1: .TH PCRETEST 1 "12 November 2013" "PCRE 8.34"
2: .SH NAME
3: pcretest - a program for testing Perl-compatible regular expressions.
4: .SH SYNOPSIS
5: .rs
6: .sp
7: .B pcretest "[options] [input file [output file]]"
8: .sp
9: \fBpcretest\fP was written as a test program for the PCRE regular expression
10: library itself, but it can also be used for experimenting with regular
11: expressions. This document describes the features of the test program; for
12: details of the regular expressions themselves, see the
13: .\" HREF
14: \fBpcrepattern\fP
15: .\"
16: documentation. For details of the PCRE library function calls and their
17: options, see the
18: .\" HREF
19: \fBpcreapi\fP
20: .\"
21: ,
22: .\" HREF
23: \fBpcre16\fP
24: and
25: .\" HREF
26: \fBpcre32\fP
27: .\"
28: documentation.
29: .P
30: The input for \fBpcretest\fP is a sequence of regular expression patterns and
31: strings to be matched, as described below. The output shows the result of each
32: match. Options on the command line and the patterns control PCRE options and
33: exactly what is output.
34: .P
35: As PCRE has evolved, it has acquired many different features, and as a result,
36: \fBpcretest\fP now has rather a lot of obscure options for testing every
37: possible feature. Some of these options are specifically designed for use in
38: conjunction with the test script and data files that are distributed as part of
39: PCRE, and are unlikely to be of use otherwise. They are all documented here,
40: but without much justification.
41: .
42: .
43: .SH "INPUT DATA FORMAT"
44: .rs
45: .sp
46: Input to \fBpcretest\fP is processed line by line, either by calling the C
47: library's \fBfgets()\fP function, or via the \fBlibreadline\fP library (see
48: below). In Unix-like environments, \fBfgets()\fP treats any bytes other than
49: newline as data characters. However, in some Windows environments character 26
50: (hex 1A) causes an immediate end of file, and no further data is read. For
51: maximum portability, therefore, it is safest to use only ASCII characters in
52: \fBpcretest\fP input files.
53: .
54: .
55: .SH "PCRE's 8-BIT, 16-BIT AND 32-BIT LIBRARIES"
56: .rs
57: .sp
58: From release 8.30, two separate PCRE libraries can be built. The original one
59: supports 8-bit character strings, whereas the newer 16-bit library supports
60: character strings encoded in 16-bit units. From release 8.32, a third library
61: can be built, supporting character strings encoded in 32-bit units. The
62: \fBpcretest\fP program can be used to test all three libraries. However, it is
63: itself still an 8-bit program, reading 8-bit input and writing 8-bit output.
64: When testing the 16-bit or 32-bit library, the patterns and data strings are
65: converted to 16- or 32-bit format before being passed to the PCRE library
66: functions. Results are converted to 8-bit for output.
67: .P
68: References to functions and structures of the form \fBpcre[16|32]_xx\fP below
69: mean "\fBpcre_xx\fP when using the 8-bit library, \fBpcre16_xx\fP when using
70: the 16-bit library, or \fBpcre32_xx\fP when using the 32-bit library".
71: .
72: .
73: .SH "COMMAND LINE OPTIONS"
74: .rs
75: .TP 10
76: \fB-8\fP
77: If both the 8-bit library has been built, this option causes the 8-bit library
78: to be used (which is the default); if the 8-bit library has not been built,
79: this option causes an error.
80: .TP 10
81: \fB-16\fP
82: If both the 8-bit or the 32-bit, and the 16-bit libraries have been built, this
83: option causes the 16-bit library to be used. If only the 16-bit library has been
84: built, this is the default (so has no effect). If only the 8-bit or the 32-bit
85: library has been built, this option causes an error.
86: .TP 10
87: \fB-32\fP
88: If both the 8-bit or the 16-bit, and the 32-bit libraries have been built, this
89: option causes the 32-bit library to be used. If only the 32-bit library has been
90: built, this is the default (so has no effect). If only the 8-bit or the 16-bit
91: library has been built, this option causes an error.
92: .TP 10
93: \fB-b\fP
94: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/B\fP (show byte code) modifier; the
95: internal form is output after compilation.
96: .TP 10
97: \fB-C\fP
98: Output the version number of the PCRE library, and all available information
99: about the optional features that are included, and then exit with zero exit
100: code. All other options are ignored.
