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PCRE string questions.
10-19-2009
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regex(3) Library Functions Manual regex(3) Name re_comp, re_exec - regular expression handler Syntax char *re_comp(s) char *s; re_exec(s) char *s; Description The subroutine compiles a string into an internal form suitable for pattern matching. The subroutine checks the argument string against the last string passed to The subroutine returns 0 if the string s was compiled successfully; otherwise a string containing an error message is returned. If is passed 0 or a null string, it returns without changing the currently compiled regular expression. The subroutine returns 1 if the string s matches the last compiled regular expression, 0 if the string s failed to match the last compiled regular expression, and -1 if the compiled regular expression was invalid (indicating an internal error). The strings passed to both and may have trailing or embedded newline characters; they are terminated by nulls. The regular expressions recognized are described in the manual entry for given the above difference. Diagnostics The subroutine returns -1 for an internal error. The subroutine returns one of the following strings if an error occurs: No previous regular expression Regular expression too long unmatched ( missing ] too many () pairs unmatched ) See Also ed(1), ex(1), egrep(1), fgrep(1), grep(1) regex(3)