d4de0e6f1e
I was über lazy at first, so took libs from SM. But actually it's quite easy to compile, so let's update to latest version \o/.
1157 lines
48 KiB
Groff
1157 lines
48 KiB
Groff
.TH PCRETEST 1 "09 February 2014" "PCRE 8.35"
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.SH NAME
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pcretest - a program for testing Perl-compatible regular expressions.
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.rs
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.sp
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.B pcretest "[options] [input file [output file]]"
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.sp
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\fBpcretest\fP was written as a test program for the PCRE regular expression
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library itself, but it can also be used for experimenting with regular
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expressions. This document describes the features of the test program; for
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details of the regular expressions themselves, see the
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.\" HREF
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\fBpcrepattern\fP
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.\"
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documentation. For details of the PCRE library function calls and their
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options, see the
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.\" HREF
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\fBpcreapi\fP
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.\"
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,
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.\" HREF
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\fBpcre16\fP
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and
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.\" HREF
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\fBpcre32\fP
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.\"
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documentation.
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.P
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The input for \fBpcretest\fP is a sequence of regular expression patterns and
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strings to be matched, as described below. The output shows the result of each
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match. Options on the command line and the patterns control PCRE options and
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exactly what is output.
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.P
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As PCRE has evolved, it has acquired many different features, and as a result,
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\fBpcretest\fP now has rather a lot of obscure options for testing every
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possible feature. Some of these options are specifically designed for use in
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conjunction with the test script and data files that are distributed as part of
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PCRE, and are unlikely to be of use otherwise. They are all documented here,
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but without much justification.
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.
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.
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.SH "INPUT DATA FORMAT"
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.rs
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.sp
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Input to \fBpcretest\fP is processed line by line, either by calling the C
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library's \fBfgets()\fP function, or via the \fBlibreadline\fP library (see
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below). In Unix-like environments, \fBfgets()\fP treats any bytes other than
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newline as data characters. However, in some Windows environments character 26
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(hex 1A) causes an immediate end of file, and no further data is read. For
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maximum portability, therefore, it is safest to use only ASCII characters in
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\fBpcretest\fP input files.
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.
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.
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.SH "PCRE's 8-BIT, 16-BIT AND 32-BIT LIBRARIES"
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.rs
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.sp
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From release 8.30, two separate PCRE libraries can be built. The original one
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supports 8-bit character strings, whereas the newer 16-bit library supports
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character strings encoded in 16-bit units. From release 8.32, a third library
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can be built, supporting character strings encoded in 32-bit units. The
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\fBpcretest\fP program can be used to test all three libraries. However, it is
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itself still an 8-bit program, reading 8-bit input and writing 8-bit output.
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When testing the 16-bit or 32-bit library, the patterns and data strings are
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converted to 16- or 32-bit format before being passed to the PCRE library
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functions. Results are converted to 8-bit for output.
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.P
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References to functions and structures of the form \fBpcre[16|32]_xx\fP below
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mean "\fBpcre_xx\fP when using the 8-bit library, \fBpcre16_xx\fP when using
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the 16-bit library, or \fBpcre32_xx\fP when using the 32-bit library".
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.
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.
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.SH "COMMAND LINE OPTIONS"
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.rs
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.TP 10
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\fB-8\fP
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If both the 8-bit library has been built, this option causes the 8-bit library
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to be used (which is the default); if the 8-bit library has not been built,
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this option causes an error.
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.TP 10
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\fB-16\fP
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If both the 8-bit or the 32-bit, and the 16-bit libraries have been built, this
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option causes the 16-bit library to be used. If only the 16-bit library has been
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built, this is the default (so has no effect). If only the 8-bit or the 32-bit
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library has been built, this option causes an error.
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.TP 10
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\fB-32\fP
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If both the 8-bit or the 16-bit, and the 32-bit libraries have been built, this
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option causes the 32-bit library to be used. If only the 32-bit library has been
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built, this is the default (so has no effect). If only the 8-bit or the 16-bit
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library has been built, this option causes an error.
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.TP 10
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\fB-b\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/B\fP (show byte code) modifier; the
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internal form is output after compilation.
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.TP 10
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\fB-C\fP
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Output the version number of the PCRE library, and all available information
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about the optional features that are included, and then exit with zero exit
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code. All other options are ignored.
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.TP 10
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\fB-C\fP \fIoption\fP
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Output information about a specific build-time option, then exit. This
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functionality is intended for use in scripts such as \fBRunTest\fP. The
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following options output the value and set the exit code as indicated:
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.sp
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ebcdic-nl the code for LF (= NL) in an EBCDIC environment:
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0x15 or 0x25
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0 if used in an ASCII environment
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exit code is always 0
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linksize the configured internal link size (2, 3, or 4)
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exit code is set to the link size
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newline the default newline setting:
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CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY
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exit code is always 0
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bsr the default setting for what \eR matches:
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ANYCRLF or ANY
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exit code is always 0
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.sp
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The following options output 1 for true or 0 for false, and set the exit code
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to the same value:
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.sp
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ebcdic compiled for an EBCDIC environment
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jit just-in-time support is available
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pcre16 the 16-bit library was built
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pcre32 the 32-bit library was built
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pcre8 the 8-bit library was built
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ucp Unicode property support is available
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utf UTF-8 and/or UTF-16 and/or UTF-32 support
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is available
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.sp
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If an unknown option is given, an error message is output; the exit code is 0.
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.TP 10
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\fB-d\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/D\fP (debug) modifier; the internal
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form and information about the compiled pattern is output after compilation;
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\fB-d\fP is equivalent to \fB-b -i\fP.
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.TP 10
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\fB-dfa\fP
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Behave as if each data line contains the \eD escape sequence; this causes the
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alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP, to be used instead
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of the standard \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP function (more detail is given below).
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.TP 10
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\fB-help\fP
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Output a brief summary these options and then exit.
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.TP 10
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\fB-i\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/I\fP modifier; information about the
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compiled pattern is given after compilation.