101: .TP 10
102: \fB-C\fP \fIoption\fP
103: Output information about a specific build-time option, then exit. This
104: functionality is intended for use in scripts such as \fBRunTest\fP. The
105: following options output the value and set the exit code as indicated:
106: .sp
107: ebcdic-nl the code for LF (= NL) in an EBCDIC environment:
108: 0x15 or 0x25
109: 0 if used in an ASCII environment
110: exit code is always 0
111: linksize the configured internal link size (2, 3, or 4)
112: exit code is set to the link size
113: newline the default newline setting:
114: CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY
115: exit code is always 0
116: .sp
117: The following options output 1 for true or 0 for false, and set the exit code
118: to the same value:
119: .sp
120: ebcdic compiled for an EBCDIC environment
121: jit just-in-time support is available
122: pcre16 the 16-bit library was built
123: pcre32 the 32-bit library was built
124: pcre8 the 8-bit library was built
125: ucp Unicode property support is available
126: utf UTF-8 and/or UTF-16 and/or UTF-32 support
127: is available
128: .sp
129: If an unknown option is given, an error message is output; the exit code is 0.
130: .TP 10
131: \fB-d\fP
132: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/D\fP (debug) modifier; the internal
133: form and information about the compiled pattern is output after compilation;
134: \fB-d\fP is equivalent to \fB-b -i\fP.
135: .TP 10
136: \fB-dfa\fP
137: Behave as if each data line contains the \eD escape sequence; this causes the
138: alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP, to be used instead
139: of the standard \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP function (more detail is given below).
140: .TP 10
141: \fB-help\fP
142: Output a brief summary these options and then exit.
143: .TP 10
144: \fB-i\fP
145: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/I\fP modifier; information about the
146: compiled pattern is given after compilation.
147: .TP 10
148: \fB-M\fP
149: Behave as if each data line contains the \eM escape sequence; this causes
150: PCRE to discover the minimum MATCH_LIMIT and MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION settings by
151: calling \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP repeatedly with different limits.
152: .TP 10
153: \fB-m\fP
154: Output the size of each compiled pattern after it has been compiled. This is
155: equivalent to adding \fB/M\fP to each regular expression. The size is given in
156: bytes for both libraries.
157: .TP 10
158: \fB-O\fP
159: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/O\fP modifier, that is disable
160: auto-possessification for all patterns.
161: .TP 10
162: \fB-o\fP \fIosize\fP
163: Set the number of elements in the output vector that is used when calling
164: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP to be \fIosize\fP. The
165: default value is 45, which is enough for 14 capturing subexpressions for
166: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or 22 different matches for
167: \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP.
168: The vector size can be changed for individual matching calls by including \eO
169: in the data line (see below).
170: .TP 10
171: \fB-p\fP
172: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/P\fP modifier; the POSIX wrapper API is
173: used to call PCRE. None of the other options has any effect when \fB-p\fP is
174: set. This option can be used only with the 8-bit library.
175: .TP 10
176: \fB-q\fP
177: Do not output the version number of \fBpcretest\fP at the start of execution.
178: .TP 10
179: \fB-S\fP \fIsize\fP
180: On Unix-like systems, set the size of the run-time stack to \fIsize\fP
181: megabytes.
182: .TP 10
183: \fB-s\fP or \fB-s+\fP
184: Behave as if each pattern has the \fB/S\fP modifier; in other words, force each
185: pattern to be studied. If \fB-s+\fP is used, all the JIT compile options are
186: passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP, causing just-in-time optimization to be set
187: up if it is available, for both full and partial matching. Specific JIT compile
188: options can be selected by following \fB-s+\fP with a digit in the range 1 to
189: 7, which selects the JIT compile modes as follows:
190: .sp
191: 1 normal match only
192: 2 soft partial match only
193: 3 normal match and soft partial match
194: 4 hard partial match only
195: 6 soft and hard partial match
196: 7 all three modes (default)
197: .sp
198: If \fB-s++\fP is used instead of \fB-s+\fP (with or without a following digit),
199: the text "(JIT)" is added to the first output line after a match or no match
200: when JIT-compiled code was actually used.
201: .sp
202: Note that there are pattern options that can override \fB-s\fP, either
203: specifying no studying at all, or suppressing JIT compilation.
204: .sp
205: If the \fB/I\fP or \fB/D\fP option is present on a pattern (requesting output
206: about the compiled pattern), information about the result of studying is not
207: included when studying is caused only by \fB-s\fP and neither \fB-i\fP nor
208: \fB-d\fP is present on the command line. This behaviour means that the output
209: from tests that are run with and without \fB-s\fP should be identical, except
210: when options that output information about the actual running of a match are
211: set.
