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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt | 328 |
1 files changed, 187 insertions, 141 deletions
diff --git a/doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt b/doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt index dfa03b80b..1a0424c20 100644 --- a/doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt +++ b/doc/doc-txt/pcretest.txt @@ -24,18 +24,24 @@ SYNOPSIS OPTIONS + -b Behave as if each regex has the /B (show bytecode) modifier; + the internal form is output after compilation. + -C Output the version number of the PCRE library, and all avail- - able information about the optional features that are + able information about the optional features that are included, and then exit. - -d Behave as if each regex has the /D (debug) modifier; the - internal form is output after compilation. + -d Behave as if each regex has the /D (debug) modifier; the + internal form and information about the compiled pattern is + output after compilation; -d is equivalent to -b -i. -dfa Behave as if each data line contains the \D escape sequence; this causes the alternative matching function, pcre_dfa_exec(), to be used instead of the standard pcre_exec() function (more detail is given below). + -help Output a brief summary these options and then exit. + -i Behave as if each regex has the /I modifier; information about the compiled pattern is given after compilation. @@ -45,10 +51,12 @@ OPTIONS pcretest, -s is a synonym for -m. -o osize Set the number of elements in the output vector that is used - when calling pcre_exec() to be osize. The default value is - 45, which is enough for 14 capturing subexpressions. The vec- - tor size can be changed for individual matching calls by - including \O in the data line (see below). + when calling pcre_exec() or pcre_dfa_exec() to be osize. The + default value is 45, which is enough for 14 capturing subex- + pressions for pcre_exec() or 22 different matches for + pcre_dfa_exec(). The vector size can be changed for individ- + ual matching calls by including \O in the data line (see + below). -p Behave as if each regex has the /P modifier; the POSIX wrap- per API is used to call PCRE. None of the other options has @@ -64,7 +72,13 @@ OPTIONS and output resulting time per compile or match (in millisec- onds). Do not set -m with -t, because you will then get the size output a zillion times, and the timing will be dis- - torted. + torted. You can control the number of iterations that are + used for timing by following -t with a number (as a separate + item on the command line). For example, "-t 1000" would iter- + ate 1000 times. The default is to iterate 500000 times. + + -tm This is like -t except that it times only the matching phase, + not the compile or study phases. DESCRIPTION @@ -82,53 +96,54 @@ DESCRIPTION Each data line is matched separately and independently. If you want to do multi-line matches, you have to use the \n escape sequence (or \r or - \r\n, depending on the newline setting) in a single line of input to - encode the newline characters. There is no limit on the length of data - lines; the input buffer is automatically extended if it is too small. + \r\n, etc., depending on the newline setting) in a single line of input + to encode the newline sequences. There is no limit on the length of + data lines; the input buffer is automatically extended if it is too + small. - An empty line signals the end of the data lines, at which point a new - regular expression is read. The regular expressions are given enclosed + An empty line signals the end of the data lines, at which point a new + regular expression is read. The regular expressions are given enclosed in any non-alphanumeric delimiters other than backslash, for example: /(a|bc)x+yz/ - White space before the initial delimiter is ignored. A regular expres- - sion may be continued over several input lines, in which case the new- - line characters are included within it. It is possible to include the + White space before the initial delimiter is ignored. A regular expres- + sion may be continued over several input lines, in which case the new- + line characters are included within it. It is possible to include the delimiter within the pattern by escaping it, for example /abc\/def/ - If you do so, the escape and the delimiter form part of the pattern, - but since delimiters are always non-alphanumeric, this does not affect - its interpretation. If the terminating delimiter is immediately fol- + If you do so, the escape and the delimiter form part of the pattern, + but since delimiters are always non-alphanumeric, this does not affect + its interpretation. If the terminating delimiter is immediately fol- lowed by a backslash, for example, /abc/\ - then a backslash is added to the end of the pattern. This is done to - provide a way of testing the error condition that arises if a pattern + then a backslash is added to the end of the pattern. This is done to + provide a way of testing the error condition that arises if a pattern finishes with a backslash, because /abc\/ - is interpreted as the first line of a pattern that starts with "abc/", + is interpreted as the first line of a pattern that starts with "abc/", causing pcretest to read the next line as a continuation of the regular expression. PATTERN MODIFIERS - A pattern may be followed by any number of modifiers, which are mostly - single characters. Following Perl usage, these are referred to below - as, for example, "the /i modifier", even though the delimiter of the - pattern need not always be a slash, and no slash is used when writing - modifiers. Whitespace may appear between the final pattern delimiter + A pattern may be followed by any number of