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.TP 10
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\fB-M\fP
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Behave as if each data line contains the \eM escape sequence; this causes
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PCRE to discover the minimum MATCH_LIMIT and MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION settings by
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calling \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP repeatedly with different limits.
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.TP 10
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\fB-m\fP
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Output the size of each compiled pattern after it has been compiled. This is
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equivalent to adding \fB/M\fP to each regular expression. The size is given in
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bytes for both libraries.
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.TP 10
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\fB-O\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/O\fP modifier, that is disable
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auto-possessification for all patterns.
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.TP 10
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\fB-o\fP \fIosize\fP
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Set the number of elements in the output vector that is used when calling
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\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP to be \fIosize\fP. The
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default value is 45, which is enough for 14 capturing subexpressions for
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\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or 22 different matches for
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\fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP.
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The vector size can be changed for individual matching calls by including \eO
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in the data line (see below).
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.TP 10
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\fB-p\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/P\fP modifier; the POSIX wrapper API is
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used to call PCRE. None of the other options has any effect when \fB-p\fP is
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set. This option can be used only with the 8-bit library.
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.TP 10
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\fB-q\fP
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Do not output the version number of \fBpcretest\fP at the start of execution.
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.TP 10
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\fB-S\fP \fIsize\fP
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On Unix-like systems, set the size of the run-time stack to \fIsize\fP
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megabytes.
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.TP 10
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\fB-s\fP or \fB-s+\fP
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Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/S\fP modifier; in other words, force each
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pattern to be studied. If \fB-s+\fP is used, all the JIT compile options are
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passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP, causing just-in-time optimization to be set
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up if it is available, for both full and partial matching. Specific JIT compile
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options can be selected by following \fB-s+\fP with a digit in the range 1 to
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7, which selects the JIT compile modes as follows:
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.sp
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1 normal match only
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2 soft partial match only
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3 normal match and soft partial match
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4 hard partial match only
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6 soft and hard partial match
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7 all three modes (default)
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.sp
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If \fB-s++\fP is used instead of \fB-s+\fP (with or without a following digit),
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the text "(JIT)" is added to the first output line after a match or no match
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when JIT-compiled code was actually used.
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.sp
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Note that there are pattern options that can override \fB-s\fP, either
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specifying no studying at all, or suppressing JIT compilation.
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.sp
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If the \fB/I\fP or \fB/D\fP option is present on a pattern (requesting output
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about the compiled pattern), information about the result of studying is not
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included when studying is caused only by \fB-s\fP and neither \fB-i\fP nor
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\fB-d\fP is present on the command line. This behaviour means that the output
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from tests that are run with and without \fB-s\fP should be identical, except
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when options that output information about the actual running of a match are
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set.
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.sp
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The \fB-M\fP, \fB-t\fP, and \fB-tm\fP options, which give information about
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resources used, are likely to produce different output with and without
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\fB-s\fP. Output may also differ if the \fB/C\fP option is present on an
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individual pattern. This uses callouts to trace the the matching process, and
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this may be different between studied and non-studied patterns. If the pattern
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contains (*MARK) items there may also be differences, for the same reason. The
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\fB-s\fP command line option can be overridden for specific patterns that
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should never be studied (see the \fB/S\fP pattern modifier below).
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.TP 10
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\fB-t\fP
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Run each compile, study, and match many times with a timer, and output the
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resulting times per compile, study, or match (in milliseconds). Do not set
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\fB-m\fP with \fB-t\fP, because you will then get the size output a zillion
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times, and the timing will be distorted. You can control the number of
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iterations that are used for timing by following \fB-t\fP with a number (as a
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separate item on the command line). For example, "-t 1000" iterates 1000 times.
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The default is to iterate 500000 times.
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.TP 10
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\fB-tm\fP
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This is like \fB-t\fP except that it times only the matching phase, not the
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compile or study phases.
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.TP 10
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\fB-T\fP \fB-TM\fP
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These behave like \fB-t\fP and \fB-tm\fP, but in addition, at the end of a run,
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the total times for all compiles, studies, and matches are output.
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.
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.
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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.rs
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.sp
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If \fBpcretest\fP is given two filename arguments, it reads from the first and
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writes to the second. If it is given only one filename argument, it reads from
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that file and writes to stdout. Otherwise, it reads from stdin and writes to
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stdout, and prompts for each line of input, using "re>" to prompt for regular
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expressions, and "data>" to prompt for data lines.
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.P
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When \fBpcretest\fP is built, a configuration option can specify that it should
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be linked with the \fBlibreadline\fP library. When this is done, if the input
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is from a terminal, it is read using the \fBreadline()\fP function. This
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provides line-editing and history facilities. The output from the \fB-help\fP
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option states whether or not \fBreadline()\fP will be used.
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.P
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The program handles any number of sets of input on a single input file. Each
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set starts with a regular expression, and continues with any number of data
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lines to be matched against that pattern.
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.P
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Each data line is matched separately and independently. If you want to do
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multi-line matches, you have to use the \en escape sequence (or \er or \er\en,
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etc., depending on the newline setting) in a single line of input to encode the
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newline sequences. There is no limit on the length of data lines; the input
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buffer is automatically extended if it is too small.
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.P
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An empty line signals the end of the data lines, at which point a new regular
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expression is read. The regular expressions are given enclosed in any
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non-alphanumeric delimiters other than backslash, for example:
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.sp
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/(a|bc)x+yz/
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.sp
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White space before the initial delimiter is ignored. A regular expression may
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be continued over several input lines, in which case the newline characters are
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included within it. It is possible to include the delimiter within the pattern
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by escaping it, for example
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.sp
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/abc\e/def/
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.sp
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If you do so, the escape and the delimiter form part of the pattern, but since
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delimiters are always non-alphanumeric, this does not affect its interpretation.