212: .sp
213: The \fB-M\fP, \fB-t\fP, and \fB-tm\fP options, which give information about
214: resources used, are likely to produce different output with and without
215: \fB-s\fP. Output may also differ if the \fB/C\fP option is present on an
216: individual pattern. This uses callouts to trace the the matching process, and
217: this may be different between studied and non-studied patterns. If the pattern
218: contains (*MARK) items there may also be differences, for the same reason. The
219: \fB-s\fP command line option can be overridden for specific patterns that
220: should never be studied (see the \fB/S\fP pattern modifier below).
221: .TP 10
222: \fB-t\fP
223: Run each compile, study, and match many times with a timer, and output the
224: resulting times per compile, study, or match (in milliseconds). Do not set
225: \fB-m\fP with \fB-t\fP, because you will then get the size output a zillion
226: times, and the timing will be distorted. You can control the number of
227: iterations that are used for timing by following \fB-t\fP with a number (as a
228: separate item on the command line). For example, "-t 1000" iterates 1000 times.
229: The default is to iterate 500000 times.
230: .TP 10
231: \fB-tm\fP
232: This is like \fB-t\fP except that it times only the matching phase, not the
233: compile or study phases.
234: .TP 10
235: \fB-T\fP \fB-TM\fP
236: These behave like \fB-t\fP and \fB-tm\fP, but in addition, at the end of a run,
237: the total times for all compiles, studies, and matches are output.
238: .
239: .
240: .SH DESCRIPTION
241: .rs
242: .sp
243: If \fBpcretest\fP is given two filename arguments, it reads from the first and
244: writes to the second. If it is given only one filename argument, it reads from
245: that file and writes to stdout. Otherwise, it reads from stdin and writes to
246: stdout, and prompts for each line of input, using "re>" to prompt for regular
247: expressions, and "data>" to prompt for data lines.
248: .P
249: When \fBpcretest\fP is built, a configuration option can specify that it should
250: be linked with the \fBlibreadline\fP library. When this is done, if the input
251: is from a terminal, it is read using the \fBreadline()\fP function. This
252: provides line-editing and history facilities. The output from the \fB-help\fP
253: option states whether or not \fBreadline()\fP will be used.
254: .P
255: The program handles any number of sets of input on a single input file. Each
256: set starts with a regular expression, and continues with any number of data
257: lines to be matched against that pattern.
258: .P
259: Each data line is matched separately and independently. If you want to do
260: multi-line matches, you have to use the \en escape sequence (or \er or \er\en,
261: etc., depending on the newline setting) in a single line of input to encode the
262: newline sequences. There is no limit on the length of data lines; the input
263: buffer is automatically extended if it is too small.
264: .P
265: An empty line signals the end of the data lines, at which point a new regular
266: expression is read. The regular expressions are given enclosed in any
267: non-alphanumeric delimiters other than backslash, for example:
268: .sp
269: /(a|bc)x+yz/
270: .sp
271: White space before the initial delimiter is ignored. A regular expression may
272: be continued over several input lines, in which case the newline characters are
273: included within it. It is possible to include the delimiter within the pattern
274: by escaping it, for example
275: .sp
276: /abc\e/def/
277: .sp
278: If you do so, the escape and the delimiter form part of the pattern, but since
279: delimiters are always non-alphanumeric, this does not affect its interpretation.
280: If the terminating delimiter is immediately followed by a backslash, for
281: example,
282: .sp
283: /abc/\e
284: .sp
285: then a backslash is added to the end of the pattern. This is done to provide a
286: way of testing the error condition that arises if a pattern finishes with a
287: backslash, because
288: .sp
289: /abc\e/
290: .sp
291: is interpreted as the first line of a pattern that starts with "abc/", causing
292: pcretest to read the next line as a continuation of the regular expression.
293: .
294: .
295: .SH "PATTERN MODIFIERS"
296: .rs
297: .sp
298: A pattern may be followed by any number of modifiers, which are mostly single
299: characters, though some of these can be qualified by further characters.
300: Following Perl usage, these are referred to below as, for example, "the
301: \fB/i\fP modifier", even though the delimiter of the pattern need not always be
302: a slash, and no slash is used when writing modifiers. White space may appear
303: between the final pattern delimiter and the first modifier, and between the
304: modifiers themselves. For reference, here is a complete list of modifiers. They
305: fall into several groups that are described in detail in the following
306: sections.