modifiers, which are mostly + single characters. Following Perl usage, these are referred to below + as, for example, "the /i modifier", even though the delimiter of the + pattern need not always be a slash, and no slash is used when writing + modifiers. Whitespace may appear between the final pattern delimiter and the first modifier, and between the modifiers themselves. The /i, /m, /s, and /x modifiers set the PCRE_CASELESS, PCRE_MULTILINE, - PCRE_DOTALL, or PCRE_EXTENDED options, respectively, when pcre_com- - pile() is called. These four modifier letters have the same effect as + PCRE_DOTALL, or PCRE_EXTENDED options, respectively, when pcre_com- + pile() is called. These four modifier letters have the same effect as they do in Perl. For example: /caseless/i @@ -147,10 +162,16 @@ PATTERN MODIFIERS /<cr> PCRE_NEWLINE_CR /<lf> PCRE_NEWLINE_LF /<crlf> PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF + /<any> PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY + + Those specifying line ending sequencess are literal strings as shown. + This example sets multiline matching with CRLF as the line ending + sequence: - Those specifying line endings are literal strings as shown. Details of - the meanings of these PCRE options are given in the pcreapi documenta- - tion. + /^abc/m<crlf> + + Details of the meanings of these PCRE options are given in the pcreapi + documentation. Finding all matches in a string @@ -180,79 +201,80 @@ PATTERN MODIFIERS remainder of the subject string. This is useful for tests where the subject contains multiple copies of the same substring. - The /L modifier must be followed directly by the name of a locale, for + The /B modifier is a debugging feature. It requests that pcretest out- + put a representation of the compiled byte code after compilation. + + The /L modifier must be followed directly by the name of a locale, for example, /pattern/Lfr_FR For this reason, it must be the last modifier. The given locale is set, - pcre_maketables() is called to build a set of character tables for the - locale, and this is then passed to pcre_compile() when compiling the - regular expression. Without an /L modifier, NULL is passed as the - tables pointer; that is, /L applies only to the expression on which it + pcre_maketables() is called to build a set of character tables for the + locale, and this is then passed to pcre_compile() when compiling the + regular expression. Without an /L modifier, NULL is passed as the + tables pointer; that is, /L applies only to the expression on which it appears. - The /I modifier requests that pcretest output information about the - compiled pattern (whether it is anchored, has a fixed first character, - and so on). It does this by calling pcre_fullinfo() after compiling a - pattern. If the pattern is studied, the results of that are also out- + The /I modifier requests that pcretest output information about the + compiled pattern (whether it is anchored, has a fixed first character, + and so on). It does this by calling pcre_fullinfo() after compiling a + pattern. If the pattern is studied, the results of that are also out- put. - The /D modifier is a PCRE debugging feature, which also assumes /I. It - causes the internal form of compiled regular expressions to be output - after compilation. If the pattern was studied, the information returned - is also output. + The /D modifier is a PCRE debugging feature, and is equivalent to /BI, + that is, both the /B and the /I modifiers. The /F modifier causes pcretest to flip the byte order of the fields in - the compiled pattern that contain 2-byte and 4-byte numbers. This - facility is for testing the feature in PCRE that allows it to execute + the compiled pattern that contain 2-byte and 4-byte numbers. 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 /P pattern modifier is specified. See also the + feature is not available when the POSIX interface to PCRE is being + used, that is, when the /P pattern modifier is specified. See also the section about saving and reloading compiled patterns below. - The /S modifier causes pcre_study() to be called after the expression + The /S modifier causes pcre_study() to be called after the expression has been compiled, and the results used when the expression is matched. - The /M modifier causes the size of memory block used to hold the com- + The /M modifier causes the size of memory block used to hold the com- piled pattern to be output. - The /P modifier causes pcretest to call PCRE via the POSIX wrapper API - rather than its native API. When this is done, all other modifiers - except /i, /m, and /+ are ignored. REG_ICASE is set if /i is present, - and REG_NEWLINE is set if /m is present. The wrapper functions force - PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY always, and PCRE_DOTALL unless REG_NEWLINE is set. + The /P modifier causes pcretest to call PCRE via the POSIX wrapper API + rather than its native API. When this is done, all other modifiers + except /i, /m, and /+ are ignored. REG_ICASE is set if /i is present, + and REG_NEWLINE is set if /m is present. The wrapper functions force + PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY always, and PCRE_DOTALL unless REG_NEWLINE is set. - The /8 modifier causes pcretest to call PCRE with the PCRE_UTF8 option - set. This turns on support for UTF-8 character handling in PCRE, pro- - vided that it was compiled with this support enabled. This modifier + The /8 modifier causes pcretest to call PCRE with the PCRE_UTF8 option + set. This turns on support for UTF-8 character handling in PCRE, pro- + vided that it was compiled with this support enabled. This modifier also causes any non-printing characters in output strings to be printed using the \x{hh...