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revision 259 by ph10, Wed Sep 19 09:52:44 2007 UTC revision 345 by ph10, Mon Apr 28 15:10:02 2008 UTC
# Line 35  man page, in case the conversion went wr Line 35  man page, in case the conversion went wr
35  <li><a name="TOC20" href="#SEC20">COMMENTS</a>  <li><a name="TOC20" href="#SEC20">COMMENTS</a>
36  <li><a name="TOC21" href="#SEC21">RECURSIVE PATTERNS</a>  <li><a name="TOC21" href="#SEC21">RECURSIVE PATTERNS</a>
37  <li><a name="TOC22" href="#SEC22">SUBPATTERNS AS SUBROUTINES</a>  <li><a name="TOC22" href="#SEC22">SUBPATTERNS AS SUBROUTINES</a>
38  <li><a name="TOC23" href="#SEC23">CALLOUTS</a>  <li><a name="TOC23" href="#SEC23">ONIGURUMA SUBROUTINE SYNTAX</a>
39  <li><a name="TOC24" href="#SEC24">BACKTRACKING CONTROL</a>  <li><a name="TOC24" href="#SEC24">CALLOUTS</a>
40  <li><a name="TOC25" href="#SEC25">SEE ALSO</a>  <li><a name="TOC25" href="#SEC25">BACKTRACKING CONTROL</a>
41  <li><a name="TOC26" href="#SEC26">AUTHOR</a>  <li><a name="TOC26" href="#SEC26">SEE ALSO</a>
42  <li><a name="TOC27" href="#SEC27">REVISION</a>  <li><a name="TOC27" href="#SEC27">AUTHOR</a>
43    <li><a name="TOC28" href="#SEC28">REVISION</a>
44  </ul>  </ul>
45  <br><a name="SEC1" href="#TOC1">PCRE REGULAR EXPRESSION DETAILS</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC1" href="#TOC1">PCRE REGULAR EXPRESSION DETAILS</a><br>
46  <P>  <P>
47  The syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that are supported by PCRE  The syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that are supported by PCRE
48  are described in detail below. There is a quick-reference syntax summary in the  are described in detail below. There is a quick-reference syntax summary in the
49  <a href="pcresyntax.html"><b>pcresyntax</b></a>  <a href="pcresyntax.html"><b>pcresyntax</b></a>
50  page. Perl's regular expressions are described in its own documentation, and  page. PCRE tries to match Perl syntax and semantics as closely as it can. PCRE
51    also supports some alternative regular expression syntax (which does not
52    conflict with the Perl syntax) in order to provide some compatibility with
53    regular expressions in Python, .NET, and Oniguruma.
54    </P>
55    <P>
56    Perl's regular expressions are described in its own documentation, and
57  regular expressions in general are covered in a number of books, some of which  regular expressions in general are covered in a number of books, some of which
58  have copious examples. Jeffrey Friedl's "Mastering Regular Expressions",  have copious examples. Jeffrey Friedl's "Mastering Regular Expressions",
59  published by O'Reilly, covers regular expressions in great detail. This  published by O'Reilly, covers regular expressions in great detail. This
# Line 312  following the discussion of Line 319  following the discussion of
319  <a href="#subpattern">parenthesized subpatterns.</a>  <a href="#subpattern">parenthesized subpatterns.</a>
320  </P>  </P>
321  <br><b>  <br><b>
322    Absolute and relative subroutine calls
323    </b><br>
324    <P>
325    For compatibility with Oniguruma, the non-Perl syntax \g followed by a name or
326    a number enclosed either in angle brackets or single quotes, is an alternative
327    syntax for referencing a subpattern as a "subroutine". Details are discussed
328    <a href="#onigurumasubroutines">later.</a>
329    Note that \g{...} (Perl syntax) and \g&#60;...&#62; (Oniguruma syntax) are <i>not</i>
330    synonymous. The former is a back reference; the latter is a subroutine call.
331    </P>
332    <br><b>
333  Generic character types  Generic character types
334  </b><br>  </b><br>
335  <P>  <P>
# Line 1231  which may be several bytes long (and the Line 1249  which may be several bytes long (and the
1249  </P>  </P>
1250  <P>  <P>
1251  The quantifier {0} is permitted, causing the expression to behave as if the  The quantifier {0} is permitted, causing the expression to behave as if the
1252  previous item and the quantifier were not present.  previous item and the quantifier were not present. This may be useful for
1253    subpatterns that are referenced as
1254    <a href="#subpatternsassubroutines">subroutines</a>
1255    from elsewhere in the pattern. Items other than subpatterns that have a {0}
1256    quantifier are omitted from the compiled pattern.
1257  </P>  </P>
1258  <P>  <P>
1259  For convenience, the three most common quantifiers have single-character  For convenience, the three most common quantifiers have single-character
# Line 2031  changed for different calls. For example Line 2053  changed for different calls. For example
2053  </pre>  </pre>
2054  It matches "abcabc". It does not match "abcABC" because the change of  It matches "abcabc". It does not match "abcABC" because the change of
2055  processing option does not affect the called subpattern.  processing option does not affect the called subpattern.