307: .sp
308: \fB/8\fP set UTF mode
309: \fB/9\fP set PCRE_NEVER_UTF (locks out UTF mode)
310: \fB/?\fP disable UTF validity check
311: \fB/+\fP show remainder of subject after match
312: \fB/=\fP show all captures (not just those that are set)
313: .sp
314: \fB/A\fP set PCRE_ANCHORED
315: \fB/B\fP show compiled code
316: \fB/C\fP set PCRE_AUTO_CALLOUT
317: \fB/D\fP same as \fB/B\fP plus \fB/I\fP
318: \fB/E\fP set PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
319: \fB/F\fP flip byte order in compiled pattern
320: \fB/f\fP set PCRE_FIRSTLINE
321: \fB/G\fP find all matches (shorten string)
322: \fB/g\fP find all matches (use startoffset)
323: \fB/I\fP show information about pattern
324: \fB/i\fP set PCRE_CASELESS
325: \fB/J\fP set PCRE_DUPNAMES
326: \fB/K\fP show backtracking control names
327: \fB/L\fP set locale
328: \fB/M\fP show compiled memory size
329: \fB/m\fP set PCRE_MULTILINE
330: \fB/N\fP set PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
331: \fB/O\fP set PCRE_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
332: \fB/P\fP use the POSIX wrapper
333: \fB/S\fP study the pattern after compilation
334: \fB/s\fP set PCRE_DOTALL
335: \fB/T\fP select character tables
336: \fB/U\fP set PCRE_UNGREEDY
337: \fB/W\fP set PCRE_UCP
338: \fB/X\fP set PCRE_EXTRA
339: \fB/x\fP set PCRE_EXTENDED
340: \fB/Y\fP set PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
341: \fB/Z\fP don't show lengths in \fB/B\fP output
342: .sp
343: \fB/<any>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY
344: \fB/<anycrlf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF
345: \fB/<cr>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_CR
346: \fB/<crlf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF
347: \fB/<lf>\fP set PCRE_NEWLINE_LF
348: \fB/<bsr_anycrlf>\fP set PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF
349: \fB/<bsr_unicode>\fP set PCRE_BSR_UNICODE
350: \fB/<JS>\fP set PCRE_JAVASCRIPT_COMPAT
351: .sp
352: .
353: .
354: .SS "Perl-compatible modifiers"
355: .rs
356: .sp
357: The \fB/i\fP, \fB/m\fP, \fB/s\fP, and \fB/x\fP modifiers set the PCRE_CASELESS,
358: PCRE_MULTILINE, PCRE_DOTALL, or PCRE_EXTENDED options, respectively, when
359: \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP is called. These four modifier letters have the same
360: effect as they do in Perl. For example:
361: .sp
362: /caseless/i
363: .sp
364: .
365: .
366: .SS "Modifiers for other PCRE options"
367: .rs
368: .sp
369: The following table shows additional modifiers for setting PCRE compile-time
370: options that do not correspond to anything in Perl:
371: .sp
372: \fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF8 ) when using the 8-bit
373: \fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK ) library
374: .sp
375: \fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF16 ) when using the 16-bit
376: \fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF16_CHECK ) library
377: .sp
378: \fB/8\fP PCRE_UTF32 ) when using the 32-bit
379: \fB/?\fP PCRE_NO_UTF32_CHECK ) library
380: .sp
381: \fB/9\fP PCRE_NEVER_UTF
382: \fB/A\fP PCRE_ANCHORED
383: \fB/C\fP PCRE_AUTO_CALLOUT
384: \fB/E\fP PCRE_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
385: \fB/f\fP PCRE_FIRSTLINE
386: \fB/J\fP PCRE_DUPNAMES
387: \fB/N\fP PCRE_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
388: \fB/O\fP PCRE_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
389: \fB/U\fP PCRE_UNGREEDY
390: \fB/W\fP PCRE_UCP
391: \fB/X\fP PCRE_EXTRA
392: \fB/Y\fP PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
393: \fB/<any>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY
394: \fB/<anycrlf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF
395: \fB/<cr>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_CR
396: \fB/<crlf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF
397: \fB/<lf>\fP PCRE_NEWLINE_LF
398: \fB/<bsr_anycrlf>\fP PCRE_BSR_ANYCRLF
399: \fB/<bsr_unicode>\fP PCRE_BSR_UNICODE
400: \fB/<JS>\fP PCRE_JAVASCRIPT_COMPAT
401: .sp
402: The modifiers that are enclosed in angle brackets are literal strings as shown,
403: including the angle brackets, but the letters within can be in either case.
