scanned; in these
1461*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicases, the offset passed back is the length of the pattern. Note that the
1462*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioffset is in code units, not characters, even in a UTF mode. It may sometimes
1463*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoint into the middle of a UTF-8 or UTF-16 character.
1464*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1465*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1466*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis code fragment shows a typical straightforward call to
1467*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b>:
1468*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1469*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  pcre2_code *re;
1470*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_SIZE erroffset;
1471*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  int errorcode;
1472*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  re = pcre2_compile(
1473*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    "^A.*Z",                /* the pattern */
1474*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED,  /* the pattern is zero-terminated */
1475*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    0,                      /* default options */
1476*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    &errorcode,             /* for error code */
1477*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    &erroffset,             /* for error offset */
1478*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    NULL);                  /* no compile context */
1479*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi
1480*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</PRE>
1481*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1482*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
1483*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMain compile options
1484*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
1485*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1486*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe following names for option bits are defined in the <b>pcre2.h</b> header
1487*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifile:
1488*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1489*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ANCHORED
1490*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1491*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, the pattern is forced to be "anchored", that is, it is
1492*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconstrained to match only at the first matching point in the string that is
1493*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibeing searched (the "subject string"). This effect can also be achieved by
1494*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiappropriate constructs in the pattern itself, which is the only way to do it in
1495*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPerl.
1496*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1497*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ALLOW_EMPTY_CLASS
1498*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1499*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBy default, for compatibility with Perl, a closing square bracket that
1500*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiimmediately follows an opening one is treated as a data character for the
1501*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiclass. When PCRE2_ALLOW_EMPTY_CLASS is set, it terminates the class, which
1502*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitherefore contains no characters and so can never match.
1503*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1504*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ALT_BSUX
1505*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1506*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option request alternative handling of three escape sequences, which
1507*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimakes PCRE2's behaviour more like ECMAscript (aka JavaScript). When it is set:
1508*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1509*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1510*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(1) \U matches an upper case "U" character; by default \U causes a compile
1511*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitime error (Perl uses \U to upper case subsequent characters).
1512*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1513*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1514*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(2) \u matches a lower case "u" character unless it is followed by four
1515*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihexadecimal digits, in which case the hexadecimal number defines the code point
1516*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito match. By default, \u causes a compile time error (Perl uses it to upper
1517*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicase the following character).
1518*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1519*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1520*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(3) \x matches a lower case "x" character unless it is followed by two
1521*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihexadecimal digits, in which case the hexadecimal number defines the code point
1522*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito match. By default, as in Perl, a hexadecimal number is always expected after
1523*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\x, but it may have zero, one, or two digits (so, for example, \xz matches a
1524*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibinary zero character followed by z).
1525*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1526*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1527*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiECMAscript 6 added additional functionality to \u. This can be accessed using
1528*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe PCRE2_EXTRA_ALT_BSUX extra option (see "Extra compile options"
1529*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#extracompileoptions">below).</a>
1530*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote that this alternative escape handling applies only to patterns. Neither of
1531*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithese options affects the processing of replacement strings passed to
1532*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_substitute()</b>.
1533*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1534*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ALT_CIRCUMFLEX
1535*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1536*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn multiline mode (when PCRE2_MULTILINE is set), the circumflex metacharacter
1537*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches at the start of the subject (unless PCRE2_NOTBOL is set), and also
1538*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafter any internal newline. However, it does not match after a newline at the
1539*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiend of the subject, for compatibility with Perl. If you want a multiline
1540*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicircumflex also to match after a terminating newline, you must set
1541*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ALT_CIRCUMFLEX.
1542*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1543*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ALT_VERBNAMES
1544*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1545*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBy default, for compatibility with Perl, the name in any verb sequence such as
1546*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*MARK:NAME) is any sequence of characters that does not include a closing
1547*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparenthesis. The name is not processed in any way, and it is not possible to
1548*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinclude a closing parenthesis in the name. However, if the PCRE2_ALT_VERBNAMES
1549*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption is set, normal backslash processing is applied to verb names and only an
1550*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunescaped closing parenthesis terminates the name. A closing parenthesis can be
1551*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiincluded in a name either as \) or between \Q and \E. If the PCRE2_EXTENDED
1552*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior PCRE2_EXTENDED_MORE option is set with PCRE2_ALT_VERBNAMES, unescaped
1553*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhitespace in verb names is skipped and #-comments are recognized, exactly as
1554*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the rest of the pattern.
1555*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1556*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_AUTO_CALLOUT
1557*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1558*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, <b>pcre2_compile()</b> automatically inserts callout items,
1559*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiall with number 255, before each pattern item, except immediately before or
1560*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafter an explicit callout in the pattern. For discussion of the callout
1561*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifacility, see the
1562*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2callout.html"><b>pcre2callout</b></a>
1563*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
1564*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1565*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_CASELESS
1566*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1567*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, letters in the pattern match both upper and lower case
1568*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiletters in the subject. It is equivalent to Perl's /i option, and it can be
1569*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimichanged within a pattern by a (?i) option setting. If either PCRE2_UTF or
1570*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UCP is set, Unicode properties are used for all characters with more than
1571*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimione other case, and for all characters whose code points are greater than
1572*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiU+007F. Note that there are two ASCII characters, K and S, that, in addition to
1573*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitheir lower case ASCII equivalents, are case-equivalent with U+212A (Kelvin
1574*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisign) and U+017F (long S) respectively. If you do not want this case
1575*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiequivalence, you can suppress it by setting PCRE2_EXTRA_CASELESS_RESTRICT.
1576*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1577*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1578*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor lower valued characters with only one other case, a lookup table is used
1579*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor speed. When neither PCRE2_UTF nor PCRE2_UCP is set, a lookup table is used
1580*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor all code points less than 256, and higher code points (available only in
1581*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi16-bit or 32-bit mode) are treated as not having another case.
1582*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1583*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
1584*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1585*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, a dollar metacharacter in the pattern matches only at the
1586*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiend of the subject string. Without this option, a dollar also matches
1587*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiimmediately before a newline at the end of the string (but not before any other
1588*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewlines). The PCRE2_DOLLAR_ENDONLY option is ignored if PCRE2_MULTILINE is
1589*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiset. There is no equivalent to this option in Perl, and no way to set it within
1590*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia pattern.
1591*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1592*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DOTALL
1593*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1594*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, a dot metacharacter in the pattern matches any character,
1595*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiincluding one that indicates a newline. However, it only ever matches one
1596*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter, even if newlines are coded as CRLF. Without this option, a dot does
1597*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot match when the current position in the subject is at a newline. This option
1598*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis equivalent to Perl's /s option, and it can be changed within a pattern by a
1599*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(?s) option setting. A negative class such as [^a] always matches newline
1600*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters, and the \N escape sequence always matches a non-newline character,
1601*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiindependent of the setting of PCRE2_DOTALL.
1602*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1603*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DUPNAMES
1604*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1605*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, names used to identify capture groups need not be unique.
1606*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis can be helpful for certain types of pattern when it is known that only one
1607*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinstance of the named group can ever be matched. There are more details of
1608*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminamed capture groups below; see also the
1609*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
1610*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
1611*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1612*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ENDANCHORED
1613*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1614*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, the end of any pattern match must be right at the end of
1615*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe string being searched (the "subject string"). If the pattern match
1616*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisucceeds by reaching (*ACCEPT), but does not reach the end of the subject, the
1617*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch fails at the current starting point. For unanchored patterns, a new match
1618*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis then tried at the next starting point. However, if the match succeeds by
1619*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireaching the end of the pattern, but not the end of the subject, backtracking
1620*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioccurs and an alternative match may be found. Consider these two patterns:
1621*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1622*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  .(*ACCEPT)|..
1623*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  .|..
1624*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1625*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf matched against "abc" with PCRE2_ENDANCHORED set, the first matches "c"
1626*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhereas the second matches "bc". The effect of PCRE2_ENDANCHORED can also be
1627*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiachieved by appropriate constructs in the pattern itself, which is the only way
1628*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito do it in Perl.
1629*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1630*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1631*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor DFA matching with <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, PCRE2_ENDANCHORED applies only
1632*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito the first (that is, the longest) matched string. Other parallel matches,
1633*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhich are necessarily substrings of the first one, must obviously end before
1634*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe end of the subject.
1635*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1636*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTENDED
1637*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1638*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this bit is set, most white space characters in the pattern are totally
1639*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiignored except when escaped, inside a character class, or inside a \Q...\E
1640*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequence. However, white space is not allowed within sequences such as (?&#62; that
1641*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiintroduce various parenthesized groups, nor within numerical quantifiers such
1642*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias {1,3}. Ignorable white space is permitted between an item and a following
1643*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiquantifier and between a quantifier and a following + that indicates
1644*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipossessiveness. PCRE2_EXTENDED is equivalent to Perl's /x option, and it can be
1645*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimichanged within a pattern by a (?x) option setting.
1646*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1647*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1648*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2 is compiled without Unicode support, PCRE2_EXTENDED recognizes as
1649*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhite space only those characters with code points less than 256 that are
1650*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiflagged as white space in its low-character table. The table is normally
1651*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicreated by
1652*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2_maketables.html"><b>pcre2_maketables()</b>,</a>
1653*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhich uses the <b>isspace()</b> function to identify space characters. In most
1654*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiASCII environments, the relevant characters are those with code points 0x0009
1655*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(tab), 0x000A (linefeed), 0x000B (vertical tab), 0x000C (formfeed), 0x000D
1656*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(carriage return), and 0x0020 (space).
1657*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1658*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1659*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2 is compiled with Unicode support, in addition to these characters,
1660*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifive more Unicode "Pattern White Space" characters are recognized by
1661*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_EXTENDED. These are U+0085 (next line), U+200E (left-to-right mark),
1662*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiU+200F (right-to-left mark), U+2028 (line separator), and U+2029 (paragraph
1663*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiseparator). This set of characters is the same as recognized by Perl's /x
1664*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption. Note that the horizontal and vertical space characters that are matched
1665*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiby the \h and \v escapes in patterns are a much bigger set.
1666*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1667*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1668*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs well as ignoring most white space, PCRE2_EXTENDED also causes characters
1669*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibetween an unescaped # outside a character class and the next newline,
1670*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinclusive, to be ignored, which makes it possible to include comments inside
1671*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicomplicated patterns. Note that the end of this type of comment is a literal
1672*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline sequence in the pattern; escape sequences that happen to represent a
1673*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline do not count.
1674*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1675*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1676*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhich characters are interpreted as newlines can be specified by a setting in
1677*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe compile context that is passed to <b>pcre2_compile()</b> or by a special
1678*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequence at the start of the pattern, as described in the section entitled
1679*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html#newlines">"Newline conventions"</a>
1680*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the <b>pcre2pattern</b> documentation. A default is defined when PCRE2 is
1681*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibuilt.
1682*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1683*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTENDED_MORE
1684*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1685*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option has the effect of PCRE2_EXTENDED, but, in addition, unescaped space
1686*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand horizontal tab characters are ignored inside a character class. Note: only
1687*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithese two characters are ignored, not the full set of pattern white space
1688*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters that are ignored outside a character class. PCRE2_EXTENDED_MORE is
1689*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiequivalent to Perl's /xx option, and it can be changed within a pattern by a
1690*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(?xx) option setting.
1691*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1692*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_FIRSTLINE
1693*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1694*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, the start of an unanchored pattern match must be before
1695*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior at the first newline in the subject string following the start of matching,
1696*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithough the matched text may continue over the newline. If <i>startoffset</i> is
1697*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminon-zero, the limiting newline is not necessarily the first newline in the
1698*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject. For example, if the subject string is "abc\nxyz" (where \n
1699*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirepresents a single-character newline) a pattern match for "yz" succeeds with
1700*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_FIRSTLINE if <i>startoffset</i> is greater than 3. See also
1701*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT, which provides a more general limiting facility. If
1702*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_FIRSTLINE is set with an offset limit, a match must occur in the first
1703*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiline and also within the offset limit. In other words, whichever limit comes
1704*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst is used. This option has no effect for anchored patterns.
1705*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1706*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_LITERAL
1707*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1708*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, all meta-characters in the pattern are disabled, and it
1709*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis treated as a literal string. Matching literal strings with a regular
1710*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexpression engine is not the most efficient way of doing it. If you are doing a
1711*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilot of literal matching and are worried about efficiency, you should consider
1712*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing other approaches. The only other main options that are allowed with
1713*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_LITERAL are: PCRE2_ANCHORED, PCRE2_ENDANCHORED, PCRE2_AUTO_CALLOUT,
1714*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_CASELESS, PCRE2_FIRSTLINE, PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF,
1715*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE, PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK, PCRE2_UTF, and
1716*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT. The extra options PCRE2_EXTRA_MATCH_LINE and
1717*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_EXTRA_MATCH_WORD are also supported. Any other options cause an error.
1718*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1719*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF
1720*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1721*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces PCRE2_UTF (see below) and also enables support for matching
1722*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiby <b>pcre2_match()</b> in subject strings that contain invalid UTF sequences.
1723*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote, however, that the 16-bit and 32-bit PCRE2 libraries process strings as
1724*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequences of uint16_t or uint32_t code points. They cannot find valid UTF
1725*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisequences within an arbitrary string of bytes unless such sequences are
1726*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuitably aligned. This facility is not supported for DFA matching. For details,
1727*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisee the
1728*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
1729*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
1730*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1731*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_MATCH_UNSET_BACKREF
1732*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1733*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, a backreference to an unset capture group matches an
1734*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiempty string (by default this causes the current matching alternative to fail).
1735*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA pattern such as (\1)(a) succeeds when this option is set (assuming it can
1736*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifind an "a" in the subject), whereas it fails by default, for Perl
1737*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompatibility. Setting this option makes PCRE2 behave more like ECMAscript (aka
1738*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiJavaScript).
1739*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1740*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_MULTILINE
1741*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1742*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBy default, for the purposes of matching "start of line" and "end of line",
1743*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 treats the subject string as consisting of a single line of characters,
1744*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimieven if it actually contains newlines. The "start of line" metacharacter (^)
1745*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches only at the start of the string, and the "end of line" metacharacter
1746*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi($) matches only at the end of the string, or before a terminating newline
1747*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(except when PCRE2_DOLLAR_ENDONLY is set). Note, however, that unless
1748*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_DOTALL is set, the "any character" metacharacter (.) does not match at a
1749*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline. This behaviour (for ^, $, and dot) is the same as Perl.
1750*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1751*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1752*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2_MULTILINE it is set, the "start of line" and "end of line"
1753*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconstructs match immediately following or immediately before internal newlines
1754*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the subject string, respectively, as well as at the very start and end. This
1755*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis equivalent to Perl's /m option, and it can be changed within a pattern by a
1756*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(?m) option setting. Note that the "start of line" metacharacter does not match
1757*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafter a newline at the end of the subject, for compatibility with Perl.
1758*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHowever, you can change this by setting the PCRE2_ALT_CIRCUMFLEX option. If
1759*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithere are no newlines in a subject string, or no occurrences of ^ or $ in a
1760*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern, setting PCRE2_MULTILINE has no effect.
1761*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1762*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEVER_BACKSLASH_C
1763*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1764*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option locks out the use of \C in the pattern that is being compiled.
1765*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis escape can cause unpredictable behaviour in UTF-8 or UTF-16 modes, because
1766*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit may leave the current matching point in the middle of a multi-code-unit
1767*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter. This option may be useful in applications that process patterns from
1768*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexternal sources. Note that there is also a build-time option that permanently
1769*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilocks out the use of \C.
1770*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1771*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEVER_UCP
1772*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1773*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option locks out the use of Unicode properties for handling \B, \b, \D,
1774*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\d, \S, \s, \W, \w, and some of the POSIX character classes, as described
1775*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the PCRE2_UCP option below. In particular, it prevents the creator of the
1776*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern from enabling this facility by starting the pattern with (*UCP). This
1777*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption may be useful in applications that process patterns from external
1778*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisources. The option combination PCRE_UCP and PCRE_NEVER_UCP causes an error.