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If the terminating delimiter is immediately followed by a backslash, for
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example,
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.sp
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/abc/\e
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.sp
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then a backslash is added to the end of the pattern. This is done to provide a
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way of testing the error condition that arises if a pattern finishes with a
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backslash, because
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.sp
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/abc\e/
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.sp
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is interpreted as the first line of a pattern that starts with "abc/", causing
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pcretest to read the next line as a continuation of the regular expression.
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.
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.
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.SH "PATTERN MODIFIERS"
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.rs
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.sp
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A pattern may be followed by any number of modifiers, which are mostly single
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characters, though some of these can be qualified by further characters.
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Following Perl usage, these are referred to below as, for example, "the
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\fB/i\fP modifier", even though the delimiter of the pattern need not always be
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a slash, and no slash is used when writing modifiers. White space may appear
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between the final pattern delimiter and the first modifier, and between the
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modifiers themselves. For reference, here is a complete list of modifiers. They
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fall into several groups that are described in detail in the following
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sections.
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.sp
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\fB/8\fP set UTF mode
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\fB/9\fP set PCRE_NEVER_UTF (locks out UTF mode)
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\fB/?\fP disable UTF validity check
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\fB/+\fP show remainder of subject after match
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\fB/=\fP show all captures (not just those that are set)
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.sp
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\fB/A\fP set PCRE_ANCHORED
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\fB/B\fP show compiled code
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\fB/C\fP set PCRE_AUTO_CALLOUT
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\fB/D\fP same as \fB/B\fP plus \fB/I\fP
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\fB/E\fP set PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
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\fB/F\fP flip byte order in compiled pattern
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\fB/f\fP set PCRE_FIRSTLINE
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\fB/G\fP find all matches (shorten string)
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\fB/g\fP find all matches (use startoffset)
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\fB/I\fP show information about pattern
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\fB/i\fP set PCRE_CASELESS
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\fB/J\fP set PCRE_DUPNAMES
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\fB/K\fP show backtracking control names
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\fB/L\fP set locale
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\fB/M\fP show compiled memory size
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\fB/m\fP set PCRE_MULTILINE
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\fB/N\fP set PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
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\fB/O\fP set PCRE_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
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\fB/P\fP use the POSIX wrapper
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\fB/Q\fP test external stack check function
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\fB/S\fP study the pattern after compilation
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\fB/s\fP set PCRE_DOTALL
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\fB/T\fP select character tables
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\fB/U\fP set PCRE_UNGREEDY
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\fB/W\fP set PCRE_UCP
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\fB/X\fP set PCRE_EXTRA
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\fB/x\fP set PCRE_EXTENDED
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\fB/Y\fP set PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
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\fB/Z\fP don't show lengths in \fB/B\fP output
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.sp
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\fB/<any>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY
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\fB/<anycrlf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF
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\fB/<cr>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_CR
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\fB/<crlf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF
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\fB/<lf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_LF
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\fB/<bsr_anycrlf>\fP set PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF
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\fB/<bsr_unicode>\fP set PCRE_BSR_UNICODE
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\fB/<JS>\fP set PCRE_JAVASCRIPT_COMPAT
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.sp
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.
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.
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.SS "Perl-compatible modifiers"
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.rs
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.sp
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The \fB/i\fP, \fB/m\fP, \fB/s\fP, and \fB/x\fP modifiers set the PCRE_CASELESS,
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PCRE_MULTILINE, PCRE_DOTALL, or PCRE_EXTENDED options, respectively, when
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\fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP is called. These four modifier letters have the same
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|
effect as they do in Perl. For example:
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.sp
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/caseless/i
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.sp
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.
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.
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.SS "Modifiers for other PCRE options"
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.rs
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|
.sp
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The following table shows additional modifiers for setting PCRE compile-time
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|
options that do not correspond to anything in Perl:
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|
.sp
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|
\fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF8 ) when using the 8-bit
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\fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK ) library
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.sp
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\fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF16 ) when using the 16-bit
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\fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF16_CHECK ) library
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.sp
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\fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF32 ) when using the 32-bit
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\fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF32_CHECK ) library
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.sp
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\fB/9\fP PCRE_NEVER_UTF
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\fB/A\fP PCRE_ANCHORED
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\fB/C\fP PCRE_AUTO_CALLOUT
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\fB/E\fP PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
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\fB/f\fP PCRE_FIRSTLINE
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\fB/J\fP PCRE_DUPNAMES
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\fB/N\fP PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
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\fB/O\fP PCRE_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
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\fB/U\fP PCRE_UNGREEDY
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\fB/W\fP PCRE_UCP
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\fB/X\fP PCRE_EXTRA
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\fB/Y\fP PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
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\fB/<any>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY
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\fB/<anycrlf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF
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\fB/<cr>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_CR
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\fB/<crlf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF
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\fB/<lf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_LF
|
|
\fB/<bsr_anycrlf>\fP PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF
|
|
\fB/<bsr_unicode>\fP PCRE_BSR_UNICODE
|
|
\fB/<JS>\fP PCRE_JAVASCRIPT_COMPAT
|
|
.sp
|
|
The modifiers that are enclosed in angle brackets are literal strings as shown,
|
|
including the angle brackets, but the letters within can be in either case.
|
|
This example sets multiline matching with CRLF as the line ending sequence:
|
|
.sp
|
|
/^abc/m<CRLF>
|
|
.sp
|
|
As well as turning on the PCRE_UTF8/16/32 option, the \fB/8\fP modifier causes
|
|
all non-printing characters in output strings to be printed using the
|
|
\ex{hh...} notation. Otherwise, those less than 0x100 are output in hex without
|
|
the curly brackets.
|
|
.P
|
|
Full details of the PCRE options are given in the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcreapi\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SS "Finding all matches in a string"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
Searching for all possible matches within each subject string can be requested
|
|
by the \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP modifier. After finding a match, PCRE is called
|
|
again to search the remainder of the subject string. The difference between
|
|
\fB/g\fP and \fB/G\fP is that the former uses the \fIstartoffset\fP argument to
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to start searching at a new point within the entire
|
|
string (which is in effect what Perl does), whereas the latter passes over a
|
|
shortened substring. This makes a difference to the matching process if the
|
|
pattern begins with a lookbehind assertion (including \eb or \eB).