404: This example sets multiline matching with CRLF as the line ending sequence:
405: .sp
406: /^abc/m<CRLF>
407: .sp
408: As well as turning on the PCRE_UTF8/16/32 option, the \fB/8\fP modifier causes
409: all non-printing characters in output strings to be printed using the
410: \ex{hh...} notation. Otherwise, those less than 0x100 are output in hex without
411: the curly brackets.
412: .P
413: Full details of the PCRE options are given in the
414: .\" HREF
415: \fBpcreapi\fP
416: .\"
417: documentation.
418: .
419: .
420: .SS "Finding all matches in a string"
421: .rs
422: .sp
423: Searching for all possible matches within each subject string can be requested
424: by the \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP modifier. After finding a match, PCRE is called
425: again to search the remainder of the subject string. The difference between
426: \fB/g\fP and \fB/G\fP is that the former uses the \fIstartoffset\fP argument to
427: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to start searching at a new point within the entire
428: string (which is in effect what Perl does), whereas the latter passes over a
429: shortened substring. This makes a difference to the matching process if the
430: pattern begins with a lookbehind assertion (including \eb or \eB).
431: .P
432: If any call to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP in a \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP sequence matches
433: an empty string, the next call is done with the PCRE_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART and
434: PCRE_ANCHORED flags set in order to search for another, non-empty, match at the
435: same point. If this second match fails, the start offset is advanced, and the
436: normal match is retried. This imitates the way Perl handles such cases when
437: using the \fB/g\fP modifier or the \fBsplit()\fP function. Normally, the start
438: offset is advanced by one character, but if the newline convention recognizes
439: CRLF as a newline, and the current character is CR followed by LF, an advance
440: of two is used.
441: .
442: .
443: .SS "Other modifiers"
444: .rs
445: .sp
446: There are yet more modifiers for controlling the way \fBpcretest\fP
447: operates.
448: .P
449: The \fB/+\fP modifier requests that as well as outputting the substring that
450: matched the entire pattern, \fBpcretest\fP should in addition output the
451: remainder of the subject string. This is useful for tests where the subject
452: contains multiple copies of the same substring. If the \fB+\fP modifier appears
453: twice, the same action is taken for captured substrings. In each case the
454: remainder is output on the following line with a plus character following the
455: capture number. Note that this modifier must not immediately follow the /S
456: modifier because /S+ and /S++ have other meanings.
457: .P
458: The \fB/=\fP modifier requests that the values of all potential captured
459: parentheses be output after a match. By default, only those up to the highest
460: one actually used in the match are output (corresponding to the return code
461: from \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP). Values in the offsets vector corresponding to
462: higher numbers should be set to -1, and these are output as "<unset>". This
463: modifier gives a way of checking that this is happening.
464: .P
465: The \fB/B\fP modifier is a debugging feature. It requests that \fBpcretest\fP
466: output a representation of the compiled code after compilation. Normally this
467: information contains length and offset values; however, if \fB/Z\fP is also
468: present, this data is replaced by spaces. This is a special feature for use in
469: the automatic test scripts; it ensures that the same output is generated for
470: different internal link sizes.
471: .P
472: The \fB/D\fP modifier is a PCRE debugging feature, and is equivalent to
473: \fB/BI\fP, that is, both the \fB/B\fP and the \fB/I\fP modifiers.
474: .P
475: The \fB/F\fP modifier causes \fBpcretest\fP to flip the byte order of the
476: 2-byte and 4-byte fields in the compiled pattern. This facility is for testing
477: the feature in PCRE that allows it to execute patterns that were compiled on a
478: host with a different endianness. This feature is not available when the POSIX
479: interface to PCRE is being used, that is, when the \fB/P\fP pattern modifier is
480: specified. See also the section about saving and reloading compiled patterns
481: below.
482: .P
483: The \fB/I\fP modifier requests that \fBpcretest\fP output information about the
484: compiled pattern (whether it is anchored, has a fixed first character, and
485: so on). It does this by calling \fBpcre[16|32]_fullinfo()\fP after compiling a
486: pattern. If the pattern is studied, the results of that are also output.
487: .P
488: The \fB/K\fP modifier requests \fBpcretest\fP to show names from backtracking
489: control verbs that are returned from calls to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP. It causes
490: \fBpcretest\fP to create a \fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP block if one has not already
491: been created by a call to \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP, and to set the
492: PCRE_EXTRA_MARK flag and the \fBmark\fP field within it, every time that
493: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP is called. If the variable that the \fBmark\fP field
494: points to is non-NULL for a match, non-match, or partial match, \fBpcretest\fP
495: prints the string to which it points. For a match, this is shown on a line by
496: itself, tagged with "MK:". For a non-match it is added to the message.