1779*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1780*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEVER_UTF
1781*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1782*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option locks out interpretation of the pattern as UTF-8, UTF-16, or
1783*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF-32, depending on which library is in use. In particular, it prevents the
1784*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicreator of the pattern from switching to UTF interpretation by starting the
1785*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern with (*UTF). This option may be useful in applications that process
1786*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns from external sources. The combination of PCRE2_UTF and
1787*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NEVER_UTF causes an error.
1788*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1789*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
1790*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1791*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, it disables the use of numbered capturing parentheses in
1792*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe pattern. Any opening parenthesis that is not followed by ? behaves as if it
1793*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwere followed by ?: but named parentheses can still be used for capturing (and
1794*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithey acquire numbers in the usual way). This is the same as Perl's /n option.
1795*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote that, when this option is set, references to capture groups
1796*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(backreferences or recursion/subroutine calls) may only refer to named groups,
1797*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithough the reference can be by name or by number.
1798*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1799*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
1800*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1801*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, it disables "auto-possessification", which is an
1802*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptimization that, for example, turns a+b into a++b in order to avoid
1803*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibacktracks into a+ that can never be successful. However, if callouts are in
1804*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuse, auto-possessification means that some callouts are never taken. You can
1805*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiset this option if you want the matching functions to do a full unoptimized
1806*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisearch and run all the callouts, but it is mainly provided for testing
1807*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipurposes.
1808*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1809*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_DOTSTAR_ANCHOR
1810*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1811*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this option is set, it disables an optimization that is applied when .* is
1812*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe first significant item in a top-level branch of a pattern, and all the
1813*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiother branches also start with .* or with \A or \G or ^. The optimization is
1814*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically disabled for .* if it is inside an atomic group or a capture
1815*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroup that is the subject of a backreference, or if the pattern contains
1816*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*PRUNE) or (*SKIP). When the optimization is not disabled, such a pattern is
1817*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically anchored if PCRE2_DOTALL is set for all the .* items and
1818*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_MULTILINE is not set for any ^ items. Otherwise, the fact that any match
1819*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimust start either at the start of the subject or following a newline is
1820*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiremembered. Like other optimizations, this can cause callouts to be skipped.
1821*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1822*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
1823*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1824*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis is an option whose main effect is at matching time. It does not change
1825*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhat <b>pcre2_compile()</b> generates, but it does affect the output of the JIT
1826*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiler.
1827*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1828*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1829*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are a number of optimizations that may occur at the start of a match, in
1830*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiorder to speed up the process. For example, if it is known that an unanchored
1831*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch must start with a specific code unit value, the matching code searches
1832*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe subject for that value, and fails immediately if it cannot find it, without
1833*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiactually running the main matching function. This means that a special item
1834*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuch as (*COMMIT) at the start of a pattern is not considered until after a
1835*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuitable starting point for the match has been found. Also, when callouts or
1836*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*MARK) items are in use, these "start-up" optimizations can cause them to be
1837*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiskipped if the pattern is never actually used. The start-up optimizations are
1838*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin effect a pre-scan of the subject that takes place before the pattern is run.
1839*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1840*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1841*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE option disables the start-up optimizations,
1842*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipossibly causing performance to suffer, but ensuring that in cases where the
1843*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiresult is "no match", the callouts do occur, and that items such as (*COMMIT)
1844*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand (*MARK) are considered at every possible starting position in the subject
1845*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring.
1846*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1847*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1848*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSetting PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE may change the outcome of a matching operation.
1849*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiConsider the pattern
1850*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1851*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (*COMMIT)ABC
1852*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1853*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen this is compiled, PCRE2 records the fact that a match must start with the
1854*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter "A". Suppose the subject string is "DEFABC". The start-up
1855*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptimization scans along the subject, finds "A" and runs the first match
1856*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiattempt from there. The (*COMMIT) item means that the pattern must match the
1857*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicurrent starting position, which in this case, it does. However, if the same
1858*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch is run with PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE set, the initial scan along the
1859*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject string does not happen. The first match attempt is run starting from
1860*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"D" and when this fails, (*COMMIT) prevents any further matches being tried, so
1861*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe overall result is "no match".
1862*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1863*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1864*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs another start-up optimization makes use of a minimum length for a matching
1865*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject, which is recorded when possible. Consider the pattern
1866*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1867*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (*MARK:1)B(*MARK:2)(X|Y)
1868*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1869*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe minimum length for a match is two characters. If the subject is "XXBB", the
1870*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"starting character" optimization skips "XX", then tries to match "BB", which
1871*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis long enough. In the process, (*MARK:2) is encountered and remembered. When
1872*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe match attempt fails, the next "B" is found, but there is only one character
1873*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimileft, so there are no more attempts, and "no match" is returned with the "last
1874*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimark seen" set to "2". If NO_START_OPTIMIZE is set, however, matches are tried
1875*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiat every possible starting position, including at the end of the subject, where
1876*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*MARK:1) is encountered, but there is no "B", so the "last mark seen" that is
1877*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned is "1". In this case, the optimizations do not affect the overall
1878*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch result, which is still "no match", but they do affect the auxiliary
1879*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinformation that is returned.
1880*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1881*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
1882*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1883*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2_UTF is set, the validity of the pattern as a UTF string is
1884*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically checked. There are discussions about the validity of
1885*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf8strings">UTF-8 strings,</a>
1886*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf16strings">UTF-16 strings,</a>
1887*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand
1888*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf32strings">UTF-32 strings</a>
1889*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
1890*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
1891*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocument. If an invalid UTF sequence is found, <b>pcre2_compile()</b> returns a
1892*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminegative error code.
1893*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1894*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1895*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf you know that your pattern is a valid UTF string, and you want to skip this
1896*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicheck for performance reasons, you can set the PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK option. When
1897*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit is set, the effect of passing an invalid UTF string as a pattern is
1898*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiundefined. It may cause your program to crash or loop.
1899*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1900*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1901*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote that this option can also be passed to <b>pcre2_match()</b> and
1902*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, to suppress UTF validity checking of the subject
1903*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring.
1904*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1905*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1906*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote also that setting PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK at compile time does not disable the
1907*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror that is given if an escape sequence for an invalid Unicode code point is
1908*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiencountered in the pattern. In particular, the so-called "surrogate" code
1909*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoints (0xd800 to 0xdfff) are invalid. If you want to allow escape sequences
1910*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuch as \x{d800} you can set the PCRE2_EXTRA_ALLOW_SURROGATE_ESCAPES extra
1911*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption, as described in the section entitled "Extra compile options"
1912*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#extracompileoptions">below.</a>
1913*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHowever, this is possible only in UTF-8 and UTF-32 modes, because these values
1914*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare not representable in UTF-16.
1915*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1916*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_UCP
1917*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1918*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option has two effects. Firstly, it change the way PCRE2 processes \B,
1919*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\b, \D, \d, \S, \s, \W, \w, and some of the POSIX character classes. By
1920*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefault, only ASCII characters are recognized, but if PCRE2_UCP is set, Unicode
1921*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiproperties are used to classify characters. There are some PCRE2_EXTRA
1922*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptions (see below) that add finer control to this behaviour. More details are
1923*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigiven in the section on
1924*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html#genericchartypes">generic character types</a>
1925*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
1926*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
1927*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage.
1928*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1929*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1930*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe second effect of PCRE2_UCP is to force the use of Unicode properties for
1931*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiupper/lower casing operations, even when PCRE2_UTF is not set. This makes it
1932*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipossible to process strings in the 16-bit UCS-2 code. This option is available
1933*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimionly if PCRE2 has been compiled with Unicode support (which is the default).
1934*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe PCRE2_EXTRA_CASELESS_RESTRICT option (see below) restricts caseless
1935*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching such that ASCII characters match only ASCII characters and non-ASCII
1936*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters match only non-ASCII characters.
1937*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1938*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_UNGREEDY
1939*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1940*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option inverts the "greediness" of the quantifiers so that they are not
1941*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigreedy by default, but become greedy if followed by "?". It is not compatible
1942*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith Perl. It can also be set by a (?U) option setting within the pattern.
1943*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1944*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT
1945*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1946*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option must be set for <b>pcre2_compile()</b> if
1947*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_offset_limit()</b> is going to be used to set a non-default offset
1948*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit in a match context for matches that use this pattern. An error is
1949*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigenerated if an offset limit is set without this option. For more details, see
1950*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe description of <b>pcre2_set_offset_limit()</b> in the
1951*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchcontext">section</a>
1952*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat describes match contexts. See also the PCRE2_FIRSTLINE
1953*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption above.
1954*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1955*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_UTF
1956*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1957*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option causes PCRE2 to regard both the pattern and the subject strings
1958*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat are subsequently processed as strings of UTF characters instead of
1959*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisingle-code-unit strings. It is available when PCRE2 is built to include
1960*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUnicode support (which is the default). If Unicode support is not available,
1961*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe use of this option provokes an error. Details of how PCRE2_UTF changes the
1962*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibehaviour of PCRE2 are given in the
1963*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
1964*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage. In particular, note that it changes the way PCRE2_CASELESS works.
1965*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="extracompileoptions"></a></P>
1966*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
1967*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiExtra compile options
1968*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
1969*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1970*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe option bits that can be set in a compile context by calling the
1971*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_set_compile_extra_options()</b> function are as follows:
1972*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1973*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ALLOW_LOOKAROUND_BSK
1974*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1975*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSince release 10.38 PCRE2 has forbidden the use of \K within lookaround
1976*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiassertions, following Perl's lead. This option is provided to re-enable the
1977*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprevious behaviour (act in positive lookarounds, ignore in negative ones) in
1978*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicase anybody is relying on it.
1979*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
1980*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ALLOW_SURROGATE_ESCAPES
1981*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
1982*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option applies when compiling a pattern in UTF-8 or UTF-32 mode. It is
1983*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiforbidden in UTF-16 mode, and ignored in non-UTF modes. Unicode "surrogate"
1984*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode points in the range 0xd800 to 0xdfff are used in pairs in UTF-16 to encode
1985*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode points with values in the range 0x10000 to 0x10ffff. The surrogates cannot
1986*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitherefore be represented in UTF-16. They can be represented in UTF-8 and
1987*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF-32, but are defined as invalid code points, and cause errors if encountered
1988*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin a UTF-8 or UTF-32 string that is being checked for validity by PCRE2.
1989*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1990*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1991*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese values also cause errors if encountered in escape sequences such as
1992*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\x{d912} within a pattern. However, it seems that some applications, when
1993*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing PCRE2 to check for unwanted characters in UTF-8 strings, explicitly test
1994*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the surrogates using escape sequences. The PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK option does
1995*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot disable the error that occurs, because it applies only to the testing of
1996*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinput strings for UTF validity.
1997*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
1998*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
1999*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the extra option PCRE2_EXTRA_ALLOW_SURROGATE_ESCAPES is set, surrogate code
2000*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoint values in UTF-8 and UTF-32 patterns no longer provoke errors and are
2001*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiincorporated in the compiled pattern. However, they can only match subject
2002*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters if the matching function is called with PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK set.
2003*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2004*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ALT_BSUX
2005*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2006*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe original option PCRE2_ALT_BSUX causes PCRE2 to process \U, \u, and \x in
2007*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe way that ECMAscript (aka JavaScript) does. Additional functionality was
2008*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefined by ECMAscript 6; setting PCRE2_EXTRA_ALT_BSUX has the effect of
2009*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ALT_BSUX, but in addition it recognizes \u{hhh..} as a hexadecimal
2010*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter code, where hhh.. is any number of hexadecimal digits.
2011*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2012*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_BSD
2013*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2014*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces \d to match only ASCII digits, even when PCRE2_UCP is set.
2015*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIt can be changed within a pattern by means of the (?aD) option setting.
2016*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2017*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_BSS
2018*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2019*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces \s to match only ASCII space characters, even when
2020*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UCP is set. It can be changed within a pattern by means of the (?aS)
2021*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption setting.
2022*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2023*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_BSW
2024*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2025*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces \w to match only ASCII word characters, even when PCRE2_UCP
2026*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis set. It can be changed within a pattern by means of the (?aW) option
2027*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisetting.
2028*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2029*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_DIGIT
2030*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2031*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces the POSIX character classes [:digit:] and [:xdigit:] to
2032*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch only ASCII digits, even when PCRE2_UCP is set. It can be changed within
2033*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia pattern by means of the (?aT) option setting.
2034*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2035*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_POSIX
2036*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2037*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option forces all the POSIX character classes, including [:digit:] and
2038*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi[:xdigit:], to match only ASCII characters, even when PCRE2_UCP is set. It can
2039*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe changed within a pattern by means of the (?aP) option setting, but note that
2040*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithis also sets PCRE2_EXTRA_ASCII_DIGIT in order to ensure that (?-aP) unsets
2041*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiall ASCII restrictions for POSIX classes.
2042*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2043*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_BAD_ESCAPE_IS_LITERAL
2044*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2045*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis is a dangerous option. Use with care. By default, an unrecognized escape
2046*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuch as \j or a malformed one such as \x{2z} causes a compile-time error when
2047*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidetected by <b>pcre2_compile()</b>. Perl is somewhat inconsistent in handling
2048*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuch items: for example, \j is treated as a literal "j", and non-hexadecimal
2049*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidigits in \x{} are just ignored, though warnings are given in both cases if
2050*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPerl's warning switch is enabled. However, a malformed octal number after \o{
2051*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialways causes an error in Perl.
2052*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2053*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2054*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the PCRE2_EXTRA_BAD_ESCAPE_IS_LITERAL extra option is passed to
2055*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b>, all unrecognized or malformed escape sequences are
2056*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitreated as single-character escapes. For example, \j is a literal "j" and
2057*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\x{2z} is treated as the literal string "x{2z}". Setting this option means
2058*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat typos in patterns may go undetected and have unexpected results. Also note
2059*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat a sequence such as [\N{] is interpreted as a malformed attempt at
2060*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi[\N{...}] and so is treated as [N{] whereas [\N] gives an error because an
2061*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunqualified \N is a valid escape sequence but is not supported in a character
2062*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiclass. To reiterate: this is a dangerous option. Use with great care.
2063*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2064*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_CASELESS_RESTRICT
2065*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2066*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen either PCRE2_UCP or PCRE2_UTF is set, caseless matching follows Unicode
2067*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirules, which allow for more than two cases per character. There are two
2068*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicase-equivalent character sets that contain both ASCII and non-ASCII
2069*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters. The ASCII letter S is case-equivalent to U+017f (long S) and the
2070*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiASCII letter K is case-equivalent to U+212a (Kelvin sign). This option disables
2071*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecognition of case-equivalences that cross the ASCII/non-ASCII boundary. In a
2072*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicaseless match, both characters must either be ASCII or non-ASCII. The option
2073*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican be changed with a pattern by the (?r) option setting.
2074*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2075*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_ESCAPED_CR_IS_LF
2076*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2077*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are some legacy applications where the escape sequence \r in a pattern
2078*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis expected to match a newline. If this option is set, \r in a pattern is
2079*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconverted to \n so that it matches a LF (linefeed) instead of a CR (carriage
2080*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn) character. The option does not affect a literal CR in the pattern, nor
2081*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidoes it affect CR specified as an explicit code point such as \x{0D}.
2082*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2083*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_MATCH_LINE
2084*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2085*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option is provided for use by the <b>-x</b> option of <b>pcre2grep</b>. It
2086*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicauses the pattern only to match complete lines. This is achieved by
2087*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically inserting the code for "^(?:" at the start of the compiled
2088*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern and ")$" at the end. Thus, when PCRE2_MULTILINE is set, the matched
2089*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiline may be in the middle of the subject string. This option can be used with
2090*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_LITERAL.
2091*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2092*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_EXTRA_MATCH_WORD
2093*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2094*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option is provided for use by the <b>-w</b> option of <b>pcre2grep</b>. It
2095*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicauses the pattern only to match strings that have a word boundary at the start
2096*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand the end. This is achieved by automatically inserting the code for "\b(?:"
2097*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiat the start of the compiled pattern and ")\b" at the end. The option may be
2098*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused with PCRE2_LITERAL. However, it is ignored if PCRE2_EXTRA_MATCH_LINE is
2099*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialso set.