|
|
.P
|
|
If any call to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP in a \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP sequence matches
|
|
an empty string, the next call is done with the PCRE_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART and
|
|
PCRE_ANCHORED flags set in order to search for another, non-empty, match at the
|
|
same point. If this second match fails, the start offset is advanced, and the
|
|
normal match is retried. This imitates the way Perl handles such cases when
|
|
using the \fB/g\fP modifier or the \fBsplit()\fP function. Normally, the start
|
|
offset is advanced by one character, but if the newline convention recognizes
|
|
CRLF as a newline, and the current character is CR followed by LF, an advance
|
|
of two is used.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SS "Other modifiers"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
There are yet more modifiers for controlling the way \fBpcretest\fP
|
|
operates.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/+\fP modifier requests that as well as outputting the substring that
|
|
matched the entire pattern, \fBpcretest\fP should in addition output the
|
|
remainder of the subject string. This is useful for tests where the subject
|
|
contains multiple copies of the same substring. If the \fB+\fP modifier appears
|
|
twice, the same action is taken for captured substrings. In each case the
|
|
remainder is output on the following line with a plus character following the
|
|
capture number. Note that this modifier must not immediately follow the /S
|
|
modifier because /S+ and /S++ have other meanings.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/=\fP modifier requests that the values of all potential captured
|
|
parentheses be output after a match. By default, only those up to the highest
|
|
one actually used in the match are output (corresponding to the return code
|
|
from \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP). Values in the offsets vector corresponding to
|
|
higher numbers should be set to -1, and these are output as "<unset>". This
|
|
modifier gives a way of checking that this is happening.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/B\fP modifier is a debugging feature. It requests that \fBpcretest\fP
|
|
output a representation of the compiled code after compilation. Normally this
|
|
information contains length and offset values; however, if \fB/Z\fP is also
|
|
present, this data is replaced by spaces. This is a special feature for use in
|
|
the automatic test scripts; it ensures that the same output is generated for
|
|
different internal link sizes.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/D\fP modifier is a PCRE debugging feature, and is equivalent to
|
|
\fB/BI\fP, that is, both the \fB/B\fP and the \fB/I\fP modifiers.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/F\fP modifier causes \fBpcretest\fP to flip the byte order of the
|
|
2-byte and 4-byte fields in the compiled pattern. This facility is for testing
|
|
the feature in PCRE that allows it to execute patterns that were compiled on a
|
|
host with a different endianness. This feature is not available when the POSIX
|
|
interface to PCRE is being used, that is, when the \fB/P\fP pattern modifier is
|
|
specified. See also the section about saving and reloading compiled patterns
|
|
below.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/I\fP modifier requests that \fBpcretest\fP output information about the
|
|
compiled pattern (whether it is anchored, has a fixed first character, and
|
|
so on). It does this by calling \fBpcre[16|32]_fullinfo()\fP after compiling a
|
|
pattern. If the pattern is studied, the results of that are also output. In
|
|
this output, the word "char" means a non-UTF character, that is, the value of a
|
|
single data item (8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit, depending on the library that is
|
|
being tested).
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/K\fP modifier requests \fBpcretest\fP to show names from backtracking
|
|
control verbs that are returned from calls to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP. It causes
|
|
\fBpcretest\fP to create a \fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP block if one has not already
|
|
been created by a call to \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP, and to set the
|
|
PCRE_EXTRA_MARK flag and the \fBmark\fP field within it, every time that
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP is called. If the variable that the \fBmark\fP field
|
|
points to is non-NULL for a match, non-match, or partial match, \fBpcretest\fP
|
|
prints the string to which it points. For a match, this is shown on a line by
|
|
itself, tagged with "MK:". For a non-match it is added to the message.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/L\fP modifier must be followed directly by the name of a locale, for
|
|
example,
|
|
.sp
|
|
/pattern/Lfr_FR
|
|
.sp
|
|
For this reason, it must be the last modifier. The given locale is set,
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_maketables()\fP is called to build a set of character tables for
|
|
the locale, and this is then passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP when compiling
|
|
the regular expression. Without an \fB/L\fP (or \fB/T\fP) modifier, NULL is
|
|
passed as the tables pointer; that is, \fB/L\fP applies only to the expression
|
|
on which it appears.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/M\fP modifier causes the size in bytes of the memory block used to hold
|
|
the compiled pattern to be output. This does not include the size of the
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]\fP block; it is just the actual compiled data. If the pattern is
|
|
successfully studied with the PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE option, the size of the
|
|
JIT compiled code is also output.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/Q\fP modifier is used to test the use of \fBpcre_stack_guard\fP. It
|
|
must be followed by '0' or '1', specifying the return code to be given from an
|
|
external function that is passed to PCRE and used for stack checking during
|
|
compilation (see the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcreapi\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation for details).
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/S\fP modifier causes \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP to be called after the
|
|
expression has been compiled, and the results used when the expression is
|
|
matched. There are a number of qualifying characters that may follow \fB/S\fP.
|
|
They may appear in any order.
|
|
.P
|
|
If \fB/S\fP is followed by an exclamation mark, \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP is
|
|
called with the PCRE_STUDY_EXTRA_NEEDED option, causing it always to return a
|
|
\fBpcre_extra\fP block, even when studying discovers no useful information.
|
|
.P
|
|
If \fB/S\fP is followed by a second S character, it suppresses studying, even
|
|
if it was requested externally by the \fB-s\fP command line option. This makes
|
|
it possible to specify that certain patterns are always studied, and others are
|
|
never studied, independently of \fB-s\fP. This feature is used in the test
|
|
files in a few cases where the output is different when the pattern is studied.