2056    <a name="onigurumasubroutines"></a></P>
2057    <br><a name="SEC23" href="#TOC1">ONIGURUMA SUBROUTINE SYNTAX</a><br>
2058    <P>
2059    For compatibility with Oniguruma, the non-Perl syntax \g followed by a name or
2060    a number enclosed either in angle brackets or single quotes, is an alternative
2061    syntax for referencing a subpattern as a subroutine, possibly recursively. Here
2062    are two of the examples used above, rewritten using this syntax:
2063    <pre>
2064      (?&#60;pn&#62; \( ( (?&#62;[^()]+) | \g&#60;pn&#62; )* \) )
2065      (sens|respons)e and \g'1'ibility
2066    </pre>
2067    PCRE supports an extension to Oniguruma: if a number is preceded by a
2068    plus or a minus sign it is taken as a relative reference. For example:
2069    <pre>
2070      (abc)(?i:\g&#60;-1&#62;)
2071    </pre>
2072    Note that \g{...} (Perl syntax) and \g&#60;...&#62; (Oniguruma syntax) are <i>not</i>
2073    synonymous. The former is a back reference; the latter is a subroutine call.
2074  </P>  </P>
2075  <br><a name="SEC23" href="#TOC1">CALLOUTS</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC24" href="#TOC1">CALLOUTS</a><br>
2076  <P>  <P>
2077  Perl has a feature whereby using the sequence (?{...}) causes arbitrary Perl  Perl has a feature whereby using the sequence (?{...}) causes arbitrary Perl
2078  code to be obeyed in the middle of matching a regular expression. This makes it  code to be obeyed in the middle of matching a regular expression. This makes it
# Line 2067  description of the interface to the call Line 2107  description of the interface to the call
2107  <a href="pcrecallout.html"><b>pcrecallout</b></a>  <a href="pcrecallout.html"><b>pcrecallout</b></a>
2108  documentation.  documentation.
2109  </P>  </P>
2110  <br><a name="SEC24" href="#TOC1">BACKTRACKING CONTROL</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC25" href="#TOC1">BACKTRACKING CONTROL</a><br>
2111  <P>  <P>
2112  Perl 5.10 introduced a number of "Special Backtracking Control Verbs", which  Perl 5.10 introduced a number of "Special Backtracking Control Verbs", which
2113  are described in the Perl documentation as "experimental and subject to change  are described in the Perl documentation as "experimental and subject to change
# Line 2076  production code should be noted to avoid Line 2116  production code should be noted to avoid
2116  remarks apply to the PCRE features described in this section.  remarks apply to the PCRE features described in this section.
2117  </P>  </P>
2118  <P>  <P>
2119  Since these verbs are specifically related to backtracking, they can be used  Since these verbs are specifically related to backtracking, most of them can be
2120  only when the pattern is to be matched using <b>pcre_exec()</b>, which uses a  used only when the pattern is to be matched using <b>pcre_exec()</b>, which uses
2121  backtracking algorithm. They cause an error if encountered by  a backtracking algorithm. With the exception of (*FAIL), which behaves like a
2122    failing negative assertion, they cause an error if encountered by
2123  <b>pcre_dfa_exec()</b>.  <b>pcre_dfa_exec()</b>.
2124  </P>  </P>
2125  <P>  <P>
# Line 2182  the end of the group if FOO succeeds); o Line 2223  the end of the group if FOO succeeds); o
2223  second alternative and tries COND2, without backtracking into COND1. If (*THEN)  second alternative and tries COND2, without backtracking into COND1. If (*THEN)
2224  is used outside of any alternation, it acts exactly like (*PRUNE).  is used outside of any alternation, it acts exactly like (*PRUNE).
2225  </P>  </P>
2226  <br><a name="SEC25" href="#TOC1">SEE ALSO</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC26" href="#TOC1">SEE ALSO</a><br>
2227  <P>  <P>
2228  <b>pcreapi</b>(3), <b>pcrecallout</b>(3), <b>pcrematching</b>(3), <b>pcre</b>(3).  <b>pcreapi</b>(3), <b>pcrecallout</b>(3), <b>pcrematching</b>(3), <b>pcre</b>(3).
2229  </P>  </P>
2230  <br><a name="SEC26" href="#TOC1">AUTHOR</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC27" href="#TOC1">AUTHOR</a><br>
2231  <P>  <P>
2232  Philip Hazel  Philip Hazel
2233  <br>  <br>
# Line 2195  University Computing Service Line 2236  University Computing Service
2236  Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.  Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
2237  <br>  <br>
2238  </P>  </P>
2239  <br><a name="SEC27" href="#TOC1">REVISION</a><br>  <br><a name="SEC28" href="#TOC1">REVISION</a><br>
2240  <P>  <P>
2241  Last updated: 17 September 2007  Last updated: 19 April 2008
2242  <br>  <br>
2243  Copyright &copy; 1997-2007 University of Cambridge.  Copyright &copy; 1997-2008 University of Cambridge.
2244  <br>  <br>
2245  <p>  <p>
2246  Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>.  Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>.
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