2100*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="jitcompiling"></a></P>
2101*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC21" href="#TOC1">JUST-IN-TIME (JIT) COMPILATION</a><br>
2102*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2103*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_jit_compile(pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, uint32_t <i>options</i>);</b>
2104*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2105*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2106*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_jit_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
2107*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
2108*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
2109*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
2110*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2111*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2112*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_free_unused_memory(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
2113*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2114*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2115*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_stack *pcre2_jit_stack_create(size_t <i>startsize</i>,</b>
2116*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  size_t <i>maxsize</i>, pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
2117*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2118*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2119*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_stack_assign(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
2120*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_jit_callback <i>callback_function</i>, void *<i>callback_data</i>);</b>
2121*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2122*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2123*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_jit_stack_free(pcre2_jit_stack *<i>jit_stack</i>);</b>
2124*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2125*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2126*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese functions provide support for JIT compilation, which, if the just-in-time
2127*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiler is available, further processes a compiled pattern into machine code
2128*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat executes much faster than the <b>pcre2_match()</b> interpretive matching
2129*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction. Full details are given in the
2130*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
2131*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
2132*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2133*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2134*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiJIT compilation is a heavyweight optimization. It can take some time for
2135*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns to be analyzed, and for one-off matches and simple patterns the
2136*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibenefit of faster execution might be offset by a much slower compilation time.
2137*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMost (but not all) patterns can be optimized by the JIT compiler.
2138*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="localesupport"></a></P>
2139*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC22" href="#TOC1">LOCALE SUPPORT</a><br>
2140*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2141*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>const uint8_t *pcre2_maketables(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
2142*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2143*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2144*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_maketables_free(pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>,</b>
2145*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const uint8_t *<i>tables</i>);</b>
2146*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2147*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2148*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 handles caseless matching, and determines whether characters are letters,
2149*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidigits, or whatever, by reference to a set of tables, indexed by character code
2150*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoint. However, this applies only to characters whose code points are less than
2151*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi256. By default, higher-valued code points never match escapes such as \w or
2152*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\d.
2153*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2154*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2155*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2 is built with Unicode support (the default), certain Unicode
2156*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter properties can be tested with \p and \P, or, alternatively, the
2157*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UCP option can be set when a pattern is compiled; this causes \w and
2158*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifriends to use Unicode property support instead of the built-in tables.
2159*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UCP also causes upper/lower casing operations on characters with code
2160*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoints greater than 127 to use Unicode properties. These effects apply even
2161*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen PCRE2_UTF is not set. There are, however, some PCRE2_EXTRA options (see
2162*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiabove) that can be used to modify or suppress them.
2163*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2164*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2165*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe use of locales with Unicode is discouraged. If you are handling characters
2166*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith code points greater than 127, you should either use Unicode support, or
2167*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuse locales, but not try to mix the two.
2168*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2169*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2170*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 contains a built-in set of character tables that are used by default.
2171*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese are sufficient for many applications. Normally, the internal tables
2172*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecognize only ASCII characters. However, when PCRE2 is built, it is possible
2173*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito cause the internal tables to be rebuilt in the default "C" locale of the
2174*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilocal system, which may cause them to be different.
2175*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2176*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2177*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe built-in tables can be overridden by tables supplied by the application
2178*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat calls PCRE2. These may be created in a different locale from the default.
2179*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs more and more applications change to using Unicode, the need for this locale
2180*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisupport is expected to die away.
2181*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2182*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2183*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiExternal tables are built by calling the <b>pcre2_maketables()</b> function, in
2184*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe relevant locale. The only argument to this function is a general context,
2185*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhich can be used to pass a custom memory allocator. If the argument is NULL,
2186*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe system <b>malloc()</b> is used. The result can be passed to
2187*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b> as often as necessary, by creating a compile context and
2188*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_set_character_tables()</b> to set the tables pointer therein.
2189*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2190*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2191*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, to build and use tables that are appropriate for the French locale
2192*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(where accented characters with values greater than 127 are treated as
2193*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiletters), the following code could be used:
2194*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2195*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "fr_FR");
2196*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  tables = pcre2_maketables(NULL);
2197*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ccontext = pcre2_compile_context_create(NULL);
2198*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  pcre2_set_character_tables(ccontext, tables);
2199*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  re = pcre2_compile(..., ccontext);
2200*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2201*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe locale name "fr_FR" is used on Linux and other Unix-like systems; if you
2202*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare using Windows, the name for the French locale is "french".
2203*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2204*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2205*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe pointer that is passed (via the compile context) to <b>pcre2_compile()</b>
2206*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis saved with the compiled pattern, and the same tables are used by the
2207*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching functions. Thus, for any single pattern, compilation and matching both
2208*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihappen in the same locale, but different patterns can be processed in different
2209*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilocales.
2210*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2211*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2212*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIt is the caller's responsibility to ensure that the memory containing the
2213*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitables remains available while they are still in use. When they are no longer
2214*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimineeded, you can discard them using <b>pcre2_maketables_free()</b>, which should
2215*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipass as its first parameter the same global context that was used to create the
2216*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitables.
2217*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2218*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
2219*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSaving locale tables
2220*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
2221*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2222*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe tables described above are just a sequence of binary bytes, which makes
2223*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithem independent of hardware characteristics such as endianness or whether the
2224*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprocessor is 32-bit or 64-bit. A copy of the result of <b>pcre2_maketables()</b>
2225*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican therefore be saved in a file or elsewhere and re-used later, even in a
2226*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidifferent program or on another computer. The size of the tables (number of
2227*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibytes) must be obtained by calling <b>pcre2_config()</b> with the
2228*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_CONFIG_TABLES_LENGTH option because <b>pcre2_maketables()</b> does not
2229*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn this value. Note that the <b>pcre2_dftables</b> program, which is part of
2230*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe PCRE2 build system, can be used stand-alone to create a file that contains
2231*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia set of binary tables. See the
2232*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2build.html#createtables"><b>pcre2build</b></a>
2233*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for details.
2234*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="infoaboutpattern"></a></P>
2235*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC23" href="#TOC1">INFORMATION ABOUT A COMPILED PATTERN</a><br>
2236*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2237*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_pattern_info(const pcre2 *<i>code</i>, uint32_t <i>what</i>, void *<i>where</i>);</b>
2238*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2239*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2240*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> function returns general information about a
2241*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled pattern. For information about callouts, see the
2242*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#infoaboutcallouts">next section.</a>
2243*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe first argument for <b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> is a pointer to the compiled
2244*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern. The second argument specifies which piece of information is required,
2245*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand the third argument is a pointer to a variable to receive the data. If the
2246*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithird argument is NULL, the first argument is ignored, and the function returns
2247*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe size in bytes of the variable that is required for the information
2248*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequested. Otherwise, the yield of the function is zero for success, or one of
2249*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe following negative numbers:
2250*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2251*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NULL           the argument <i>code</i> was NULL
2252*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADMAGIC       the "magic number" was not found
2253*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADOPTION      the value of <i>what</i> was invalid
2254*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET          the requested field is not set
2255*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2256*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe "magic number" is placed at the start of each compiled pattern as a simple
2257*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicheck against passing an arbitrary memory pointer. Here is a typical call of
2258*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b>, to obtain the length of the compiled pattern:
2259*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2260*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  int rc;
2261*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  size_t length;
2262*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  rc = pcre2_pattern_info(
2263*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    re,               /* result of pcre2_compile() */
2264*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    PCRE2_INFO_SIZE,  /* what is required */
2265*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    &length);         /* where to put the data */
2266*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2267*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe possible values for the second argument are defined in <b>pcre2.h</b>, and
2268*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare as follows:
2269*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2270*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_ALLOPTIONS
2271*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_ARGOPTIONS
2272*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_EXTRAOPTIONS
2273*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2274*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn copies of the pattern's options. The third argument should point to a
2275*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>uint32_t</b> variable. PCRE2_INFO_ARGOPTIONS returns exactly the options that
2276*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwere passed to <b>pcre2_compile()</b>, whereas PCRE2_INFO_ALLOPTIONS returns
2277*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe compile options as modified by any top-level (*XXX) option settings such as
2278*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*UTF) at the start of the pattern itself. PCRE2_INFO_EXTRAOPTIONS returns the
2279*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextra options that were set in the compile context by calling the
2280*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipcre2_set_compile_extra_options() function.
2281*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2282*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2283*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if the pattern /(*UTF)abc/ is compiled with the PCRE2_EXTENDED
2284*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption, the result for PCRE2_INFO_ALLOPTIONS is PCRE2_EXTENDED and PCRE2_UTF.
2285*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOption settings such as (?i) that can change within a pattern do not affect the
2286*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiresult of PCRE2_INFO_ALLOPTIONS, even if they appear right at the start of the
2287*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern. (This was different in some earlier releases.)
2288*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2289*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2290*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA pattern compiled without PCRE2_ANCHORED is automatically anchored by PCRE2 if
2291*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe first significant item in every top-level branch is one of the following:
2292*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2293*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ^     unless PCRE2_MULTILINE is set
2294*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  \A    always
2295*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  \G    always
2296*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  .*    sometimes - see below
2297*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2298*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen .* is the first significant item, anchoring is possible only when all the
2299*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifollowing are true:
2300*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2301*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  .* is not in an atomic group
2302*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  .* is not in a capture group that is the subject of a backreference
2303*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DOTALL is in force for .*
2304*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  Neither (*PRUNE) nor (*SKIP) appears in the pattern
2305*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_DOTSTAR_ANCHOR is not set
2306*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2307*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor patterns that are auto-anchored, the PCRE2_ANCHORED bit is set in the
2308*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptions returned for PCRE2_INFO_ALLOPTIONS.
2309*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2310*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_BACKREFMAX
2311*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2312*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the number of the highest backreference in the pattern. The third
2313*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. Named capture groups
2314*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiacquire numbers as well as names, and these count towards the highest
2315*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibackreference. Backreferences such as \4 or \g{12} match the captured
2316*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters of the given group, but in addition, the check that a capture
2317*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroup is set in a conditional group such as (?(3)a|b) is also a backreference.
2318*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiZero is returned if there are no backreferences.
2319*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2320*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_BSR
2321*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2322*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is a uint32_t integer whose value indicates what character sequences
2323*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe \R escape sequence matches. A value of PCRE2_BSR_UNICODE means that \R
2324*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches any Unicode line ending sequence; a value of PCRE2_BSR_ANYCRLF means
2325*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat \R matches only CR, LF, or CRLF.
2326*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2327*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_CAPTURECOUNT
2328*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2329*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the highest capture group number in the pattern. In patterns where (?|
2330*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis not used, this is also the total number of capture groups. The third
2331*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable.
2332*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2333*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_DEPTHLIMIT
2334*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2335*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the pattern set a backtracking depth limit by including an item of the form
2336*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*LIMIT_DEPTH=nnnn) at the start, the value is returned. The third argument
2337*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould point to a uint32_t integer. If no such value has been set, the call to
2338*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> returns the error PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET. Note that this
2339*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit will only be used during matching if it is less than the limit set or
2340*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefaulted by the caller of the match function.
2341*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2342*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTBITMAP
2343*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2344*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn the absence of a single first code unit for a non-anchored pattern,
2345*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b> may construct a 256-bit table that defines a fixed set of
2346*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalues for the first code unit in any match. For example, a pattern that starts
2347*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith [abc] results in a table with three bits set. When code unit values
2348*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigreater than 255 are supported, the flag bit for 255 means "any code unit of
2349*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue 255 or above". If such a table was constructed, a pointer to it is
2350*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. Otherwise NULL is returned. The third argument should point to a
2351*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>const uint8_t *</b> variable.
2352*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2353*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTCODETYPE
2354*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2355*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn information about the first code unit of any matched string, for a
2356*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminon-anchored pattern. The third argument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b>
2357*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivariable. If there is a fixed first value, for example, the letter "c" from a
2358*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern such as (cat|cow|coyote), 1 is returned, and the value can be retrieved
2359*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTCODEUNIT. If there is no fixed first value, but it is
2360*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiknown that a match can occur only at the start of the subject or following a
2361*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline in the subject, 2 is returned. Otherwise, and for anchored patterns, 0
2362*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis returned.
2363*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2364*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTCODEUNIT
2365*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2366*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the value of the first code unit of any matched string for a pattern
2367*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhere PCRE2_INFO_FIRSTCODETYPE returns 1; otherwise return 0. The third
2368*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. In the 8-bit library, the
2369*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue is always less than 256. In the 16-bit library the value can be up to
2370*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi0xffff. In the 32-bit library in UTF-32 mode the value can be up to 0x10ffff,
2371*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand up to 0xffffffff when not using UTF-32 mode.
2372*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2373*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_FRAMESIZE
2374*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2375*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the size (in bytes) of the data frames that are used to remember
2376*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibacktracking positions when the pattern is processed by <b>pcre2_match()</b>
2377*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwithout the use of JIT. The third argument should point to a <b>size_t</b>
2378*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivariable. The frame size depends on the number of capturing parentheses in the
2379*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern. Each additional capture group adds two PCRE2_SIZE variables.
2380*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2381*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_HASBACKSLASHC
2382*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2383*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn 1 if the pattern contains any instances of \C, otherwise 0. The third
2384*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable.
2385*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2386*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_HASCRORLF
2387*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2388*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn 1 if the pattern contains any explicit matches for CR or LF characters,
2389*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiotherwise 0. The third argument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. An
2390*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexplicit match is either a literal CR or LF character, or \r or \n or one of
2391*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe equivalent hexadecimal or octal escape sequences.
2392*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2393*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_HEAPLIMIT
2394*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2395*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the pattern set a heap memory limit by including an item of the form
2396*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*LIMIT_HEAP=nnnn) at the start, the value is returned. The third argument
2397*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould point to a uint32_t integer. If no such value has been set, the call to
2398*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> returns the error PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET. Note that this
2399*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit will only be used during matching if it is less than the limit set or
2400*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefaulted by the caller of the match function.
2401*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2402*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_JCHANGED
2403*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2404*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn 1 if the (?J) or (?-J) option setting is used in the pattern, otherwise
2405*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi0. The third argument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. (?J) and
2406*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(?-J) set and unset the local PCRE2_DUPNAMES option, respectively.
2407*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2408*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_JITSIZE
2409*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2410*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the compiled pattern was successfully processed by
2411*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b>, return the size of the JIT compiled code, otherwise
2412*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn zero. The third argument should point to a <b>size_t</b> variable.
2413*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2414*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_LASTCODETYPE
2415*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2416*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturns 1 if there is a rightmost literal code unit that must exist in any
2417*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatched string, other than at its start. The third argument should point to a
2418*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>uint32_t</b> variable. If there is no such value, 0 is returned. When 1 is
2419*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned, the code unit value itself can be retrieved using
2420*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_INFO_LASTCODEUNIT. For anchored patterns, a last literal value is
2421*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecorded only if it follows something of variable length. For example, for the
2422*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern /^a\d+z\d+/ the returned value is 1 (with "z" returned from
2423*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_INFO_LASTCODEUNIT), but for /^a\dz\d/ the returned value is 0.
2424*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2425*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_LASTCODEUNIT
2426*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2427*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the value of the rightmost literal code unit that must exist in any
2428*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatched string, other than at its start, for a pattern where
2429*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_INFO_LASTCODETYPE returns 1. Otherwise, return 0. The third argument
2430*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable.
2431*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2432*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_MATCHEMPTY
2433*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2434*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn 1 if the pattern might match an empty string, otherwise 0. The third
2435*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument should point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. When a pattern contains
2436*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecursive subroutine calls it is not always possible to determine whether or
2437*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot it can match an empty string. PCRE2 takes a cautious approach and returns 1
2438*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin such cases.