|
|
.P
|
|
If the \fB/S\fP modifier is followed by a + character, the call to
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP is made with all the JIT study options, requesting
|
|
just-in-time optimization support if it is available, for both normal and
|
|
partial matching. If you want to restrict the JIT compiling modes, you can
|
|
follow \fB/S+\fP with a digit in the range 1 to 7:
|
|
.sp
|
|
1 normal match only
|
|
2 soft partial match only
|
|
3 normal match and soft partial match
|
|
4 hard partial match only
|
|
6 soft and hard partial match
|
|
7 all three modes (default)
|
|
.sp
|
|
If \fB/S++\fP is used instead of \fB/S+\fP (with or without a following digit),
|
|
the text "(JIT)" is added to the first output line after a match or no match
|
|
when JIT-compiled code was actually used.
|
|
.P
|
|
Note that there is also an independent \fB/+\fP modifier; it must not be given
|
|
immediately after \fB/S\fP or \fB/S+\fP because this will be misinterpreted.
|
|
.P
|
|
If JIT studying is successful, the compiled JIT code will automatically be used
|
|
when \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP is run, except when incompatible run-time options
|
|
are specified. For more details, see the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcrejit\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation. See also the \fB\eJ\fP escape sequence below for a way of
|
|
setting the size of the JIT stack.
|
|
.P
|
|
Finally, if \fB/S\fP is followed by a minus character, JIT compilation is
|
|
suppressed, even if it was requested externally by the \fB-s\fP command line
|
|
option. This makes it possible to specify that JIT is never to be used for
|
|
certain patterns.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB/T\fP modifier must be followed by a single digit. It causes a specific
|
|
set of built-in character tables to be passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP. It
|
|
is used in the standard PCRE tests to check behaviour with different character
|
|
tables. The digit specifies the tables as follows:
|
|
.sp
|
|
0 the default ASCII tables, as distributed in
|
|
pcre_chartables.c.dist
|
|
1 a set of tables defining ISO 8859 characters
|
|
.sp
|
|
In table 1, some characters whose codes are greater than 128 are identified as
|
|
letters, digits, spaces, etc.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SS "Using the POSIX wrapper API"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
The \fB/P\fP modifier causes \fBpcretest\fP to call PCRE via the POSIX wrapper
|
|
API rather than its native API. This supports only the 8-bit library. When
|
|
\fB/P\fP is set, the following modifiers set options for the \fBregcomp()\fP
|
|
function:
|
|
.sp
|
|
/i REG_ICASE
|
|
/m REG_NEWLINE
|
|
/N REG_NOSUB
|
|
/s REG_DOTALL )
|
|
/U REG_UNGREEDY ) These options are not part of
|
|
/W REG_UCP ) the POSIX standard
|
|
/8 REG_UTF8 )
|
|
.sp
|
|
The \fB/+\fP modifier works as described above. All other modifiers are
|
|
ignored.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SS "Locking out certain modifiers"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
PCRE can be compiled with or without support for certain features such as
|
|
UTF-8/16/32 or Unicode properties. Accordingly, the standard tests are split up
|
|
into a number of different files that are selected for running depending on
|
|
which features are available. When updating the tests, it is all too easy to
|
|
put a new test into the wrong file by mistake; for example, to put a test that
|
|
requires UTF support into a file that is used when it is not available. To help
|
|
detect such mistakes as early as possible, there is a facility for locking out
|
|
specific modifiers. If an input line for \fBpcretest\fP starts with the string
|
|
"< forbid " the following sequence of characters is taken as a list of
|
|
forbidden modifiers. For example, in the test files that must not use UTF or
|
|
Unicode property support, this line appears:
|
|
.sp
|
|
< forbid 8W
|
|
.sp
|
|
This locks out the /8 and /W modifiers. An immediate error is given if they are
|
|
subsequently encountered. If the character string contains < but not >, all the
|
|
multi-character modifiers that begin with < are locked out. Otherwise, such
|
|
modifiers must be explicitly listed, for example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
< forbid <JS><cr>
|
|
.sp
|
|
There must be a single space between < and "forbid" for this feature to be
|
|
recognised. If there is not, the line is interpreted either as a request to
|
|
re-load a pre-compiled pattern (see "SAVING AND RELOADING COMPILED PATTERNS"
|
|
below) or, if there is a another < character, as a pattern that uses < as its
|
|
delimiter.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "DATA LINES"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
Before each data line is passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, leading and trailing
|
|
white space is removed, and it is then scanned for \e escapes. Some of these
|
|
are pretty esoteric features, intended for checking out some of the more
|
|
complicated features of PCRE. If you are just testing "ordinary" regular
|
|
expressions, you probably don't need any of these. The following escapes are
|
|
recognized:
|
|
.sp
|
|
\ea alarm (BEL, \ex07)
|
|
\eb backspace (\ex08)
|
|
\ee escape (\ex27)
|
|
\ef form feed (\ex0c)
|
|
\en newline (\ex0a)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eqdd set the PCRE_MATCH_LIMIT limit to dd
|
|
(any number of digits)
|
|
\er carriage return (\ex0d)
|
|
\et tab (\ex09)
|
|
\ev vertical tab (\ex0b)
|
|
\ennn octal character (up to 3 octal digits); always
|
|
a byte unless > 255 in UTF-8 or 16-bit or 32-bit mode
|
|
\eo{dd...} octal character (any number of octal digits}
|
|
\exhh hexadecimal byte (up to 2 hex digits)
|
|
\ex{hh...} hexadecimal character (any number of hex digits)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eA pass the PCRE_ANCHORED option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eB pass the PCRE_NOTBOL option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eCdd call pcre[16|32]_copy_substring() for substring dd
|
|
after a successful match (number less than 32)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eCname call pcre[16|32]_copy_named_substring() for substring
|
|
"name" after a successful match (name termin-
|
|
ated by next non alphanumeric character)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eC+ show the current captured substrings at callout
|
|
time
|
|
\eC- do not supply a callout function
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eC!n return 1 instead of 0 when callout number n is
|
|
reached
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eC!n!m return 1 instead of 0 when callout number n is
|
|
reached for the nth time
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eC*n pass the number n (may be negative) as callout
|
|
data; this is used as the callout return value
|
|
\eD use the \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP match function
|
|
\eF only shortest match for \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eGdd call pcre[16|32]_get_substring() for substring dd
|
|