497: .P
498: The \fB/L\fP modifier must be followed directly by the name of a locale, for
499: example,
500: .sp
501: /pattern/Lfr_FR
502: .sp
503: For this reason, it must be the last modifier. The given locale is set,
504: \fBpcre[16|32]_maketables()\fP is called to build a set of character tables for
505: the locale, and this is then passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP when compiling
506: the regular expression. Without an \fB/L\fP (or \fB/T\fP) modifier, NULL is
507: passed as the tables pointer; that is, \fB/L\fP applies only to the expression
508: on which it appears.
509: .P
510: The \fB/M\fP modifier causes the size in bytes of the memory block used to hold
511: the compiled pattern to be output. This does not include the size of the
512: \fBpcre[16|32]\fP block; it is just the actual compiled data. If the pattern is
513: successfully studied with the PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE option, the size of the
514: JIT compiled code is also output.
515: .P
516: The \fB/S\fP modifier causes \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP to be called after the
517: expression has been compiled, and the results used when the expression is
518: matched. There are a number of qualifying characters that may follow \fB/S\fP.
519: They may appear in any order.
520: .P
521: If \fB/S\fP is followed by an exclamation mark, \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP is
522: called with the PCRE_STUDY_EXTRA_NEEDED option, causing it always to return a
523: \fBpcre_extra\fP block, even when studying discovers no useful information.
524: .P
525: If \fB/S\fP is followed by a second S character, it suppresses studying, even
526: if it was requested externally by the \fB-s\fP command line option. This makes
527: it possible to specify that certain patterns are always studied, and others are
528: never studied, independently of \fB-s\fP. This feature is used in the test
529: files in a few cases where the output is different when the pattern is studied.
530: .P
531: If the \fB/S\fP modifier is followed by a + character, the call to
532: \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP is made with all the JIT study options, requesting
533: just-in-time optimization support if it is available, for both normal and
534: partial matching. If you want to restrict the JIT compiling modes, you can
535: follow \fB/S+\fP with a digit in the range 1 to 7:
536: .sp
537: 1 normal match only
538: 2 soft partial match only
539: 3 normal match and soft partial match
540: 4 hard partial match only
541: 6 soft and hard partial match
542: 7 all three modes (default)
543: .sp
544: If \fB/S++\fP is used instead of \fB/S+\fP (with or without a following digit),
545: the text "(JIT)" is added to the first output line after a match or no match
546: when JIT-compiled code was actually used.
547: .P
548: Note that there is also an independent \fB/+\fP modifier; it must not be given
549: immediately after \fB/S\fP or \fB/S+\fP because this will be misinterpreted.
550: .P
551: If JIT studying is successful, the compiled JIT code will automatically be used
552: when \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP is run, except when incompatible run-time options
553: are specified. For more details, see the
554: .\" HREF
555: \fBpcrejit\fP
556: .\"
557: documentation. See also the \fB\eJ\fP escape sequence below for a way of
558: setting the size of the JIT stack.
559: .P
560: Finally, if \fB/S\fP is followed by a minus character, JIT compilation is
561: suppressed, even if it was requested externally by the \fB-s\fP command line
562: option. This makes it possible to specify that JIT is never to be used for
563: certain patterns.
564: .P
565: The \fB/T\fP modifier must be followed by a single digit. It causes a specific
566: set of built-in character tables to be passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP. It
567: is used in the standard PCRE tests to check behaviour with different character
568: tables. The digit specifies the tables as follows:
569: .sp
570: 0 the default ASCII tables, as distributed in
571: pcre_chartables.c.dist
572: 1 a set of tables defining ISO 8859 characters
573: .sp
574: In table 1, some characters whose codes are greater than 128 are identified as
575: letters, digits, spaces, etc.
576: .
577: .
578: .SS "Using the POSIX wrapper API"
579: .rs
580: .sp
581: The \fB/P\fP modifier causes \fBpcretest\fP to call PCRE via the POSIX wrapper
582: API rather than its native API. This supports only the 8-bit library. When
583: \fB/P\fP is set, the following modifiers set options for the \fBregcomp()\fP
584: function:
585: .sp
586: /i REG_ICASE
587: /m REG_NEWLINE
588: /N REG_NOSUB
589: /s REG_DOTALL )
590: /U REG_UNGREEDY ) These options are not part of
591: /W REG_UCP ) the POSIX standard
592: /8 REG_UTF8 )
593: .sp
594: The \fB/+\fP modifier works as described above. All other modifiers are
595: ignored.