2439*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2440*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_MATCHLIMIT
2441*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2442*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the pattern set a match limit by including an item of the form
2443*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*LIMIT_MATCH=nnnn) at the start, the value is returned. The third argument
2444*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould point to a uint32_t integer. If no such value has been set, the call to
2445*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> returns the error PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET. Note that this
2446*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit will only be used during matching if it is less than the limit set or
2447*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefaulted by the caller of the match function.
2448*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2449*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_MAXLOOKBEHIND
2450*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2451*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA lookbehind assertion moves back a certain number of characters (not code
2452*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits) when it starts to process each of its branches. This request returns the
2453*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilargest of these backward moves. The third argument should point to a uint32_t
2454*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinteger. The simple assertions \b and \B require a one-character lookbehind
2455*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand cause PCRE2_INFO_MAXLOOKBEHIND to return 1 in the absence of anything
2456*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilonger. \A also registers a one-character lookbehind, though it does not
2457*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiactually inspect the previous character.
2458*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2459*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2460*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote that this information is useful for multi-segment matching only
2461*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiif the pattern contains no nested lookbehinds. For example, the pattern
2462*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(?&#60;=a(?&#60;=ba)c) returns a maximum lookbehind of 2, but when it is processed, the
2463*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst lookbehind moves back by two characters, matches one character, then the
2464*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminested lookbehind also moves back by two characters. This puts the matching
2465*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipoint three characters earlier than it was at the start.
2466*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_INFO_MAXLOOKBEHIND is really only useful as a debugging tool. See the
2467*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
2468*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for a discussion of multi-segment matching.
2469*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2470*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_MINLENGTH
2471*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2472*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a minimum length for matching subject strings was computed, its value is
2473*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. Otherwise the returned value is 0. This value is not computed when
2474*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE is set. The value is a number of characters, which in
2475*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF mode may be different from the number of code units. The third argument
2476*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould point to a <b>uint32_t</b> variable. The value is a lower bound to the
2477*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilength of any matching string. There may not be any strings of that length that
2478*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimido actually match, but every string that does match is at least that long.
2479*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2480*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_NAMECOUNT
2481*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE
2482*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_NAMETABLE
2483*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2484*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 supports the use of named as well as numbered capturing parentheses. The
2485*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminames are just an additional way of identifying the parentheses, which still
2486*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiacquire numbers. Several convenience functions such as
2487*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_substring_get_byname()</b> are provided for extracting captured
2488*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings by name. It is also possible to extract the data directly, by first
2489*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconverting the name to a number in order to access the correct pointers in the
2490*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioutput vector (described with <b>pcre2_match()</b> below). To do the conversion,
2491*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiyou need to use the name-to-number map, which is described by these three
2492*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalues.
2493*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2494*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2495*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe map consists of a number of fixed-size entries. PCRE2_INFO_NAMECOUNT gives
2496*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe number of entries, and PCRE2_INFO_NAMEENTRYSIZE gives the size of each
2497*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimientry in code units; both of these return a <b>uint32_t</b> value. The entry
2498*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisize depends on the length of the longest name.
2499*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2500*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2501*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_INFO_NAMETABLE returns a pointer to the first entry of the table. This is
2502*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia PCRE2_SPTR pointer to a block of code units. In the 8-bit library, the first
2503*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitwo bytes of each entry are the number of the capturing parenthesis, most
2504*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisignificant byte first. In the 16-bit library, the pointer points to 16-bit
2505*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode units, the first of which contains the parenthesis number. In the 32-bit
2506*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary, the pointer points to 32-bit code units, the first of which contains
2507*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe parenthesis number. The rest of the entry is the corresponding name, zero
2508*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiterminated.
2509*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2510*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2511*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe names are in alphabetical order. If (?| is used to create multiple capture
2512*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups with the same number, as described in the
2513*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html#dupgroupnumber">section on duplicate group numbers</a>
2514*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
2515*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
2516*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage, the groups may be given the same name, but there is only one entry in the
2517*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitable. Different names for groups of the same number are not permitted.
2518*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2519*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2520*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiDuplicate names for capture groups with different numbers are permitted, but
2521*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimionly if PCRE2_DUPNAMES is set. They appear in the table in the order in which
2522*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithey were found in the pattern. In the absence of (?| this is the order of
2523*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiincreasing number; when (?| is used this is not necessarily the case because
2524*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilater capture groups may have lower numbers.
2525*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2526*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2527*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs a simple example of the name/number table, consider the following pattern
2528*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafter compilation by the 8-bit library (assume PCRE2_EXTENDED is set, so white
2529*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimispace - including newlines - is ignored):
2530*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2531*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (?&#60;date&#62; (?&#60;year&#62;(\d\d)?\d\d) - (?&#60;month&#62;\d\d) - (?&#60;day&#62;\d\d) )
2532*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2533*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are four named capture groups, so the table has four entries, and each
2534*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimientry in the table is eight bytes long. The table is as follows, with
2535*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminon-printing bytes shows in hexadecimal, and undefined bytes shown as ??:
2536*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2537*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  00 01 d  a  t  e  00 ??
2538*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  00 05 d  a  y  00 ?? ??
2539*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  00 04 m  o  n  t  h  00
2540*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  00 02 y  e  a  r  00 ??
2541*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2542*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen writing code to extract data from named capture groups using the
2543*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminame-to-number map, remember that the length of the entries is likely to be
2544*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidifferent for each compiled pattern.
2545*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2546*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_NEWLINE
2547*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2548*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe output is one of the following <b>uint32_t</b> values:
2549*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2550*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_CR       Carriage return (CR)
2551*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_LF       Linefeed (LF)
2552*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_CRLF     Carriage return, linefeed (CRLF)
2553*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANY      Any Unicode line ending
2554*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF  Any of CR, LF, or CRLF
2555*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NEWLINE_NUL      The NUL character (binary zero)
2556*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2557*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis identifies the character sequence that will be recognized as meaning
2558*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"newline" while matching.
2559*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2560*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_INFO_SIZE
2561*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2562*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn the size of the compiled pattern in bytes (for all three libraries). The
2563*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithird argument should point to a <b>size_t</b> variable. This value includes the
2564*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisize of the general data block that precedes the code units of the compiled
2565*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern itself. The value that is used when <b>pcre2_compile()</b> is getting
2566*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory in which to place the compiled pattern may be slightly larger than the
2567*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalue returned by this option, because there are cases where the code that
2568*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalculates the size has to over-estimate. Processing a pattern with the JIT
2569*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiler does not alter the value returned by this option.
2570*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="infoaboutcallouts"></a></P>
2571*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC24" href="#TOC1">INFORMATION ABOUT A PATTERN'S CALLOUTS</a><br>
2572*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2573*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_callout_enumerate(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
2574*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callback</i>)(pcre2_callout_enumerate_block *, void *),</b>
2575*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>user_data</i>);</b>
2576*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2577*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2578*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA script language that supports the use of string arguments in callouts might
2579*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilike to scan all the callouts in a pattern before running the match. This can
2580*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe done by calling <b>pcre2_callout_enumerate()</b>. The first argument is a
2581*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipointer to a compiled pattern, the second points to a callback function, and
2582*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe third is arbitrary user data. The callback function is called for every
2583*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicallout in the pattern in the order in which they appear. Its first argument is
2584*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia pointer to a callout enumeration block, and its second argument is the
2585*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>user_data</i> value that was passed to <b>pcre2_callout_enumerate()</b>. The
2586*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontents of the callout enumeration block are described in the
2587*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2callout.html"><b>pcre2callout</b></a>
2588*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation, which also gives further details about callouts.
2589*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2590*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC25" href="#TOC1">SERIALIZATION AND PRECOMPILING</a><br>
2591*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2592*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIt is possible to save compiled patterns on disc or elsewhere, and reload them
2593*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilater, subject to a number of restrictions. The host on which the patterns are
2594*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireloaded must be running the same version of PCRE2, with the same code unit
2595*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwidth, and must also have the same endianness, pointer width, and PCRE2_SIZE
2596*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitype. Before compiled patterns can be saved, they must be converted to a
2597*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"serialized" form, which in the case of PCRE2 is really just a bytecode dump.
2598*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe functions whose names begin with <b>pcre2_serialize_</b> are used for
2599*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconverting to and from the serialized form. They are described in the
2600*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2serialize.html"><b>pcre2serialize</b></a>
2601*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation. Note that PCRE2 serialization does not convert compiled patterns
2602*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito an abstract format like Java or .NET serialization.
2603*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="matchdatablock"></a></P>
2604*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC26" href="#TOC1">THE MATCH DATA BLOCK</a><br>
2605*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2606*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_data *pcre2_match_data_create(uint32_t <i>ovecsize</i>,</b>
2607*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
2608*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2609*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2610*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_data *pcre2_match_data_create_from_pattern(</b>
2611*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, pcre2_general_context *<i>gcontext</i>);</b>
2612*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2613*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2614*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_match_data_free(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
2615*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2616*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2617*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiInformation about a successful or unsuccessful match is placed in a match
2618*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidata block, which is an opaque structure that is accessed by function calls. In
2619*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparticular, the match data block contains a vector of offsets into the subject
2620*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring that define the matched parts of the subject. This is known as the
2621*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>ovector</i>.
2622*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2623*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2624*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBefore calling <b>pcre2_match()</b>, <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, or
2625*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_match()</b> you must create a match data block by calling one of
2626*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe creation functions above. For <b>pcre2_match_data_create()</b>, the first
2627*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument is the number of pairs of offsets in the <i>ovector</i>.
2628*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2629*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2630*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen using <b>pcre2_match()</b>, one pair of offsets is required to identify the
2631*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring that matched the whole pattern, with an additional pair for each
2632*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicaptured substring. For example, a value of 4 creates enough space to record
2633*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe matched portion of the subject plus three captured substrings.
2634*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2635*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2636*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen using <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> there may be multiple matched substrings of
2637*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidifferent lengths at the same point in the subject. The ovector should be made
2638*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilarge enough to hold as many as are expected.
2639*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2640*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2641*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA minimum of at least 1 pair is imposed by <b>pcre2_match_data_create()</b>, so
2642*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit is always possible to return the overall matched string in the case of
2643*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> or the longest match in the case of
2644*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>. The maximum number of pairs is 65535; if the first
2645*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument of <b>pcre2_match_data_create()</b> is greater than this, 65535 is
2646*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused.
2647*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2648*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2649*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe second argument of <b>pcre2_match_data_create()</b> is a pointer to a
2650*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigeneral context, which can specify custom memory management for obtaining the
2651*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory for the match data block. If you are not using custom memory management,
2652*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipass NULL, which causes <b>malloc()</b> to be used.
2653*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2654*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2655*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor <b>pcre2_match_data_create_from_pattern()</b>, the first argument is a
2656*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipointer to a compiled pattern. The ovector is created to be exactly the right
2657*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisize to hold all the substrings a pattern might capture when matched using
2658*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>. You should not use this call when matching with
2659*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>. The second argument is again a pointer to a general
2660*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontext, but in this case if NULL is passed, the memory is obtained using the
2661*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisame allocator that was used for the compiled pattern (custom or default).
2662*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2663*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2664*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA match data block can be used many times, with the same or different compiled
2665*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipatterns. You can extract information from a match data block after a match
2666*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioperation has finished, using functions that are described in the sections on
2667*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchedstrings">matched strings</a>
2668*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand
2669*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchotherdata">other match data</a>
2670*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibelow.
2671*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2672*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2673*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen a call of <b>pcre2_match()</b> fails, valid data is available in the match
2674*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiblock only when the error is PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH, PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL, or one
2675*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof the error codes for an invalid UTF string. Exactly what is available depends
2676*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimion the error, and is detailed below.
2677*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2678*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2679*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen one of the matching functions is called, pointers to the compiled pattern
2680*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand the subject string are set in the match data block so that they can be
2681*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireferenced by the extraction functions after a successful match. After running
2682*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia match, you must not free a compiled pattern or a subject string until after
2683*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiall operations on the match data block (for that match) have taken place,
2684*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunless, in the case of the subject string, you have used the
2685*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT option, which is described in the section entitled
2686*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"Option bits for <b>pcre2_match()</b>"
2687*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchoptions>">below.</a>
2688*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2689*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2690*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen a match data block itself is no longer needed, it should be freed by
2691*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_match_data_free()</b>. If this function is called with a NULL
2692*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument, it returns immediately, without doing anything.
2693*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2694*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC27" href="#TOC1">MEMORY USE FOR MATCH DATA BLOCKS</a><br>
2695*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2696*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_match_data_size(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
2697*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2698*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
2699*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_match_data_heapframes_size(</b>
2700*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
2701*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2702*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2703*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe size of a match data block depends on the size of the ovector that it
2704*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontains. The function <b>pcre2_get_match_data_size()</b> returns the size, in
2705*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibytes, of the block that is its argument.
2706*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2707*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2708*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen <b>pcre2_match()</b> runs interpretively (that is, without using JIT), it
2709*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimakes use of a vector of data frames for remembering backtracking positions.
2710*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe size of each individual frame depends on the number of capturing
2711*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparentheses in the pattern and can be obtained by calling
2712*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> with the PCRE2_INFO_FRAMESIZE option (see the
2713*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisection entitled "Information about a compiled pattern"
2714*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#infoaboutpattern>">above).</a>
2715*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2716*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2717*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHeap memory is used for the frames vector; if the initial memory block turns
2718*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiout to be too small during matching, it is automatically expanded. When
2719*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> returns, the memory is not freed, but remains attached to
2720*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe match data block, for use by any subsequent matches that use the same
2721*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiblock. It is automatically freed when the match data block itself is freed.
2722*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2723*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2724*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiYou can find the current size of the frames vector that a match data block owns
2725*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiby calling <b>pcre2_get_match_data_heapframes_size()</b>. For a newly created
2726*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch data block the size will be zero. Some types of match may require a lot
2727*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof frames and thus a large vector; applications that run in environments where
2728*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimemory is constrained can check this and free the match data block if the heap
2729*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiframes vector has become too big.
2730*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2731*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC28" href="#TOC1">MATCHING A PATTERN: THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTION</a><br>
2732*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2733*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
2734*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
2735*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
2736*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>);</b>
2737*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2738*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2739*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_match()</b> is called to match a subject string against a
2740*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled pattern, which is passed in the <i>code</i> argument. You can call
2741*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> with the same <i>code</i> argument as many times as you
2742*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilike, in order to find multiple matches in the subject string or to match
2743*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidifferent subject strings with the same pattern.
2744*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2745*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2746*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis function is the main matching facility of the library, and it operates in
2747*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia Perl-like manner. For specialist use there is also an alternative matching
2748*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction, which is described
2749*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#dfamatch">below</a>
2750*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the section about the <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> function.
2751*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2752*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2753*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHere is an example of a simple call to <b>pcre2_match()</b>:
2754*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2755*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  pcre2_match_data *md = pcre2_match_data_create(4, NULL);
2756*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  int rc = pcre2_match(
2757*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    re,             /* result of pcre2_compile() */
2758*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    "some string",  /* the subject string */
2759*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    11,             /* the length of the subject string */
2760*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    0,              /* start at offset 0 in the subject */
2761*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    0,              /* default options */
2762*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    md,             /* the match data block */
2763*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    NULL);          /* a match context; NULL means use defaults */
2764*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2765*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the subject string is zero-terminated, the length can be given as
2766*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED. A match context must be provided if certain less common
2767*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching parameters are to be changed. For details, see the section on
2768*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchcontext">the match context</a>
2769*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiabove.
2770*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2771*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
2772*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe string to be matched by <b>pcre2_match()</b>
2773*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
2774*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2775*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe subject string is passed to <b>pcre2_match()</b> as a pointer in
2776*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>subject</i>, a length in <i>length</i>, and a starting offset in
2777*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>startoffset</i>. The length and offset are in code units, not characters.
2778*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThat is, they are in bytes for the 8-bit library, 16-bit code units for the
2779*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi16-bit library, and 32-bit code units for the 32-bit library, whether or not
2780*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF processing is enabled. As a special case, if <i>subject</i> is NULL and
2781*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>length</i> is zero, the subject is assumed to be an empty string. If
2782*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>length</i> is non-zero, an error occurs if <i>subject</i> is NULL.