after a successful match (number less than 32)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eGname call pcre[16|32]_get_named_substring() for substring
|
|
"name" after a successful match (name termin-
|
|
ated by next non-alphanumeric character)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eJdd set up a JIT stack of dd kilobytes maximum (any
|
|
number of digits)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eL call pcre[16|32]_get_substringlist() after a
|
|
successful match
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eM discover the minimum MATCH_LIMIT and
|
|
MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION settings
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eN pass the PCRE_NOTEMPTY option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP; if used twice, pass the
|
|
PCRE_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART option
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eOdd set the size of the output vector passed to
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to dd (any number of digits)
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eP pass the PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP; if used twice, pass the
|
|
PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD option
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eQdd set the PCRE_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION limit to dd
|
|
(any number of digits)
|
|
\eR pass the PCRE_DFA_RESTART option to \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
\eS output details of memory get/free calls during matching
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eY pass the PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\eZ pass the PCRE_NOTEOL option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e? pass the PCRE_NO_UTF[8|16|32]_CHECK option to
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e>dd start the match at offset dd (optional "-"; then
|
|
any number of digits); this sets the \fIstartoffset\fP
|
|
argument for \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e<cr> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_CR option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e<lf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_LF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e<crlf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e<anycrlf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.\" JOIN
|
|
\e<any> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
|
|
or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
|
|
.sp
|
|
The use of \ex{hh...} is not dependent on the use of the \fB/8\fP modifier on
|
|
the pattern. It is recognized always. There may be any number of hexadecimal
|
|
digits inside the braces; invalid values provoke error messages.
|
|
.P
|
|
Note that \exhh specifies one byte rather than one character in UTF-8 mode;
|
|
this makes it possible to construct invalid UTF-8 sequences for testing
|
|
purposes. On the other hand, \ex{hh} is interpreted as a UTF-8 character in
|
|
UTF-8 mode, generating more than one byte if the value is greater than 127.
|
|
When testing the 8-bit library not in UTF-8 mode, \ex{hh} generates one byte
|
|
for values less than 256, and causes an error for greater values.
|
|
.P
|
|
In UTF-16 mode, all 4-digit \ex{hhhh} values are accepted. This makes it
|
|
possible to construct invalid UTF-16 sequences for testing purposes.
|
|
.P
|
|
In UTF-32 mode, all 4- to 8-digit \ex{...} values are accepted. This makes it
|
|
possible to construct invalid UTF-32 sequences for testing purposes.
|
|
.P
|
|
The escapes that specify line ending sequences are literal strings, exactly as
|
|
shown. No more than one newline setting should be present in any data line.
|
|
.P
|
|
A backslash followed by anything else just escapes the anything else. If
|
|
the very last character is a backslash, it is ignored. This gives a way of
|
|
passing an empty line as data, since a real empty line terminates the data
|
|
input.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fB\eJ\fP escape provides a way of setting the maximum stack size that is
|
|
used by the just-in-time optimization code. It is ignored if JIT optimization
|
|
is not being used. Providing a stack that is larger than the default 32K is
|
|
necessary only for very complicated patterns.
|
|
.P
|
|
If \eM is present, \fBpcretest\fP calls \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP several times,
|
|
with different values in the \fImatch_limit\fP and \fImatch_limit_recursion\fP
|
|
fields of the \fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP data structure, until it finds the minimum
|
|
numbers for each parameter that allow \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to complete without
|
|
error. Because this is testing a specific feature of the normal interpretive
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP execution, the use of any JIT optimization that might
|
|
have been set up by the \fB/S+\fP qualifier of \fB-s+\fP option is disabled.
|
|
.P
|
|
The \fImatch_limit\fP number is a measure of the amount of backtracking
|
|
that takes place, and checking it out can be instructive. For most simple
|
|
matches, the number is quite small, but for patterns with very large numbers of
|
|
matching possibilities, it can become large very quickly with increasing length
|
|
of subject string. The \fImatch_limit_recursion\fP number is a measure of how
|
|
much stack (or, if PCRE is compiled with NO_RECURSE, how much heap) memory is
|
|
needed to complete the match attempt.
|
|
.P
|
|
When \eO is used, the value specified may be higher or lower than the size set
|
|
by the \fB-O\fP command line option (or defaulted to 45); \eO applies only to
|
|
the call of \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP for the line in which it appears.
|
|
.P
|
|
If the \fB/P\fP modifier was present on the pattern, causing the POSIX wrapper
|
|
API to be used, the only option-setting sequences that have any effect are \eB,
|
|
\eN, and \eZ, causing REG_NOTBOL, REG_NOTEMPTY, and REG_NOTEOL, respectively,
|
|
to be passed to \fBregexec()\fP.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
By default, \fBpcretest\fP uses the standard PCRE matching function,
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to match each data line. PCRE also supports an
|
|
alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_test()\fP, which operates in a
|
|
different way, and has some restrictions. The differences between the two
|
|
functions are described in the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcrematching\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation.
|
|
.P
|
|
If a data line contains the \eD escape sequence, or if the command line
|
|
contains the \fB-dfa\fP option, the alternative matching function is used.
|
|
This function finds all possible matches at a given point. If, however, the \eF
|
|
escape sequence is present in the data line, it stops after the first match is
|
|
found. This is always the shortest possible match.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM PCRETEST"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
This section describes the output when the normal matching function,
|
|
\fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, is being used.