} notation if they are valid UTF-8 sequences. - If the /? modifier is used with /8, it causes pcretest to call - pcre_compile() with the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option, to suppress the + If the /? modifier is used with /8, it causes pcretest to call + pcre_compile() with the PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK option, to suppress the checking of the string for UTF-8 validity. DATA LINES - Before each data line is passed to pcre_exec(), leading and trailing - whitespace is removed, and it is then scanned for \ 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 "ordi- - nary" regular expressions, you probably don't need any of these. The + Before each data line is passed to pcre_exec(), leading and trailing + whitespace is removed, and it is then scanned for \ 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 "ordi- + nary" regular expressions, you probably don't need any of these. The following escapes are recognized: - \a alarm (= BEL) - \b backspace - \e escape - \f formfeed - \n newline + \a alarm (BEL, \x07) + \b backspace (\x08) + \e escape (\x27) + \f formfeed (\x0c) + \n newline (\x0a) \qdd set the PCRE_MATCH_LIMIT limit to dd (any number of digits) - \r carriage return - \t tab - \v vertical tab + \r carriage return (\x0d) + \t tab (\x09) + \v vertical tab (\x0b) \nnn octal character (up to 3 octal digits) \xhh hexadecimal character (up to 2 hex digits) \x{hh...} hexadecimal character, any number of digits @@ -309,12 +331,17 @@ DATA LINES or pcre_dfa_exec() \<crlf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF option to pcre_exec() or pcre_dfa_exec() + \<any> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY option to pcre_exec() + or pcre_dfa_exec() - The escapes that specify line endings are literal strings, exactly as - shown. 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. + 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. + + 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 termi- + nates the data input. If \M is present, pcretest calls pcre_exec() several times, with dif- ferent values in the match_limit and match_limit_recursion fields of @@ -371,7 +398,7 @@ DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM PCRETEST is an example of an interactive pcretest run. $ pcretest - PCRE version 5.00 07-Sep-2004 + PCRE version 7.0 30-Nov-2006 re> /^abc(\d+)/ data> abc123 @@ -382,16 +409,17 @@ DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM PCRETEST If the strings contain any non-printing characters, they are output as \0x escapes, or as \x{...} escapes if the /8 modifier was present on - the pattern. If the pattern has the /+ modifier, the output for sub- - string 0 is followed by the the rest of the subject string, identified - by "0+" like this: + the pattern. See below for the definition of non-printing characters. + If the pattern has the /+ modifier, the output for substring 0 is fol- + lowed by the the rest of the subject string, identified by "0+" like + this: re> /cat/+ data> cataract 0: cat 0+ aract - If the pattern has the /g or /G modifier, the results of successive + If the pattern has the /g or /G modifier, the results of successive matching attempts are output in sequence, like this: re> /\Bi(\w\w)/g @@ -405,24 +433,24 @@ DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM PCRETEST "No match" is output only if the first match attempt fails. - If any of the sequences \C, \G, or \L are present in a data line that - is successfully matched, the substrings extracted by the convenience + If any of the sequences \C, \G, or \L 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 paren- + (that is, the return from the extraction function) is given in paren- theses after each string for \C and \G. - Note that while patterns can be continued over several lines (a plain + Note that whereas patterns can be continued over several lines (a plain ">" prompt is used for continuations), data lines may not. However new- - lines can be included in data by means of the \n escape (or \r or \r\n - for those newline settings). + lines can be included in data by means of the \n escape (or \r, \r\n, + etc., depending on the newline sequence setting). OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION - When the alternative matching function, pcre_dfa_exec(), is used (by - means of the \D escape sequence or the -dfa command line option), the - output consists of a list of all the matches that start at the first + When the alternative matching function, pcre_dfa_exec(), is used (by + means of the \D escape sequence or the -dfa 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: re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/ @@ -431,11 +459,11 @@ OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION 1: tang 2: tan - (Using the normal matching function on this data finds only "tang".) - The longest matching string is always given first (and numbered zero). + (Using the normal matching function on this data finds only "tang".) + The longest matching string is always given first (and numbered zero). - If /gP is present on the pattern, the search for further matches - resumes at the end of the longest match. For example: + If /g is present on the pattern, the search for further matches resumes + at the end of the longest match. For example: re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/g data> yellow tangerine and tangy sultana\D @@ -446,16 +474,16 @@ OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION 1: tan 0: tan - Since the matching function does not support substring capture, the - escape sequences that are concerned with captured substrings are not + Since the matching function does not support substring capture, the + escape sequences that are concerned with captured substrings are not relevant. RESTARTING AFTER A PARTIAL MATCH 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 \R + return, indicating that the subject partially matched the pattern, you + can restart the match with additional subject data by means of the \R escape sequence. For example: re> /^?