2783*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2784*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2785*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf <i>startoffset</i> is greater than the length of the subject,
2786*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> returns PCRE2_ERROR_BADOFFSET. When the starting offset is
2787*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero, the search for a match starts at the beginning of the subject, and this
2788*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis by far the most common case. In UTF-8 or UTF-16 mode, the starting offset
2789*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimust point to the start of a character, or to the end of the subject (in UTF-32
2790*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimode, one code unit equals one character, so all offsets are valid). Like the
2791*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern string, the subject may contain binary zeros.
2792*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2793*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2794*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA non-zero starting offset is useful when searching for another match in the
2795*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisame subject by calling <b>pcre2_match()</b> again after a previous success.
2796*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSetting <i>startoffset</i> differs from passing over a shortened string and
2797*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisetting PCRE2_NOTBOL in the case of a pattern that begins with any kind of
2798*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilookbehind. For example, consider the pattern
2799*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2800*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  \Biss\B
2801*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2802*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhich finds occurrences of "iss" in the middle of words. (\B matches only if
2803*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe current position in the subject is not a word boundary.) When applied to
2804*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe string "Mississippi" the first call to <b>pcre2_match()</b> finds the first
2805*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioccurrence. If <b>pcre2_match()</b> is called again with just the remainder of
2806*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe subject, namely "issippi", it does not match, because \B is always false
2807*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiat the start of the subject, which is deemed to be a word boundary. However, if
2808*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> is passed the entire string again, but with
2809*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>startoffset</i> set to 4, it finds the second occurrence of "iss" because it
2810*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis able to look behind the starting point to discover that it is preceded by a
2811*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiletter.
2812*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2813*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2814*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFinding all the matches in a subject is tricky when the pattern can match an
2815*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiempty string. It is possible to emulate Perl's /g behaviour by first trying the
2816*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch again at the same offset, with the PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART and
2817*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ANCHORED options, and then if that fails, advancing the starting offset
2818*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand trying an ordinary match again. There is some code that demonstrates how to
2819*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimido this in the
2820*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2demo.html"><b>pcre2demo</b></a>
2821*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisample program. In the most general case, you have to check to see if the
2822*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminewline convention recognizes CRLF as a newline, and if so, and the current
2823*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter is CR followed by LF, advance the starting offset by two characters
2824*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinstead of one.
2825*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2826*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2827*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a non-zero starting offset is passed when the pattern is anchored, a single
2828*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiattempt to match at the given offset is made. This can only succeed if the
2829*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern does not require the match to be at the start of the subject. In other
2830*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwords, the anchoring must be the result of setting the PCRE2_ANCHORED option or
2831*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe use of .* with PCRE2_DOTALL, not by starting the pattern with ^ or \A.
2832*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="matchoptions"></a></P>
2833*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
2834*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOption bits for <b>pcre2_match()</b>
2835*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
2836*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2837*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe unused bits of the <i>options</i> argument for <b>pcre2_match()</b> must be
2838*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero. The only bits that may be set are PCRE2_ANCHORED,
2839*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT, PCRE2_DISABLE_RECURSELOOP_CHECK, PCRE2_ENDANCHORED,
2840*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NOTBOL, PCRE2_NOTEOL, PCRE2_NOTEMPTY, PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART,
2841*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NO_JIT, PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK, PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD, and PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT.
2842*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiTheir action is described below.
2843*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2844*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2845*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSetting PCRE2_ANCHORED or PCRE2_ENDANCHORED at match time is not supported by
2846*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe just-in-time (JIT) compiler. If it is set, JIT matching is disabled and the
2847*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinterpretive code in <b>pcre2_match()</b> is run.
2848*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_DISABLE_RECURSELOOP_CHECK is ignored by JIT, but apart from PCRE2_NO_JIT
2849*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(obviously), the remaining options are supported for JIT matching.
2850*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2851*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ANCHORED
2852*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2853*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe PCRE2_ANCHORED option limits <b>pcre2_match()</b> to matching at the first
2854*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching position. If a pattern was compiled with PCRE2_ANCHORED, or turned out
2855*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito be anchored by virtue of its contents, it cannot be made unachored at
2856*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching time. Note that setting the option at match time disables JIT
2857*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching.
2858*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2859*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT
2860*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2861*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBy default, a pointer to the subject is remembered in the match data block so
2862*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat, after a successful match, it can be referenced by the substring
2863*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextraction functions. This means that the subject's memory must not be freed
2864*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuntil all such operations are complete. For some applications where the
2865*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilifetime of the subject string is not guaranteed, it may be necessary to make a
2866*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicopy of the subject string, but it is wasteful to do this unless the match is
2867*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisuccessful. After a successful match, if PCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT is set, the
2868*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject is copied and the new pointer is remembered in the match data block
2869*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinstead of the original subject pointer. The memory allocator that was used for
2870*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe match block itself is used. The copy is automatically freed when
2871*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match_data_free()</b> is called to free the match data block. It is also
2872*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiautomatically freed if the match data block is re-used for another match
2873*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioperation.
2874*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2875*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DISABLE_RECURSELOOP_CHECK
2876*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2877*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option is relevant only to <b>pcre2_match()</b> for interpretive matching.
2878*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIt is ignored when JIT is used, and is forbidden for <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>.
2879*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2880*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2881*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe use of recursion in patterns can lead to infinite loops. In the
2882*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinterpretive matcher these would be eventually caught by the match or heap
2883*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimits, but this could take a long time and/or use a lot of memory if the
2884*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimits are large. There is therefore a check at the start of each recursion.
2885*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the same group is still active from a previous call, and the current subject
2886*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipointer is the same as it was at the start of that group, and the furthest
2887*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinspected character of the subject has not changed, an error is generated.
2888*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2889*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2890*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are rare cases of matches that would complete, but nevertheless trigger
2891*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithis error. This option disables the check. It is provided mainly for testing
2892*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen comparing JIT and interpretive behaviour.
2893*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2894*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ENDANCHORED
2895*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2896*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the PCRE2_ENDANCHORED option is set, any string that <b>pcre2_match()</b>
2897*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches must be right at the end of the subject string. Note that setting the
2898*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioption at match time disables JIT matching.
2899*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2900*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NOTBOL
2901*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2902*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option specifies that first character of the subject string is not the
2903*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibeginning of a line, so the circumflex metacharacter should not match before
2904*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit. Setting this without having set PCRE2_MULTILINE at compile time causes
2905*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicircumflex never to match. This option affects only the behaviour of the
2906*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicircumflex metacharacter. It does not affect \A.
2907*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2908*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NOTEOL
2909*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2910*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis option specifies that the end of the subject string is not the end of a
2911*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiline, so the dollar metacharacter should not match it nor (except in multiline
2912*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimode) a newline immediately before it. Setting this without having set
2913*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_MULTILINE at compile time causes dollar never to match. This option
2914*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiaffects only the behaviour of the dollar metacharacter. It does not affect \Z
2915*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior \z.
2916*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2917*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NOTEMPTY
2918*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2919*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAn empty string is not considered to be a valid match if this option is set. If
2920*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithere are alternatives in the pattern, they are tried. If all the alternatives
2921*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch the empty string, the entire match fails. For example, if the pattern
2922*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2923*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  a?b?
2924*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2925*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis applied to a string not beginning with "a" or "b", it matches an empty
2926*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring at the start of the subject. With PCRE2_NOTEMPTY set, this match is not
2927*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalid, so <b>pcre2_match()</b> searches further into the string for occurrences
2928*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof "a" or "b".
2929*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2930*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART
2931*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2932*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis is like PCRE2_NOTEMPTY, except that it locks out an empty string match
2933*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimionly at the first matching position, that is, at the start of the subject plus
2934*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe starting offset. An empty string match later in the subject is permitted.
2935*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the pattern is anchored, such a match can occur only if the pattern contains
2936*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\K.
2937*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2938*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_JIT
2939*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2940*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBy default, if a pattern has been successfully processed by
2941*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_jit_compile()</b>, JIT is automatically used when <b>pcre2_match()</b>
2942*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis called with options that JIT supports. Setting PCRE2_NO_JIT disables the use
2943*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof JIT; it forces matching to be done by the interpreter.
2944*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2945*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
2946*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2947*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2_UTF is set at compile time, the validity of the subject as a UTF
2948*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring is checked unless PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK is passed to <b>pcre2_match()</b> or
2949*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF was passed to <b>pcre2_compile()</b>. The latter special
2950*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicase is discussed in detail in the
2951*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
2952*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
2953*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2954*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2955*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn the default case, if a non-zero starting offset is given, the check is
2956*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiapplied only to that part of the subject that could be inspected during
2957*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching, and there is a check that the starting offset points to the first
2958*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode unit of a character or to the end of the subject. If there are no
2959*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilookbehind assertions in the pattern, the check starts at the starting offset.
2960*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOtherwise, it starts at the length of the longest lookbehind before the
2961*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistarting offset, or at the start of the subject if there are not that many
2962*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters before the starting offset. Note that the sequences \b and \B are
2963*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimione-character lookbehinds.
2964*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2965*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2966*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe check is carried out before any other processing takes place, and a
2967*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminegative error code is returned if the check fails. There are several UTF error
2968*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicodes for each code unit width, corresponding to different problems with the
2969*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode unit sequence. There are discussions about the validity of
2970*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf8strings">UTF-8 strings,</a>
2971*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf16strings">UTF-16 strings,</a>
2972*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand
2973*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html#utf32strings">UTF-32 strings</a>
2974*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
2975*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
2976*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
2977*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2978*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2979*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf you know that your subject is valid, and you want to skip this check for
2980*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiperformance reasons, you can set the PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK option when calling
2981*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>. You might want to do this for the second and subsequent
2982*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalls to <b>pcre2_match()</b> if you are making repeated calls to find multiple
2983*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches in the same subject string.
2984*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
2985*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
2986*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>Warning:</b> Unless PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF was set at compile time, when
2987*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK is set at match time the effect of passing an invalid
2988*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring as a subject, or an invalid value of <i>startoffset</i>, is undefined.
2989*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiYour program may crash or loop indefinitely or give wrong results.
2990*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
2991*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD
2992*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT
2993*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
2994*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese options turn on the partial matching feature. A partial match occurs if
2995*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe end of the subject string is reached successfully, but there are not enough
2996*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject characters to complete the match. In addition, either at least one
2997*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter must have been inspected or the pattern must contain a lookbehind, or
2998*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe pattern must be one that could match an empty string.
2999*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3000*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3001*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this situation arises when PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT (but not PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD)
3002*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis set, matching continues by testing any remaining alternatives. Only if no
3003*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicomplete match can be found is PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL returned instead of
3004*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH. In other words, PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT specifies that the
3005*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicaller is prepared to handle a partial match, but only if no complete match can
3006*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe found.
3007*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3008*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3009*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD is set, it overrides PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT. In this case, if
3010*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia partial match is found, <b>pcre2_match()</b> immediately returns
3011*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL, without considering any other alternatives. In other
3012*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwords, when PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD is set, a partial match is considered to be more
3013*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiimportant that an alternative complete match.
3014*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3015*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3016*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere is a more detailed discussion of partial and multi-segment matching, with
3017*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexamples, in the
3018*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
3019*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
3020*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3021*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC29" href="#TOC1">NEWLINE HANDLING WHEN MATCHING</a><br>
3022*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3023*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2 is built, a default newline convention is set; this is usually the
3024*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistandard convention for the operating system. The default can be overridden in
3025*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia
3026*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#compilecontext">compile context</a>
3027*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiby calling <b>pcre2_set_newline()</b>. It can also be overridden by starting a
3028*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern string with, for example, (*CRLF), as described in the
3029*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html#newlines">section on newline conventions</a>
3030*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
3031*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
3032*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage. During matching, the newline choice affects the behaviour of the dot,
3033*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicircumflex, and dollar metacharacters. It may also alter the way the match
3034*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistarting position is advanced after a match failure for an unanchored pattern.
3035*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3036*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3037*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen PCRE2_NEWLINE_CRLF, PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF, or PCRE2_NEWLINE_ANY is set as
3038*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe newline convention, and a match attempt for an unanchored pattern fails
3039*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen the current starting position is at a CRLF sequence, and the pattern
3040*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontains no explicit matches for CR or LF characters, the match position is
3041*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiadvanced by two characters instead of one, in other words, to after the CRLF.
3042*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3043*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3044*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe above rule is a compromise that makes the most common cases work as
3045*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexpected. For example, if the pattern is .+A (and the PCRE2_DOTALL option is
3046*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot set), it does not match the string "\r\nA" because, after failing at the
3047*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistart, it skips both the CR and the LF before retrying. However, the pattern
3048*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi[\r\n]A does match that string, because it contains an explicit CR or LF
3049*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireference, and so advances only by one character after the first failure.
3050*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3051*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3052*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAn explicit match for CR of LF is either a literal appearance of one of those
3053*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacters in the pattern, or one of the \r or \n or equivalent octal or
3054*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihexadecimal escape sequences. Implicit matches such as [^X] do not count, nor
3055*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidoes \s, even though it includes CR and LF in the characters that it matches.
3056*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3057*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3058*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNotwithstanding the above, anomalous effects may still occur when CRLF is a
3059*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalid newline sequence and explicit \r or \n escapes appear in the pattern.
3060*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="matchedstrings"></a></P>
3061*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC30" href="#TOC1">HOW PCRE2_MATCH() RETURNS A STRING AND CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS</a><br>
3062*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3063*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>uint32_t pcre2_get_ovector_count(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
3064*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3065*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3066*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE *pcre2_get_ovector_pointer(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
3067*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3068*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3069*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn general, a pattern matches a certain portion of the subject, and in
3070*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiaddition, further substrings from the subject may be picked out by
3071*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparenthesized parts of the pattern. Following the usage in Jeffrey Friedl's
3072*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibook, this is called "capturing" in what follows, and the phrase "capture
3073*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroup" (Perl terminology) is used for a fragment of a pattern that picks out a
3074*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstring. PCRE2 supports several other kinds of parenthesized group that do
3075*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot cause substrings to be captured. The <b>pcre2_pattern_info()</b> function
3076*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican be used to find out how many capture groups there are in a compiled
3077*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern.
3078*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3079*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3080*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiYou can use auxiliary functions for accessing captured substrings
3081*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#extractbynumber">by number</a>
3082*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimior
3083*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#extractbyname">by name,</a>
3084*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias described in sections below.
3085*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3086*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3087*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAlternatively, you can make direct use of the vector of PCRE2_SIZE values,
3088*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalled the <b>ovector</b>, which contains the offsets of captured strings. It is
3089*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipart of the
3090*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchdatablock">match data block.</a>
3091*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_get_ovector_pointer()</b> returns the address of the
3092*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiovector, and <b>pcre2_get_ovector_count()</b> returns the number of pairs of
3093*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalues it contains.
3094*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3095*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3096*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWithin the ovector, the first in each pair of values is set to the offset of
3097*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe first code unit of a substring, and the second is set to the offset of the
3098*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst code unit after the end of a substring. These values are always code unit
3099*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioffsets, not character offsets. That is, they are byte offsets in the 8-bit
3100*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary, 16-bit offsets in the 16-bit library, and 32-bit offsets in the 32-bit
3101*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary.
3102*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3103*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3104*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a partial match (error return PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL), only the first pair
3105*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof offsets (that is, <i>ovector[0]</i> and <i>ovector[1]</i>) are set. They
3106*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiidentify the part of the subject that was partially matched. See the
3107*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
3108*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for details of partial matching.
3109*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3110*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3111*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a fully successful match, the first pair of offsets identifies the
3112*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiportion of the subject string that was matched by the entire pattern. The next
3113*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipair is used for the first captured substring, and so on. The value returned by
3114*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> is one more than the highest numbered pair that has been
3115*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiset. For example, if two substrings have been captured, the returned value is
3116*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi3. If there are no captured substrings, the return value from a successful
3117*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch is 1, indicating that just the first pair of offsets has been set.