|
|
.P
|
|
When a match succeeds, \fBpcretest\fP outputs the list of captured substrings
|
|
that \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP returns, starting with number 0 for the string that
|
|
matched the whole pattern. Otherwise, it outputs "No match" when the return is
|
|
PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH, and "Partial match:" followed by the partially matching
|
|
substring when \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP returns PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL. (Note that
|
|
this is the entire substring that was inspected during the partial match; it
|
|
may include characters before the actual match start if a lookbehind assertion,
|
|
\eK, \eb, or \eB was involved.) For any other return, \fBpcretest\fP outputs
|
|
the PCRE negative error number and a short descriptive phrase. If the error is
|
|
a failed UTF string check, the offset of the start of the failing character and
|
|
the reason code are also output, provided that the size of the output vector is
|
|
at least two. Here is an example of an interactive \fBpcretest\fP run.
|
|
.sp
|
|
$ pcretest
|
|
PCRE version 8.13 2011-04-30
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /^abc(\ed+)/
|
|
data> abc123
|
|
0: abc123
|
|
1: 123
|
|
data> xyz
|
|
No match
|
|
.sp
|
|
Unset capturing substrings that are not followed by one that is set are not
|
|
returned by \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, and are not shown by \fBpcretest\fP. In the
|
|
following example, there are two capturing substrings, but when the first data
|
|
line is matched, the second, unset substring is not shown. An "internal" unset
|
|
substring is shown as "<unset>", as for the second data line.
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /(a)|(b)/
|
|
data> a
|
|
0: a
|
|
1: a
|
|
data> b
|
|
0: b
|
|
1: <unset>
|
|
2: b
|
|
.sp
|
|
If the strings contain any non-printing characters, they are output as \exhh
|
|
escapes if the value is less than 256 and UTF mode is not set. Otherwise they
|
|
are output as \ex{hh...} escapes. See below for the definition of non-printing
|
|
characters. If the pattern has the \fB/+\fP modifier, the output for substring
|
|
0 is followed by the the rest of the subject string, identified by "0+" like
|
|
this:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /cat/+
|
|
data> cataract
|
|
0: cat
|
|
0+ aract
|
|
.sp
|
|
If the pattern has the \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP modifier, the results of successive
|
|
matching attempts are output in sequence, like this:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /\eBi(\ew\ew)/g
|
|
data> Mississippi
|
|
0: iss
|
|
1: ss
|
|
0: iss
|
|
1: ss
|
|
0: ipp
|
|
1: pp
|
|
.sp
|
|
"No match" is output only if the first match attempt fails. Here is an example
|
|
of a failure message (the offset 4 that is specified by \e>4 is past the end of
|
|
the subject string):
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /xyz/
|
|
data> xyz\e>4
|
|
Error -24 (bad offset value)
|
|
.P
|
|
If any of the sequences \fB\eC\fP, \fB\eG\fP, or \fB\eL\fP are present in a
|
|
data line that is successfully matched, the substrings extracted by the
|
|
convenience functions are output with C, G, or L after the string number
|
|
instead of a colon. This is in addition to the normal full list. The string
|
|
length (that is, the return from the extraction function) is given in
|
|
parentheses after each string for \fB\eC\fP and \fB\eG\fP.
|
|
.P
|
|
Note that whereas patterns can be continued over several lines (a plain ">"
|
|
prompt is used for continuations), data lines may not. However newlines can be
|
|
included in data by means of the \en escape (or \er, \er\en, etc., depending on
|
|
the newline sequence setting).
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
When the alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP, is used (by
|
|
means of the \eD escape sequence or the \fB-dfa\fP command line option), the
|
|
output consists of a list of all the matches that start at the first point in
|
|
the subject where there is at least one match. For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/
|
|
data> yellow tangerine\eD
|
|
0: tangerine
|
|
1: tang
|
|
2: tan
|
|
.sp
|
|
(Using the normal matching function on this data finds only "tang".) The
|
|
longest matching string is always given first (and numbered zero). After a
|
|
PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL return, the output is "Partial match:", followed by the
|
|
partially matching substring. (Note that this is the entire substring that was
|
|
inspected during the partial match; it may include characters before the actual
|
|
match start if a lookbehind assertion, \eK, \eb, or \eB was involved.)
|
|
.P
|
|
If \fB/g\fP is present on the pattern, the search for further matches resumes
|
|
at the end of the longest match. For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/g
|
|
data> yellow tangerine and tangy sultana\eD
|
|
0: tangerine
|
|
1: tang
|
|
2: tan
|
|
0: tang
|
|
1: tan
|
|
0: tan
|
|
.sp
|
|
Since the matching function does not support substring capture, the escape
|
|
sequences that are concerned with captured substrings are not relevant.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "RESTARTING AFTER A PARTIAL MATCH"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
When the alternative matching function has given the PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL return,
|
|
indicating that the subject partially matched the pattern, you can restart the
|
|
match with additional subject data by means of the \eR escape sequence. For
|
|
example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /^\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed$/
|
|
data> 23ja\eP\eD
|
|
Partial match: 23ja
|
|
data> n05\eR\eD
|
|
0: n05
|
|
.sp
|
|
For further information about partial matching, see the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcrepartial\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH CALLOUTS
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
If the pattern contains any callout requests, \fBpcretest\fP's callout function
|
|
is called during matching. This works with both matching functions. By default,
|
|
the called function displays the callout number, the start and current
|
|
positions in the text at the callout time, and the next pattern item to be
|
|
tested. For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
--->pqrabcdef
|
|
0 ^ ^ \ed
|
|
.sp
|
|
This output indicates that callout number 0 occurred for a match attempt
|
|
starting at the fourth character of the subject string, when the pointer was at
|
|
the seventh character of the data, and when the next pattern item was \ed. Just
|
|
one circumflex is output if the start and current positions are the same.
|
|
.P
|
|
Callouts numbered 255 are assumed to be automatic callouts, inserted as a
|
|
result of the \fB/C\fP pattern modifier. In this case, instead of showing the
|
|
callout number, the offset in the pattern, preceded by a plus, is output. For
|
|
example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /\ed?[A-E]\e*/C
|
|
data> E*
|
|
--->E*
|
|
+0 ^ \ed?