(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)$/ @@ -464,30 +492,30 @@ RESTARTING AFTER A PARTIAL MATCH data> n05\R\D 0: n05 - For further information about partial matching, see the pcrepartial + For further information about partial matching, see the pcrepartial documentation. CALLOUTS - If the pattern contains any callout requests, pcretest's callout func- - tion is called during matching. This works with both matching func- + If the pattern contains any callout requests, pcretest's callout func- + tion is called during matching. This works with both matching func- tions. By default, the called function displays the callout number, the - start and current positions in the text at the callout time, and the + start and current positions in the text at the callout time, and the next pattern item to be tested. For example, the output --->pqrabcdef 0 ^ ^ \d - 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 - \d. Just one circumflex is output if the start and current positions + 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 + \d. Just one circumflex is output if the start and current positions are the same. Callouts numbered 255 are assumed to be automatic callouts, inserted as - a result of the /C pattern modifier. In this case, instead of showing - the callout number, the offset in the pattern, preceded by a plus, is + a result of the /C pattern modifier. In this case, instead of showing + the callout number, the offset in the pattern, preceded by a plus, is output. For example: re> /\d?[A-E]\*/C @@ -499,76 +527,94 @@ CALLOUTS +10 ^ ^ 0: E* - The callout function in pcretest returns zero (carry on matching) by - default, but you can use a \C item in a data line (as described above) + The callout function in pcretest returns zero (carry on matching) by + default, but you can use a \C item in a data line (as described above) to change this. - Inserting callouts can be helpful when using pcretest to check compli- - cated regular expressions. For further information about callouts, see + Inserting callouts can be helpful when using pcretest to check compli- + cated regular expressions. For further information about callouts, see the pcrecallout documentation. +NON-PRINTING CHARACTERS + + When pcretest 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. + + When pcretest 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 /L modifier). In this case, the + isprint() function to distinguish printing and non-printing characters. + + SAVING AND RELOADING COMPILED PATTERNS - The facilities described in this section are not available when the + The facilities described in this section are not available when the POSIX inteface to PCRE is being used, that is, when the /P pattern mod- ifier is specified. When the POSIX interface is not in use, you can cause pcretest to write - a compiled pattern to a file, by following the modifiers with > and a + a compiled pattern to a file, by following the modifiers with > and a file name. For example: /pattern/im >/some/file - See the pcreprecompile documentation for a discussion about saving and + See the pcreprecompile documentation for a discussion about saving and re-using compiled patterns. - 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 + 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 sec- - ond length is zero. The lengths are followed by an exact copy of the + ond length is zero. The lengths are followed by an exact copy of the compiled pattern. If there is additional study data, this follows imme- - diately after the compiled pattern. After writing the file, pcretest + diately after the compiled pattern. After writing the file, pcretest expects to read a new pattern. A saved pattern can be reloaded into pcretest by specifing < and a file - name instead of a pattern. The name of the file must not contain a < - character, as otherwise pcretest will interpret the line as a pattern + name instead of a pattern. The name of the file must not contain a < + character, as otherwise pcretest will interpret the line as a pattern delimited by < characters. For example: re> </some/file Compiled regex loaded from /some/file No study data - When the pattern has been loaded, pcretest proceeds to read data lines + When the pattern has been loaded, pcretest proceeds to read data lines in the usual way. - You can copy a file written by pcretest 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 + You can copy a file written by pcretest 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. - 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 + 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. - The ability to save and reload files in pcretest is intended for test- - ing 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 pcretest to crash. Finally, if you attempt to load + The ability to save and reload files in pcretest is intended for test- + ing 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 pcretest to crash. Finally, if you attempt to load a file that is not in the correct format, the result is undefined. +SEE ALSO + + pcre(3), pcreapi(3), pcrecallout(3), pcrematching(3), pcrepartial(d), + pcrepattern(3), pcreprecompile(3). + + AUTHOR Philip Hazel University Computing Service, - Cambridge CB2 3QG, England. + Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. -Last updated: 29 June 2006 +Last updated: 30 November 2006 Copyright (c) 1997-2006 University of Cambridge. |