3118*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3119*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3120*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a pattern uses the \K escape sequence within a positive assertion, the
3121*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireported start of a successful match can be greater than the end of the match.
3122*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if the pattern (?=ab\K) is matched against "ab", the start and
3123*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiend offset values for the match are 2 and 0.
3124*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3125*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3126*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a capture group is matched repeatedly within a single match operation, it is
3127*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe last portion of the subject that it matched that is returned.
3128*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3129*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3130*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the ovector is too small to hold all the captured substring offsets, as much
3131*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias possible is filled in, and the function returns a value of zero. If captured
3132*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings are not of interest, <b>pcre2_match()</b> may be called with a match
3133*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidata block whose ovector is of minimum length (that is, one pair).
3134*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3135*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3136*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIt is possible for capture group number <i>n+1</i> to match some part of the
3137*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject when group <i>n</i> has not been used at all. For example, if the string
3138*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"abc" is matched against the pattern (a|(z))(bc) the return from the function
3139*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis 4, and groups 1 and 3 are matched, but 2 is not. When this happens, both
3140*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivalues in the offset pairs corresponding to unused groups are set to
3141*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UNSET.
3142*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3143*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3144*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOffset values that correspond to unused groups at the end of the expression are
3145*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialso set to PCRE2_UNSET. For example, if the string "abc" is matched against
3146*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe pattern (abc)(x(yz)?)? groups 2 and 3 are not matched. The return from the
3147*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction is 2, because the highest used capture group number is 1. The offsets
3148*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifor the second and third capture groups (assuming the vector is large enough,
3149*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof course) are set to PCRE2_UNSET.
3150*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3151*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3152*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiElements in the ovector that do not correspond to capturing parentheses in the
3153*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern are never changed. That is, if a pattern contains <i>n</i> capturing
3154*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparentheses, no more than <i>ovector[0]</i> to <i>ovector[2n+1]</i> are set by
3155*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>. The other elements retain whatever values they previously
3156*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimihad. After a failed match attempt, the contents of the ovector are unchanged.
3157*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="matchotherdata"></a></P>
3158*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC31" href="#TOC1">OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT A MATCH</a><br>
3159*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3160*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SPTR pcre2_get_mark(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
3161*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3162*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3163*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>PCRE2_SIZE pcre2_get_startchar(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>);</b>
3164*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3165*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3166*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs well as the offsets in the ovector, other information about a match is
3167*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiretained in the match data block and can be retrieved by the above functions in
3168*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiappropriate circumstances. If they are called at other times, the result is
3169*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiundefined.
3170*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3171*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3172*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a successful match, a partial match (PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL), or a failure
3173*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito match (PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH), a mark name may be available. The function
3174*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_get_mark()</b> can be called to access this name, which can be
3175*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimispecified in the pattern by any of the backtracking control verbs, not just
3176*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*MARK). The same function applies to all the verbs. It returns a pointer to
3177*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe zero-terminated name, which is within the compiled pattern. If no name is
3178*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiavailable, NULL is returned. The length of the name (excluding the terminating
3179*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero) is stored in the code unit that precedes the name. You should use this
3180*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilength instead of relying on the terminating zero if the name might contain a
3181*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibinary zero.
3182*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3183*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3184*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a successful match, the name that is returned is the last mark name
3185*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiencountered on the matching path through the pattern. Instances of backtracking
3186*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiverbs without names do not count. Thus, for example, if the matching path
3187*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicontains (*MARK:A)(*PRUNE), the name "A" is returned. After a "no match" or a
3188*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipartial match, the last encountered name is returned. For example, consider
3189*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithis pattern:
3190*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3191*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ^(*MARK:A)((*MARK:B)a|b)c
3192*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3193*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen it matches "bc", the returned name is A. The B mark is "seen" in the first
3194*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibranch of the group, but it is not on the matching path. On the other hand,
3195*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen this pattern fails to match "bx", the returned name is B.
3196*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3197*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3198*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>Warning:</b> By default, certain start-of-match optimizations are used to
3199*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigive a fast "no match" result in some situations. For example, if the anchoring
3200*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis removed from the pattern above, there is an initial check for the presence
3201*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof "c" in the subject before running the matching engine. This check fails for
3202*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"bx", causing a match failure without seeing any marks. You can disable the
3203*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistart-of-match optimizations by setting the PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE option for
3204*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_compile()</b> or by starting the pattern with (*NO_START_OPT).
3205*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3206*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3207*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a successful match, a partial match, or one of the invalid UTF errors
3208*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(for example, PCRE2_ERROR_UTF8_ERR5), <b>pcre2_get_startchar()</b> can be
3209*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalled. After a successful or partial match it returns the code unit offset of
3210*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe character at which the match started. For a non-partial match, this can be
3211*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidifferent to the value of <i>ovector[0]</i> if the pattern contains the \K
3212*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiescape sequence. After a partial match, however, this value is always the same
3213*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias <i>ovector[0]</i> because \K does not affect the result of a partial match.
3214*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3215*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3216*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAfter a UTF check failure, <b>pcre2_get_startchar()</b> can be used to obtain
3217*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe code unit offset of the invalid UTF character. Details are given in the
3218*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
3219*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage.
3220*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="errorlist"></a></P>
3221*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC32" href="#TOC1">ERROR RETURNS FROM <b>pcre2_match()</b></a><br>
3222*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3223*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf <b>pcre2_match()</b> fails, it returns a negative number. This can be
3224*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconverted to a text string by calling the <b>pcre2_get_error_message()</b>
3225*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction (see "Obtaining a textual error message"
3226*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#geterrormessage">below).</a>
3227*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNegative error codes are also returned by other functions, and are documented
3228*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith them. The codes are given names in the header file. If UTF checking is in
3229*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiforce and an invalid UTF subject string is detected, one of a number of
3230*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF-specific negative error codes is returned. Details are given in the
3231*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2unicode.html"><b>pcre2unicode</b></a>
3232*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage. The following are the other errors that may be returned by
3233*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>:
3234*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3235*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH
3236*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3237*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe subject string did not match the pattern.
3238*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3239*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL
3240*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3241*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe subject string did not match, but it did match partially. See the
3242*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
3243*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for details of partial matching.
3244*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3245*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADMAGIC
3246*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3247*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2 stores a 4-byte "magic number" at the start of the compiled code, to
3248*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicatch the case when it is passed a junk pointer. This is the error that is
3249*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned when the magic number is not present.
3250*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3251*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADMODE
3252*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3253*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis error is given when a compiled pattern is passed to a function in a
3254*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary of a different code unit width, for example, a pattern compiled by
3255*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe 8-bit library is passed to a 16-bit or 32-bit library function.
3256*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3257*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADOFFSET
3258*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3259*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe value of <i>startoffset</i> was greater than the length of the subject.
3260*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3261*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADOPTION
3262*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3263*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAn unrecognized bit was set in the <i>options</i> argument.
3264*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3265*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_BADUTFOFFSET
3266*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3267*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe UTF code unit sequence that was passed as a subject was checked and found
3268*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito be valid (the PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK option was not set), but the value of
3269*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>startoffset</i> did not point to the beginning of a UTF character or the end
3270*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof the subject.
3271*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3272*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_CALLOUT
3273*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3274*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis error is never generated by <b>pcre2_match()</b> itself. It is provided for
3275*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuse by callout functions that want to cause <b>pcre2_match()</b> or
3276*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_callout_enumerate()</b> to return a distinctive error code. See the
3277*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2callout.html"><b>pcre2callout</b></a>
3278*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for details.
3279*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3280*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DEPTHLIMIT
3281*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3282*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe nested backtracking depth limit was reached.
3283*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3284*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_HEAPLIMIT
3285*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3286*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe heap limit was reached.
3287*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3288*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_INTERNAL
3289*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3290*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAn unexpected internal error has occurred. This error could be caused by a bug
3291*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin PCRE2 or by overwriting of the compiled pattern.
3292*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3293*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT
3294*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3295*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis error is returned when a pattern that was successfully studied using JIT
3296*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis being matched, but the memory available for the just-in-time processing
3297*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistack is not large enough. See the
3298*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2jit.html"><b>pcre2jit</b></a>
3299*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation for more details.
3300*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3301*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT
3302*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3303*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe backtracking match limit was reached.
3304*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3305*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY
3306*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3307*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHeap memory is used to remember backtracking points. This error is given when
3308*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe memory allocation function (default or custom) fails. Note that a different
3309*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror, PCRE2_ERROR_HEAPLIMIT, is given if the amount of memory needed exceeds
3310*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe heap limit. PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY is also returned if
3311*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT is set and memory allocation fails.
3312*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3313*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NULL
3314*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3315*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiEither the <i>code</i>, <i>subject</i>, or <i>match_data</i> argument was passed
3316*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimias NULL.
3317*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3318*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_RECURSELOOP
3319*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3320*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis error is returned when <b>pcre2_match()</b> detects a recursion loop within
3321*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe pattern. Specifically, it means that either the whole pattern or a
3322*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicapture group has been called recursively for the second time at the same
3323*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiposition in the subject string. Some simple patterns that might do this are
3324*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidetected and faulted at compile time, but more complicated cases, in particular
3325*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimutual recursions between two different groups, cannot be detected until
3326*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching is attempted.
3327*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="geterrormessage"></a></P>
3328*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC33" href="#TOC1">OBTAINING A TEXTUAL ERROR MESSAGE</a><br>
3329*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3330*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_get_error_message(int <i>errorcode</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>,</b>
3331*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>bufflen</i>);</b>
3332*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3333*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3334*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiA text message for an error code from any PCRE2 function (compile, match, or
3335*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiauxiliary) can be obtained by calling <b>pcre2_get_error_message()</b>. The code
3336*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis passed as the first argument, with the remaining two arguments specifying a
3337*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode unit buffer and its length in code units, into which the text message is
3338*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiplaced. The message is returned in code units of the appropriate width for the
3339*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilibrary that is being used.
3340*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3341*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3342*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe returned message is terminated with a trailing zero, and the function
3343*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturns the number of code units used, excluding the trailing zero. If the
3344*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror number is unknown, the negative error code PCRE2_ERROR_BADDATA is
3345*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. If the buffer is too small, the message is truncated (but still with
3346*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia trailing zero), and the negative error code PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY is returned.
3347*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNone of the messages are very long; a buffer size of 120 code units is ample.
3348*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="extractbynumber"></a></P>
3349*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC34" href="#TOC1">EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NUMBER</a><br>
3350*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3351*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_length_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3352*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>length</i>);</b>
3353*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3354*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3355*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3356*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>,</b>
3357*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
3358*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3359*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3360*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_get_bynumber(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3361*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>number</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>bufferptr</i>,</b>
3362*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
3363*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3364*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3365*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_substring_free(PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>);</b>
3366*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3367*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3368*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCaptured substrings can be accessed directly by using the ovector as described
3369*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#matchedstrings">above.</a>
3370*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor convenience, auxiliary functions are provided for extracting captured
3371*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings as new, separate, zero-terminated strings. A substring that contains
3372*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia binary zero is correctly extracted and has a further zero added on the end,
3373*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibut the result is not, of course, a C string.
3374*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3375*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3376*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe functions in this section identify substrings by number. The number zero
3377*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirefers to the entire matched substring, with higher numbers referring to
3378*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings captured by parenthesized groups. After a partial match, only
3379*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstring zero is available. An attempt to extract any other substring gives
3380*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe error PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL. The next section describes similar functions for
3381*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextracting captured substrings by name.
3382*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3383*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3384*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a pattern uses the \K escape sequence within a positive assertion, the
3385*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireported start of a successful match can be greater than the end of the match.
3386*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if the pattern (?=ab\K) is matched against "ab", the start and
3387*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiend offset values for the match are 2 and 0. In this situation, calling these
3388*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions with a zero substring number extracts a zero-length empty string.
3389*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3390*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3391*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiYou can find the length in code units of a captured substring without
3392*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextracting it by calling <b>pcre2_substring_length_bynumber()</b>. The first
3393*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument is a pointer to the match data block, the second is the group number,
3394*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand the third is a pointer to a variable into which the length is placed. If
3395*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiyou just want to know whether or not the substring has been captured, you can
3396*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipass the third argument as NULL.
3397*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3398*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3399*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber()</b> function copies a captured substring
3400*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinto a supplied buffer, whereas <b>pcre2_substring_get_bynumber()</b> copies it
3401*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinto new memory, obtained using the same memory allocation function that was
3402*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused for the match data block. The first two arguments of these functions are a
3403*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipointer to the match data block and a capture group number.
3404*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3405*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3406*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe final arguments of <b>pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber()</b> are a pointer to
3407*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe buffer and a pointer to a variable that contains its length in code units.
3408*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis is updated to contain the actual number of code units used for the
3409*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextracted substring, excluding the terminating zero.
3410*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3411*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3412*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor <b>pcre2_substring_get_bynumber()</b> the third and fourth arguments point
3413*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito variables that are updated with a pointer to the new memory and the number
3414*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof code units that comprise the substring, again excluding the terminating
3415*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimizero. When the substring is no longer needed, the memory should be freed by
3416*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_substring_free()</b>.
3417*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3418*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3419*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe return value from all these functions is zero for success, or a negative
3420*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror code. If the pattern match failed, the match failure code is returned.
3421*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf a substring number greater than zero is used after a partial match,
3422*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL is returned. Other possible error codes are:
3423*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3424*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY
3425*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3426*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe buffer was too small for <b>pcre2_substring_copy_bynumber()</b>, or the
3427*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiattempt to get memory failed for <b>pcre2_substring_get_bynumber()</b>.
3428*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3429*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING
3430*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3431*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere is no substring with that number in the pattern, that is, the number is
3432*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigreater than the number of capturing parentheses.
3433*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3434*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_UNAVAILABLE
3435*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3436*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe substring number, though not greater than the number of captures in the
3437*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern, is greater than the number of slots in the ovector, so the substring
3438*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicould not be captured.
3439*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3440*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET
3441*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3442*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe substring did not participate in the match. For example, if the pattern is
3443*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(abc)|(def) and the subject is "def", and the ovector contains at least two
3444*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicapturing slots, substring number 1 is unset.
3445*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3446*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC35" href="#TOC1">EXTRACTING A LIST OF ALL CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS</a><br>
3447*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3448*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_list_get(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3449*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>"  PCRE2_UCHAR ***<i>listptr</i>, PCRE2_SIZE **<i>lengthsptr</i>);</b>
3450*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3451*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3452*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_substring_list_free(PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>list</i>);</b>
3453*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3454*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3455*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_substring_list_get()</b> function extracts all available substrings
3456*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand builds a list of pointers to them. It also (optionally) builds a second
3457*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilist that contains their lengths (in code units), excluding a terminating zero
3458*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is added to each of them. All this is done in a single block of memory
3459*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat is obtained using the same memory allocation function that was used to get
3460*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe match data block.
3461*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3462*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3463*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis function must be called only after a successful match. If called after a
3464*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipartial match, the error code PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL is returned.
3465*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3466*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3467*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe address of the memory block is returned via <i>listptr</i>, which is also
3468*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe start of the list of string pointers. The end of the list is marked by a
3469*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNULL pointer. The address of the list of lengths is returned via
3470*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>lengthsptr</i>. If your strings do not contain binary zeros and you do not
3471*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitherefore need the lengths, you may supply NULL as the <b>lengthsptr</b>
3472*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument to disable the creation of a list of lengths. The yield of the
3473*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction is zero if all went well, or PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY if the memory block
3474*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicould not be obtained. When the list is no longer needed, it should be freed by
3475*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_substring_list_free()</b>.
3476*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3477*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3478*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this function encounters a substring that is unset, which can happen when
3479*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicapture group number <i>n+1</i> matches some part of the subject, but group
3480*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>n</i> has not been used at all, it returns an empty string. This can be
3481*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidistinguished from a genuine zero-length substring by inspecting the
3482*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiappropriate offset in the ovector, which contain PCRE2_UNSET for unset
3483*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstrings, or by calling <b>pcre2_substring_length_bynumber()</b>.