|
|
+3 ^ [A-E]
|
|
+8 ^^ \e*
|
|
+10 ^ ^
|
|
0: E*
|
|
.sp
|
|
If a pattern contains (*MARK) items, an additional line is output whenever
|
|
a change of latest mark is passed to the callout function. For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> /a(*MARK:X)bc/C
|
|
data> abc
|
|
--->abc
|
|
+0 ^ a
|
|
+1 ^^ (*MARK:X)
|
|
+10 ^^ b
|
|
Latest Mark: X
|
|
+11 ^ ^ c
|
|
+12 ^ ^
|
|
0: abc
|
|
.sp
|
|
The mark changes between matching "a" and "b", but stays the same for the rest
|
|
of the match, so nothing more is output. If, as a result of backtracking, the
|
|
mark reverts to being unset, the text "<unset>" is output.
|
|
.P
|
|
The callout function in \fBpcretest\fP returns zero (carry on matching) by
|
|
default, but you can use a \eC item in a data line (as described above) to
|
|
change this and other parameters of the callout.
|
|
.P
|
|
Inserting callouts can be helpful when using \fBpcretest\fP to check
|
|
complicated regular expressions. For further information about callouts, see
|
|
the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcrecallout\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "NON-PRINTING CHARACTERS"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
When \fBpcretest\fP is outputting text in the compiled version of a pattern,
|
|
bytes other than 32-126 are always treated as non-printing characters are are
|
|
therefore shown as hex escapes.
|
|
.P
|
|
When \fBpcretest\fP is outputting text that is a matched part of a subject
|
|
string, it behaves in the same way, unless a different locale has been set for
|
|
the pattern (using the \fB/L\fP modifier). In this case, the \fBisprint()\fP
|
|
function to distinguish printing and non-printing characters.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "SAVING AND RELOADING COMPILED PATTERNS"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
The facilities described in this section are not available when the POSIX
|
|
interface to PCRE is being used, that is, when the \fB/P\fP pattern modifier is
|
|
specified.
|
|
.P
|
|
When the POSIX interface is not in use, you can cause \fBpcretest\fP to write a
|
|
compiled pattern to a file, by following the modifiers with > and a file name.
|
|
For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
/pattern/im >/some/file
|
|
.sp
|
|
See the
|
|
.\" HREF
|
|
\fBpcreprecompile\fP
|
|
.\"
|
|
documentation for a discussion about saving and re-using compiled patterns.
|
|
Note that if the pattern was successfully studied with JIT optimization, the
|
|
JIT data cannot be saved.
|
|
.P
|
|
The data that is written is binary. The first eight bytes are the length of the
|
|
compiled pattern data followed by the length of the optional study data, each
|
|
written as four bytes in big-endian order (most significant byte first). If
|
|
there is no study data (either the pattern was not studied, or studying did not
|
|
return any data), the second length is zero. The lengths are followed by an
|
|
exact copy of the compiled pattern. If there is additional study data, this
|
|
(excluding any JIT data) follows immediately after the compiled pattern. After
|
|
writing the file, \fBpcretest\fP expects to read a new pattern.
|
|
.P
|
|
A saved pattern can be reloaded into \fBpcretest\fP by specifying < and a file
|
|
name instead of a pattern. There must be no space between < and the file name,
|
|
which must not contain a < character, as otherwise \fBpcretest\fP will
|
|
interpret the line as a pattern delimited by < characters. For example:
|
|
.sp
|
|
re> </some/file
|
|
Compiled pattern loaded from /some/file
|
|
No study data
|
|
.sp
|
|
If the pattern was previously studied with the JIT optimization, the JIT
|
|
information cannot be saved and restored, and so is lost. When the pattern has
|
|
been loaded, \fBpcretest\fP proceeds to read data lines in the usual way.
|
|
.P
|
|
You can copy a file written by \fBpcretest\fP to a different host and reload it
|
|
there, even if the new host has opposite endianness to the one on which the
|
|
pattern was compiled. For example, you can compile on an i86 machine and run on
|
|
a SPARC machine. When a pattern is reloaded on a host with different
|
|
endianness, the confirmation message is changed to:
|
|
.sp
|
|
Compiled pattern (byte-inverted) loaded from /some/file
|
|
.sp
|
|
The test suite contains some saved pre-compiled patterns with different
|
|
endianness. These are reloaded using "<!" instead of just "<". This suppresses
|
|
the "(byte-inverted)" text so that the output is the same on all hosts. It also
|
|
forces debugging output once the pattern has been reloaded.
|
|
.P
|
|
File names for saving and reloading can be absolute or relative, but note that
|
|
the shell facility of expanding a file name that starts with a tilde (~) is not
|
|
available.
|
|
.P
|
|
The ability to save and reload files in \fBpcretest\fP is intended for testing
|
|
and experimentation. It is not intended for production use because only a
|
|
single pattern can be written to a file. Furthermore, there is no facility for
|
|
supplying custom character tables for use with a reloaded pattern. If the
|
|
original pattern was compiled with custom tables, an attempt to match a subject
|
|
string using a reloaded pattern is likely to cause \fBpcretest\fP to crash.
|
|
Finally, if you attempt to load a file that is not in the correct format, the
|
|
result is undefined.
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH "SEE ALSO"
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
\fBpcre\fP(3), \fBpcre16\fP(3), \fBpcre32\fP(3), \fBpcreapi\fP(3),
|
|
\fBpcrecallout\fP(3),
|
|
\fBpcrejit\fP, \fBpcrematching\fP(3), \fBpcrepartial\fP(d),
|
|
\fBpcrepattern\fP(3), \fBpcreprecompile\fP(3).
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH AUTHOR
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
.nf
|
|
Philip Hazel
|
|
University Computing Service
|
|
Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
|
|
.fi
|
|
.
|
|
.
|
|
.SH REVISION
|
|
.rs
|
|
.sp
|
|
.nf
|
|
Last updated: 09 February 2014
|
|
Copyright (c) 1997-2014 University of Cambridge.
|
|
.fi
|