596: .
597: .
598: .SS "Locking out certain modifiers"
599: .rs
600: .sp
601: PCRE can be compiled with or without support for certain features such as
602: UTF-8/16/32 or Unicode properties. Accordingly, the standard tests are split up
603: into a number of different files that are selected for running depending on
604: which features are available. When updating the tests, it is all too easy to
605: put a new test into the wrong file by mistake; for example, to put a test that
606: requires UTF support into a file that is used when it is not available. To help
607: detect such mistakes as early as possible, there is a facility for locking out
608: specific modifiers. If an input line for \fBpcretest\fP starts with the string
609: "< forbid " the following sequence of characters is taken as a list of
610: forbidden modifiers. For example, in the test files that must not use UTF or
611: Unicode property support, this line appears:
612: .sp
613: < forbid 8W
614: .sp
615: This locks out the /8 and /W modifiers. An immediate error is given if they are
616: subsequently encountered. If the character string contains < but not >, all the
617: multi-character modifiers that begin with < are locked out. Otherwise, such
618: modifiers must be explicitly listed, for example:
619: .sp
620: < forbid <JS><cr>
621: .sp
622: There must be a single space between < and "forbid" for this feature to be
623: recognised. If there is not, the line is interpreted either as a request to
624: re-load a pre-compiled pattern (see "SAVING AND RELOADING COMPILED PATTERNS"
625: below) or, if there is a another < character, as a pattern that uses < as its
626: delimiter.
627: .
628: .
629: .SH "DATA LINES"
630: .rs
631: .sp
632: Before each data line is passed to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, leading and trailing
633: white space is removed, and it is then scanned for \e escapes. Some of these
634: are pretty esoteric features, intended for checking out some of the more
635: complicated features of PCRE. If you are just testing "ordinary" regular
636: expressions, you probably don't need any of these. The following escapes are
637: recognized:
638: .sp
639: \ea alarm (BEL, \ex07)
640: \eb backspace (\ex08)
641: \ee escape (\ex27)
642: \ef form feed (\ex0c)
643: \en newline (\ex0a)
644: .\" JOIN
645: \eqdd set the PCRE_MATCH_LIMIT limit to dd
646: (any number of digits)
647: \er carriage return (\ex0d)
648: \et tab (\ex09)
649: \ev vertical tab (\ex0b)
650: \ennn octal character (up to 3 octal digits); always
651: a byte unless > 255 in UTF-8 or 16-bit or 32-bit mode
652: \eo{dd...} octal character (any number of octal digits}
653: \exhh hexadecimal byte (up to 2 hex digits)
654: \ex{hh...} hexadecimal character (any number of hex digits)
655: .\" JOIN
656: \eA pass the PCRE_ANCHORED option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
657: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
658: .\" JOIN
659: \eB pass the PCRE_NOTBOL option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
660: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
661: .\" JOIN
662: \eCdd call pcre[16|32]_copy_substring() for substring dd
663: after a successful match (number less than 32)
664: .\" JOIN
665: \eCname call pcre[16|32]_copy_named_substring() for substring
666: "name" after a successful match (name termin-
667: ated by next non alphanumeric character)
668: .\" JOIN
669: \eC+ show the current captured substrings at callout
670: time
671: \eC- do not supply a callout function
672: .\" JOIN
673: \eC!n return 1 instead of 0 when callout number n is
674: reached
675: .\" JOIN
676: \eC!n!m return 1 instead of 0 when callout number n is
677: reached for the nth time
678: .\" JOIN
679: \eC*n pass the number n (may be negative) as callout
680: data; this is used as the callout return value
681: \eD use the \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP match function
682: \eF only shortest match for \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
683: .\" JOIN
684: \eGdd call pcre[16|32]_get_substring() for substring dd
685: after a successful match (number less than 32)
686: .\" JOIN
687: \eGname call pcre[16|32]_get_named_substring() for substring
688: "name" after a successful match (name termin-
689: ated by next non-alphanumeric character)
690: .\" JOIN
691: \eJdd set up a JIT stack of dd kilobytes maximum (any
692: number of digits)
693: .\" JOIN
694: \eL call pcre[16|32]_get_substringlist() after a
695: successful match
696: .\" JOIN
697: \eM discover the minimum MATCH_LIMIT and
698: MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION settings
699: .\" JOIN
700: \eN pass the PCRE_NOTEMPTY option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
701: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP; if used twice, pass the
702: PCRE_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART option
703: .\" JOIN
704: \eOdd set the size of the output vector passed to
705: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to dd (any number of digits)
706: .\" JOIN
707: \eP pass the PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
708: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP; if used twice, pass the
709: PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD option
710: .\" JOIN
711: \eQdd set the PCRE_MATCH_LIMIT_RECURSION limit to dd
712: (any number of digits)
713: \eR pass the PCRE_DFA_RESTART option to \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