3484*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="extractbyname"></a></P>
3485*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC36" href="#TOC1">EXTRACTING CAPTURED SUBSTRINGS BY NAME</a><br>
3486*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3487*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_number_from_name(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
3488*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>);</b>
3489*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3490*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3491*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_length_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3492*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>length</i>);</b>
3493*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3494*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3495*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_copy_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3496*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
3497*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3498*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3499*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_get_byname(pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3500*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR **<i>bufferptr</i>, PCRE2_SIZE *<i>bufflen</i>);</b>
3501*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3502*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3503*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>void pcre2_substring_free(PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>buffer</i>);</b>
3504*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3505*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3506*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiTo extract a substring by name, you first have to find associated number.
3507*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, for this pattern:
3508*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3509*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  (a+)b(?&#60;xxx&#62;\d+)...
3510*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3511*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe number of the capture group called "xxx" is 2. If the name is known to be
3512*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunique (PCRE2_DUPNAMES was not set), you can find the number from the name by
3513*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicalling <b>pcre2_substring_number_from_name()</b>. The first argument is the
3514*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicompiled pattern, and the second is the name. The yield of the function is the
3515*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroup number, PCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING if there is no group with that name, or
3516*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOUNIQUESUBSTRING if there is more than one group with that name.
3517*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiGiven the number, you can extract the substring directly from the ovector, or
3518*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiuse one of the "bynumber" functions described above.
3519*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3520*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3521*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor convenience, there are also "byname" functions that correspond to the
3522*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"bynumber" functions, the only difference being that the second argument is a
3523*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminame instead of a number. If PCRE2_DUPNAMES is set and there are duplicate
3524*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminames, these functions scan all the groups with the given name, and return the
3525*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicaptured substring from the first named group that is set.
3526*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3527*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3528*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf there are no groups with the given name, PCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING is
3529*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. If all groups with the name have numbers that are greater than the
3530*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminumber of slots in the ovector, PCRE2_ERROR_UNAVAILABLE is returned. If there
3531*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis at least one group with a slot in the ovector, but no group is found to be
3532*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiset, PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET is returned.
3533*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3534*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3535*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>Warning:</b> If the pattern uses the (?| feature to set up multiple
3536*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicapture groups with the same number, as described in the
3537*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html#dupgroupnumber">section on duplicate group numbers</a>
3538*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the
3539*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
3540*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipage, you cannot use names to distinguish the different capture groups, because
3541*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminames are not included in the compiled code. The matching process uses only
3542*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminumbers. For this reason, the use of different names for groups with the
3543*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisame number causes an error at compile time.
3544*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="substitutions"></a></P>
3545*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC37" href="#TOC1">CREATING A NEW STRING WITH SUBSTITUTIONS</a><br>
3546*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3547*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substitute(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
3548*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
3549*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3550*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>replacement</i>,</b>
3551*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>rlength</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>outputbuffer</i>,</b>
3552*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE *<i>outlengthptr</i>);</b>
3553*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3554*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3555*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis function optionally calls <b>pcre2_match()</b> and then makes a copy of the
3556*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject string in <i>outputbuffer</i>, replacing parts that were matched with
3557*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe <i>replacement</i> string, whose length is supplied in <b>rlength</b>, which
3558*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican be given as PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED for a zero-terminated string. As a
3559*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimispecial case, if <i>replacement</i> is NULL and <i>rlength</i> is zero, the
3560*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement is assumed to be an empty string. If <i>rlength</i> is non-zero, an
3561*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror occurs if <i>replacement</i> is NULL.
3562*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3563*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3564*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere is an option (see PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_REPLACEMENT_ONLY below) to return just
3565*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe replacement string(s). The default action is to perform just one
3566*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement if the pattern matches, but there is an option that requests
3567*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimultiple replacements (see PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL below).
3568*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3569*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3570*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf successful, <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> returns the number of substitutions
3571*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat were carried out. This may be zero if no match was found, and is never
3572*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigreater than one unless PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set. A negative value is
3573*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned if an error is detected.
3574*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3575*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3576*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMatches in which a \K item in a lookahead in the pattern causes the match to
3577*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiend before it starts are not supported, and give rise to an error return. For
3578*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiglobal replacements, matches in which \K in a lookbehind causes the match to
3579*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistart earlier than the point that was reached in the previous iteration are
3580*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialso not supported.
3581*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3582*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3583*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe first seven arguments of <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> are the same as for
3584*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>, except that the partial matching options are not
3585*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipermitted, and <i>match_data</i> may be passed as NULL, in which case a match
3586*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidata block is obtained and freed within this function, using memory management
3587*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunctions from the match context, if provided, or else those that were used to
3588*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiallocate memory for the compiled code.
3589*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3590*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3591*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf <i>match_data</i> is not NULL and PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is not set, the
3592*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiprovided block is used for all calls to <b>pcre2_match()</b>, and its contents
3593*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiafterwards are the result of the final call. For global changes, this will
3594*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialways be a no-match error. The contents of the ovector within the match data
3595*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiblock may or may not have been changed.
3596*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3597*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3598*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs well as the usual options for <b>pcre2_match()</b>, a number of additional
3599*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioptions can be set in the <i>options</i> argument of <b>pcre2_substitute()</b>.
3600*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOne such option is PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED. When this is set, an external
3601*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>match_data</i> block must be provided, and it must have already been used for
3602*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimian external call to <b>pcre2_match()</b> with the same pattern and subject
3603*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiarguments. The data in the <i>match_data</i> block (return code, offset vector)
3604*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis then used for the first substitution instead of calling <b>pcre2_match()</b>
3605*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifrom within <b>pcre2_substitute()</b>. This allows an application to check for a
3606*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch before choosing to substitute, without having to repeat the match.
3607*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3608*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3609*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe contents of the externally supplied match data block are not changed when
3610*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is set. If PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is also set,
3611*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> is called after the first substitution to check for further
3612*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches, but this is done using an internally obtained match data block, thus
3613*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialways leaving the external block unchanged.
3614*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3615*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3616*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>code</i> argument is not used for matching before the first substitution
3617*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is set, but it must be provided, even when
3618*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is not set, because it contains information such as the
3619*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiUTF setting and the number of capturing parentheses in the pattern.
3620*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3621*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3622*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe default action of <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> is to return a copy of the
3623*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject string with matched substrings replaced. However, if
3624*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_REPLACEMENT_ONLY is set, only the replacement substrings are
3625*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. In the global case, multiple replacements are concatenated in the
3626*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioutput buffer. Substitution callouts (see
3627*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#subcallouts">below)</a>
3628*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican be used to separate them if necessary.
3629*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3630*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3631*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>outlengthptr</i> argument of <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> must point to a
3632*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivariable that contains the length, in code units, of the output buffer. If the
3633*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction is successful, the value is updated to contain the length in code
3634*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunits of the new string, excluding the trailing zero that is automatically
3635*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiadded.
3636*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3637*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3638*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the function is not successful, the value set via <i>outlengthptr</i> depends
3639*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimion the type of error. For syntax errors in the replacement string, the value is
3640*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe offset in the replacement string where the error was detected. For other
3641*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierrors, the value is PCRE2_UNSET by default. This includes the case of the
3642*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioutput buffer being too small, unless PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH is set.
3643*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3644*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3645*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH changes what happens when the output buffer is
3646*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitoo small. The default action is to return PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY immediately. If
3647*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithis option is set, however, <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> continues to go through
3648*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe motions of matching and substituting (without, of course, writing anything)
3649*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin order to compute the size of buffer that is needed. This value is passed
3650*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiback via the <i>outlengthptr</i> variable, with the result of the function still
3651*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibeing PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY.
3652*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3653*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3654*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPassing a buffer size of zero is a permitted way of finding out how much memory
3655*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis needed for given substitution. However, this does mean that the entire
3656*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioperation is carried out twice. Depending on the application, it may be more
3657*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiefficient to allocate a large buffer and free the excess afterwards, instead of
3658*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiusing PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH.
3659*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3660*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3661*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe replacement string, which is interpreted as a UTF string in UTF mode, is
3662*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimichecked for UTF validity unless PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK is set. An invalid UTF
3663*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement string causes an immediate return with the relevant UTF error code.
3664*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3665*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3666*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL is set, the replacement string is not interpreted
3667*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin any way. By default, however, a dollar character is an escape character that
3668*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimican specify the insertion of characters from capture groups and names from
3669*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(*MARK) or other control verbs in the pattern. Dollar is the only escape
3670*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter (backslash is treated as literal). The following forms are always
3671*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirecognized:
3672*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3673*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  $$                  insert a dollar character
3674*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  $&#60;n&#62; or ${&#60;n&#62;}      insert the contents of group &#60;n&#62;
3675*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  $*MARK or ${*MARK}  insert a control verb name
3676*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3677*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiEither a group number or a group name can be given for &#60;n&#62;. Curly brackets are
3678*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequired only if the following character would be interpreted as part of the
3679*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminumber or name. The number may be zero to include the entire matched string.
3680*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFor example, if the pattern a(b)c is matched with "=abc=" and the replacement
3681*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring "+$1$0$1+", the result is "=+babcb+=".
3682*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3683*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3684*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi$*MARK inserts the name from the last encountered backtracking control verb on
3685*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe matching path that has a name. (*MARK) must always include a name, but the
3686*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiother verbs need not. For example, in the case of (*MARK:A)(*PRUNE) the name
3687*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinserted is "A", but for (*MARK:A)(*PRUNE:B) the relevant name is "B". This
3688*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifacility can be used to perform simple simultaneous substitutions, as this
3689*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2test</b> example shows:
3690*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3691*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  /(*MARK:pear)apple|(*MARK:orange)lemon/g,replace=${*MARK}
3692*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      apple lemon
3693*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi   2: pear orange
3694*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3695*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL causes the function to iterate over the subject string,
3696*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacing every matching substring. If this option is not set, only the first
3697*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching substring is replaced. The search for matches takes place in the
3698*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioriginal subject string (that is, previous replacements do not affect it).
3699*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIteration is implemented by advancing the <i>startoffset</i> value for each
3700*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisearch, which is always passed the entire subject string. If an offset limit is
3701*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiset in the match context, searching stops when that limit is reached.
3702*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3703*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3704*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiYou can restrict the effect of a global substitution to a portion of the
3705*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject string by setting either or both of <i>startoffset</i> and an offset
3706*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilimit. Here is a <b>pcre2test</b> example:
3707*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3708*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  /B/g,replace=!,use_offset_limit
3709*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ABC ABC ABC ABC\=offset=3,offset_limit=12
3710*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi   2: ABC A!C A!C ABC
3711*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3712*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen continuing with global substitutions after matching a substring with zero
3713*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilength, an attempt to find a non-empty match at the same offset is performed.
3714*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf this is not successful, the offset is advanced by one character except when
3715*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCRLF is a valid newline sequence and the next two characters are CR, LF. In
3716*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithis case, the offset is advanced by two characters.
3717*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3718*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3719*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET causes references to capture groups that do
3720*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot appear in the pattern to be treated as unset groups. This option should be
3721*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiused with care, because it means that a typo in a group name or number no
3722*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimilonger causes the PCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING error.
3723*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3724*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3725*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY causes unset capture groups (including unknown
3726*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups when PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET is set) to be treated as empty
3727*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistrings when inserted as described above. If this option is not set, an attempt
3728*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimito insert an unset group causes the PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET error. This option does
3729*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot influence the extended substitution syntax described below.
3730*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3731*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3732*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED causes extra processing to be applied to the
3733*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement string. Without this option, only the dollar character is special,
3734*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand only the group insertion forms listed above are valid. When
3735*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED is set, two things change:
3736*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3737*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3738*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiFirstly, backslash in a replacement string is interpreted as an escape
3739*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter. The usual forms such as \n or \x{ddd} can be used to specify
3740*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiparticular character codes, and backslash followed by any non-alphanumeric
3741*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacter quotes that character. Extended quoting can be coded using \Q...\E,
3742*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexactly as in pattern strings.
3743*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3744*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3745*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are also four escape sequences for forcing the case of inserted letters.
3746*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe insertion mechanism has three states: no case forcing, force upper case,
3747*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand force lower case. The escape sequences change the current state: \U and
3748*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\L change to upper or lower case forcing, respectively, and \E (when not
3749*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiterminating a \Q quoted sequence) reverts to no case forcing. The sequences
3750*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi\u and \l force the next character (if it is a letter) to upper or lower
3751*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicase, respectively, and then the state automatically reverts to no case
3752*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiforcing. Case forcing applies to all inserted characters, including those from
3753*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicapture groups and letters within \Q...\E quoted sequences. If either
3754*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_UTF or PCRE2_UCP was set when the pattern was compiled, Unicode
3755*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiproperties are used for case forcing characters whose code points are greater
3756*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithan 127.
3757*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3758*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3759*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNote that case forcing sequences such as \U...\E do not nest. For example,
3760*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe result of processing "\Uaa\LBB\Ecc\E" is "AAbbcc"; the final \E has no
3761*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimieffect. Note also that the PCRE2_ALT_BSUX and PCRE2_EXTRA_ALT_BSUX options do
3762*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot apply to replacement strings.
3763*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3764*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3765*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe second effect of setting PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED is to add more
3766*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiflexibility to capture group substitution. The syntax is similar to that used
3767*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiby Bash:
3768*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3769*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ${&#60;n&#62;:-&#60;string&#62;}
3770*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ${&#60;n&#62;:+&#60;string1&#62;:&#60;string2&#62;}
3771*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3772*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs before, &#60;n&#62; may be a group number or a name. The first form specifies a
3773*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefault value. If group &#60;n&#62; is set, its value is inserted; if not, &#60;string&#62; is
3774*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexpanded and the result inserted. The second form specifies strings that are
3775*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiexpanded and inserted when group &#60;n&#62; is set or unset, respectively. The first
3776*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiform is just a convenient shorthand for
3777*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3778*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  ${&#60;n&#62;:+${&#60;n&#62;}:&#60;string&#62;}
3779*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3780*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiBackslash can be used to escape colons and closing curly brackets in the
3781*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement strings. A change of the case forcing state within a replacement
3782*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring remains in force afterwards, as shown in this <b>pcre2test</b> example:
3783*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3784*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  /(some)?(body)/substitute_extended,replace=${1:+\U:\L}HeLLo
3785*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      body
3786*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi   1: hello
3787*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi      somebody
3788*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi   1: HELLO
3789*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3790*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY option does not affect these extended
3791*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstitutions. However, PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET does cause unknown
3792*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups in the extended syntax forms to be treated as unset.
3793*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3794*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3795*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL is set, PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET,
3796*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY, and PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED are irrelevant and
3797*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare ignored.
3798*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3799*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
3800*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSubstitution errors
3801*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
3802*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3803*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIn the event of an error, <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> returns a negative error
3804*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicode. Except for PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH (which is never returned), errors from
3805*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> are passed straight back.
3806*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3807*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3808*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING is returned for a non-existent substring insertion,
3809*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunless PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET is set.
3810*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3811*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3812*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_UNSET is returned for an unset substring insertion (including an
3813*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiunknown substring when PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET is set) when the simple
3814*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(non-extended) syntax is used and PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY is not set.
3815*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3816*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3817*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY is returned if the output buffer is not big enough. If the
3818*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH option is set, the size of buffer that is
3819*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimineeded is returned via <i>outlengthptr</i>. Note that this does not happen by
3820*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidefault.
3821*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3822*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3823*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NULL is returned if PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is set but the
3824*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>match_data</i> argument is NULL or if the <i>subject</i> or <i>replacement</i>
3825*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiarguments are NULL. For backward compatibility reasons an exception is made for
3826*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe <i>replacement</i> argument if the <i>rlength</i> argument is also 0.
3827*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3828*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3829*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_BADREPLACEMENT is used for miscellaneous syntax errors in the
3830*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireplacement string, with more particular errors being PCRE2_ERROR_BADREPESCAPE
3831*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(invalid escape sequence), PCRE2_ERROR_REPMISSINGBRACE (closing curly bracket
3832*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot found), PCRE2_ERROR_BADSUBSTITUTION (syntax error in extended group
3833*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstitution), and PCRE2_ERROR_BADSUBSPATTERN (the pattern match ended before
3834*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiit started or the match started earlier than the current position in the
3835*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject, which can happen if \K is used in an assertion).
3836*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3837*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3838*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiAs for all PCRE2 errors, a text message that describes the error can be
3839*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiobtained by calling the <b>pcre2_get_error_message()</b> function (see
3840*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi"Obtaining a textual error message"
3841*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#geterrormessage">above).</a>
3842*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="subcallouts"></a></P>
3843*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
3844*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSubstitution callouts
3845*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
3846*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3847*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_set_substitute_callout(pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
3848*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int (*<i>callout_function</i>)(pcre2_substitute_callout_block *, void *),</b>
3849*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  void *<i>callout_data</i>);</b>
3850*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3851*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
3852*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_set_substitution_callout()</b> function can be used to specify a
3853*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicallout function for <b>pcre2_substitute()</b>. This information is passed in
3854*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia match context. The callout function is called after each substitution has
3855*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibeen processed, but it can cause the replacement not to happen. The callout
3856*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction is not called for simulated substitutions that happen as a result of
3857*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH option.
3858*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3859*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3860*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe first argument of the callout function is a pointer to a substitute callout
3861*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiblock structure, which contains the following fields, not necessarily in this
3862*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiorder:
3863*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
3864*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  uint32_t    <i>version</i>;
3865*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  uint32_t    <i>subscount</i>;
3866*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_SPTR  <i>input</i>;
3867*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_SPTR  <i>output</i>;
3868*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_SIZE <i>*ovector</i>;
3869*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  uint32_t    <i>oveccount</i>;
3870*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_SIZE  <i>output_offsets[2]</i>;
3871*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
3872*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>version</i> field contains the version number of the block format. The
3873*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicurrent version is 0. The version number will increase in future if more fields
3874*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare added, but the intention is never to remove any of the existing fields.
3875*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3876*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3877*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>subscount</i> field is the number of the current match. It is 1 for the
3878*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst callout, 2 for the second, and so on. The <i>input</i> and <i>output</i>
3879*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipointers are copies of the values passed to <b>pcre2_substitute()</b>.
3880*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3881*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3882*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>ovector</i> field points to the ovector, which contains the result of the
3883*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimost recent match. The <i>oveccount</i> field contains the number of pairs that
3884*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiare set in the ovector, and is always greater than zero.
3885*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3886*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3887*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <i>output_offsets</i> vector contains the offsets of the replacement in the
3888*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioutput string. This has already been processed for dollar and (if requested)
3889*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibackslash substitutions as described above.
3890*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3891*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3892*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe second argument of the callout function is the value passed as
3893*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>callout_data</i> when the function was registered. The value returned by the
3894*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicallout function is interpreted as follows:
3895*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3896*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3897*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf the value is zero, the replacement is accepted, and, if
3898*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set, processing continues with a search for the next
3899*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch. If the value is not zero, the current replacement is not accepted. If
3900*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe value is greater than zero, processing continues when
3901*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set. Otherwise (the value is less than zero or
3902*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is not set), the rest of the input is copied to the
3903*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimioutput and the call to <b>pcre2_substitute()</b> exits, returning the number of
3904*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches so far.
3905*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3906*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC38" href="#TOC1">DUPLICATE CAPTURE GROUP NAMES</a><br>
3907*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3908*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_substring_nametable_scan(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>,</b>
3909*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SPTR <i>name</i>, PCRE2_SPTR *<i>first</i>, PCRE2_SPTR *<i>last</i>);</b>
3910*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3911*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3912*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen a pattern is compiled with the PCRE2_DUPNAMES option, names for capture
3913*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups are not required to be unique. Duplicate names are always allowed for
3914*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups with the same number, created by using the (?| feature. Indeed, if such
3915*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimigroups are named, they are required to use the same names.
3916*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3917*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3918*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNormally, patterns that use duplicate names are such that in any one match,
3919*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimionly one of each set of identically-named groups participates. An example is
3920*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishown in the
3921*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2pattern.html"><b>pcre2pattern</b></a>
3922*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
3923*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3924*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3925*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen duplicates are present, <b>pcre2_substring_copy_byname()</b> and
3926*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_substring_get_byname()</b> return the first substring corresponding to
3927*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe given name that is set. Only if none are set is PCRE2_ERROR_UNSET is
3928*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturned. The <b>pcre2_substring_number_from_name()</b> function returns the
3929*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimierror PCRE2_ERROR_NOUNIQUESUBSTRING when there are duplicate names.
3930*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3931*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3932*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiIf you want to get full details of all captured substrings for a given name,
3933*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiyou must use the <b>pcre2_substring_nametable_scan()</b> function. The first
3934*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiargument is the compiled pattern, and the second is the name. If the third and
3935*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifourth arguments are NULL, the function returns a group number for a unique
3936*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminame, or PCRE2_ERROR_NOUNIQUESUBSTRING otherwise.
3937*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3938*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3939*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen the third and fourth arguments are not NULL, they must be pointers to
3940*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivariables that are updated by the function. After it has run, they point to the
3941*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifirst and last entries in the name-to-number table for the given name, and the
3942*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifunction returns the length of each entry in code units. In both cases,
3943*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING is returned if there are no entries for the given name.
3944*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3945*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3946*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe format of the name table is described
3947*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#infoaboutpattern">above</a>
3948*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiin the section entitled <i>Information about a pattern</i>. Given all the
3949*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirelevant entries for the name, you can extract each of their numbers, and hence
3950*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe captured data.
3951*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3952*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC39" href="#TOC1">FINDING ALL POSSIBLE MATCHES AT ONE POSITION</a><br>
3953*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3954*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe traditional matching function uses a similar algorithm to Perl, which stops
3955*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen it finds the first match at a given point in the subject. If you want to
3956*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifind all possible matches, or the longest possible match at a given position,
3957*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiconsider using the alternative matching function (see below) instead. If you
3958*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicannot use the alternative function, you can kludge it up by making use of the
3959*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicallout facility, which is described in the
3960*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2callout.html"><b>pcre2callout</b></a>
3961*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
3962*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3963*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3964*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhat you have to do is to insert a callout right at the end of the pattern.
3965*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen your callout function is called, extract and save the current matched
3966*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstring. Then return 1, which forces <b>pcre2_match()</b> to backtrack and try
3967*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiother alternatives. Ultimately, when it runs out of matches,
3968*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b> will yield PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH.
3969*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a name="dfamatch"></a></P>
3970*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC40" href="#TOC1">MATCHING A PATTERN: THE ALTERNATIVE FUNCTION</a><br>
3971*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3972*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>int pcre2_dfa_match(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
3973*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
3974*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
3975*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>,</b>
3976*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>  int *<i>workspace</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>wscount</i>);</b>
3977*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3978*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3979*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe function <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> is called to match a subject string
3980*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiagainst a compiled pattern, using a matching algorithm that scans the subject
3981*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimistring just once (not counting lookaround assertions), and does not backtrack
3982*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi(except when processing lookaround assertions). This has different
3983*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimicharacteristics to the normal algorithm, and is not compatible with Perl. Some
3984*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiof the features of PCRE2 patterns are not supported. Nevertheless, there are
3985*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimitimes when this kind of matching can be useful. For a discussion of the two
3986*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching algorithms, and a list of features that <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> does
3987*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahiminot support, see the
3988*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2matching.html"><b>pcre2matching</b></a>
3989*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
3990*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3991*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3992*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe arguments for the <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> function are the same as for
3993*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>, plus two extras. The ovector within the match data block
3994*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis used in a different way, and this is described below. The other common
3995*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiarguments are used in the same way as for <b>pcre2_match()</b>, so their
3996*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidescription is not repeated here.
3997*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
3998*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
3999*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe two additional arguments provide workspace for the function. The workspace
4000*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimivector should contain at least 20 elements. It is used for keeping track of
4001*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimultiple paths through the pattern tree. More workspace is needed for patterns
4002*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiand subjects where there are a lot of potential matches.
4003*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4004*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4005*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiHere is an example of a simple call to <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>:
4006*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4007*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  int wspace[20];
4008*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  pcre2_match_data *md = pcre2_match_data_create(4, NULL);
4009*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  int rc = pcre2_dfa_match(
4010*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    re,             /* result of pcre2_compile() */
4011*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    "some string",  /* the subject string */
4012*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    11,             /* the length of the subject string */
4013*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    0,              /* start at offset 0 in the subject */
4014*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    0,              /* default options */
4015*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    md,             /* the match data block */
4016*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    NULL,           /* a match context; NULL means use defaults */
4017*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    wspace,         /* working space vector */
4018*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi    20);            /* number of elements (NOT size in bytes) */
4019*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</PRE>
4020*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4021*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
4022*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOption bits for <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>
4023*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
4024*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4025*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe unused bits of the <i>options</i> argument for <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> must
4026*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibe zero. The only bits that may be set are PCRE2_ANCHORED,
4027*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_COPY_MATCHED_SUBJECT, PCRE2_ENDANCHORED, PCRE2_NOTBOL, PCRE2_NOTEOL,
4028*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_NOTEMPTY, PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART, PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK, PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD,
4029*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT, PCRE2_DFA_SHORTEST, and PCRE2_DFA_RESTART. All but the last
4030*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifour of these are exactly the same as for <b>pcre2_match()</b>, so their
4031*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidescription is not repeated here.
4032*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4033*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD
4034*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT
4035*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4036*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThese have the same general effect as they do for <b>pcre2_match()</b>, but the
4037*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidetails are slightly different. When PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD is set for
4038*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>, it returns PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL if the end of the
4039*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject is reached and there is still at least one matching possibility that
4040*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirequires additional characters. This happens even if some complete matches have
4041*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimialready been found. When PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT is set, the return code
4042*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH is converted into PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL if the end of the
4043*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubject is reached, there have been no complete matches, but there is still at
4044*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimileast one matching possibility. The portion of the string that was inspected
4045*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwhen the longest partial match was found is set as the first matching string in
4046*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiboth cases. There is a more detailed discussion of partial and multi-segment
4047*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching, with examples, in the
4048*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
4049*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
4050*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4051*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DFA_SHORTEST
4052*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4053*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSetting the PCRE2_DFA_SHORTEST option causes the matching algorithm to stop as
4054*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisoon as it has found one match. Because of the way the alternative algorithm
4055*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiworks, this is necessarily the shortest possible match at the first possible
4056*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching point in the subject string.
4057*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4058*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_DFA_RESTART
4059*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4060*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> returns a partial match, it is possible to call it
4061*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiagain, with additional subject characters, and have it continue with the same
4062*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch. The PCRE2_DFA_RESTART option requests this action; when it is set, the
4063*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>workspace</i> and <i>wscount</i> options must reference the same vector as
4064*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimibefore because data about the match so far is left in them after a partial
4065*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatch. There is more discussion of this facility in the
4066*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="pcre2partial.html"><b>pcre2partial</b></a>
4067*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimidocumentation.
4068*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4069*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
4070*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiSuccessful returns from <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>
4071*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
4072*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4073*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> succeeds, it may have matched more than one
4074*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisubstring in the subject. Note, however, that all the matches from one run of
4075*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe function start at the same point in the subject. The shorter matches are
4076*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiall initial substrings of the longer matches. For example, if the pattern
4077*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4078*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  &#60;.*&#62;
4079*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4080*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis matched against the string
4081*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4082*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  This is &#60;something&#62; &#60;something else&#62; &#60;something further&#62; no more
4083*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4084*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe three matched strings are
4085*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4086*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  &#60;something&#62; &#60;something else&#62; &#60;something further&#62;
4087*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  &#60;something&#62; &#60;something else&#62;
4088*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  &#60;something&#62;
4089*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4090*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiOn success, the yield of the function is a number greater than zero, which is
4091*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe number of matched substrings. The offsets of the substrings are returned in
4092*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe ovector, and can be extracted by number in the same way as for
4093*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_match()</b>, but the numbers bear no relation to any capture groups
4094*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat may exist in the pattern, because DFA matching does not support capturing.
4095*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4096*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4097*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCalls to the convenience functions that extract substrings by name
4098*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn the error PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_UFUNC (unsupported function) if used after a
4099*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiDFA match. The convenience functions that extract substrings by number never
4100*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimireturn PCRE2_ERROR_NOSUBSTRING.
4101*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4102*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4103*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe matched strings are stored in the ovector in reverse order of length; that
4104*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiis, the longest matching string is first. If there were too many matches to fit
4105*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiinto the ovector, the yield of the function is zero, and the vector is filled
4106*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwith the longest matches.
4107*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4108*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4109*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiNOTE: PCRE2's "auto-possessification" optimization usually applies to character
4110*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimirepeats at the end of a pattern (as well as internally). For example, the
4111*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern "a\d+" is compiled as if it were "a\d++". For DFA matching, this
4112*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimeans that only one possible match is found. If you really do want multiple
4113*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatches in such cases, either use an ungreedy repeat such as "a\d+?" or set
4114*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithe PCRE2_NO_AUTO_POSSESS option when compiling.
4115*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4116*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><b>
4117*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiError returns from <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>
4118*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</b><br>
4119*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4120*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThe <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> function returns a negative number when it fails.
4121*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiMany of the errors are the same as for <b>pcre2_match()</b>, as described
4122*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<a href="#errorlist">above.</a>
4123*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThere are in addition the following errors that are specific to
4124*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b>:
4125*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4126*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_UITEM
4127*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4128*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis return is given if <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> encounters an item in the
4129*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimipattern that it does not support, for instance, the use of \C in a UTF mode or
4130*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimia backreference.
4131*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4132*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_UCOND
4133*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4134*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis return is given if <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> encounters a condition item
4135*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimithat uses a backreference for the condition, or a test for recursion in a
4136*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimispecific capture group. These are not supported.
4137*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4138*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_UINVALID_UTF
4139*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4140*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis return is given if <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> is called for a pattern that
4141*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiwas compiled with PCRE2_MATCH_INVALID_UTF. This is not supported for DFA
4142*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimimatching.
4143*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4144*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_WSSIZE
4145*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4146*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis return is given if <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> runs out of space in the
4147*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<i>workspace</i> vector.
4148*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4149*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_RECURSE
4150*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4151*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen a recursion or subroutine call is processed, the matching function calls
4152*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiitself recursively, using private memory for the ovector and <i>workspace</i>.
4153*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiThis error is given if the internal ovector is not large enough. This should be
4154*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimiextremely rare, as a vector of size 1000 is used.
4155*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<pre>
4156*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi  PCRE2_ERROR_DFA_BADRESTART
4157*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</pre>
4158*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiWhen <b>pcre2_dfa_match()</b> is called with the <b>PCRE2_DFA_RESTART</b> option,
4159*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimisome plausibility checks are made on the contents of the workspace, which
4160*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimishould contain data about the previous partial match. If any of these checks
4161*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimifail, this error is given.
4162*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4163*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC41" href="#TOC1">SEE ALSO</a><br>
4164*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4165*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2build</b>(3), <b>pcre2callout</b>(3), <b>pcre2demo(3)</b>,
4166*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2matching</b>(3), <b>pcre2partial</b>(3), <b>pcre2posix</b>(3),
4167*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<b>pcre2sample</b>(3), <b>pcre2unicode</b>(3).
4168*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4169*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC42" href="#TOC1">AUTHOR</a><br>
4170*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4171*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiPhilip Hazel
4172*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
4173*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiRetired from University Computing Service
4174*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
4175*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCambridge, England.
4176*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
4177*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</P>
4178*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br><a name="SEC43" href="#TOC1">REVISION</a><br>
4179*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<P>
4180*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiLast updated: 24 April 2024
4181*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
4182*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiCopyright &copy; 1997-2024 University of Cambridge.
4183*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<br>
4184*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi<p>
4185*22dc650dSSadaf EbrahimiReturn to the <a href="index.html">PCRE2 index page</a>.
4186*22dc650dSSadaf Ebrahimi</p>
4187