714: \eS output details of memory get/free calls during matching
715: .\" JOIN
716: \eY pass the PCRE_NO_START_OPTIMIZE option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
717: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
718: .\" JOIN
719: \eZ pass the PCRE_NOTEOL option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
720: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
721: .\" JOIN
722: \e? pass the PCRE_NO_UTF[8|16|32]_CHECK option to
723: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
724: .\" JOIN
725: \e>dd start the match at offset dd (optional "-"; then
726: any number of digits); this sets the \fIstartoffset\fP
727: argument for \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
728: .\" JOIN
729: \e<cr> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_CR option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
730: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
731: .\" JOIN
732: \e<lf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_LF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
733: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
734: .\" JOIN
735: \e<crlf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_CRLF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
736: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
737: .\" JOIN
738: \e<anycrlf> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_ANYCRLF option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
739: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
740: .\" JOIN
741: \e<any> pass the PCRE_NEWLINE_ANY option to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP
742: or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP
743: .sp
744: The use of \ex{hh...} is not dependent on the use of the \fB/8\fP modifier on
745: the pattern. It is recognized always. There may be any number of hexadecimal
746: digits inside the braces; invalid values provoke error messages.
747: .P
748: Note that \exhh specifies one byte rather than one character in UTF-8 mode;
749: this makes it possible to construct invalid UTF-8 sequences for testing
750: purposes. On the other hand, \ex{hh} is interpreted as a UTF-8 character in
751: UTF-8 mode, generating more than one byte if the value is greater than 127.
752: When testing the 8-bit library not in UTF-8 mode, \ex{hh} generates one byte
753: for values less than 256, and causes an error for greater values.
754: .P
755: In UTF-16 mode, all 4-digit \ex{hhhh} values are accepted. This makes it
756: possible to construct invalid UTF-16 sequences for testing purposes.
757: .P
758: In UTF-32 mode, all 4- to 8-digit \ex{...} values are accepted. This makes it
759: possible to construct invalid UTF-32 sequences for testing purposes.
760: .P
761: The escapes that specify line ending sequences are literal strings, exactly as
762: shown. No more than one newline setting should be present in any data line.
763: .P
764: A backslash followed by anything else just escapes the anything else. If
765: the very last character is a backslash, it is ignored. This gives a way of
766: passing an empty line as data, since a real empty line terminates the data
767: input.
768: .P
769: The \fB\eJ\fP escape provides a way of setting the maximum stack size that is
770: used by the just-in-time optimization code. It is ignored if JIT optimization
771: is not being used. Providing a stack that is larger than the default 32K is
772: necessary only for very complicated patterns.
773: .P
774: If \eM is present, \fBpcretest\fP calls \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP several times,
775: with different values in the \fImatch_limit\fP and \fImatch_limit_recursion\fP
776: fields of the \fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP data structure, until it finds the minimum
777: numbers for each parameter that allow \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to complete without
778: error. Because this is testing a specific feature of the normal interpretive
779: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP execution, the use of any JIT optimization that might
780: have been set up by the \fB/S+\fP qualifier of \fB-s+\fP option is disabled.
781: .P
782: The \fImatch_limit\fP number is a measure of the amount of backtracking
783: that takes place, and checking it out can be instructive. For most simple
784: matches, the number is quite small, but for patterns with very large numbers of
785: matching possibilities, it can become large very quickly with increasing length
786: of subject string. The \fImatch_limit_recursion\fP number is a measure of how
787: much stack (or, if PCRE is compiled with NO_RECURSE, how much heap) memory is
788: needed to complete the match attempt.
789: .P
790: When \eO is used, the value specified may be higher or lower than the size set
791: by the \fB-O\fP command line option (or defaulted to 45); \eO applies only to
792: the call of \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP for the line in which it appears.
793: .P
794: If the \fB/P\fP modifier was present on the pattern, causing the POSIX wrapper
795: API to be used, the only option-setting sequences that have any effect are \eB,
796: \eN, and \eZ, causing REG_NOTBOL, REG_NOTEMPTY, and REG_NOTEOL, respectively,
797: to be passed to \fBregexec()\fP.
798: .
799: .
800: .SH "THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION"
801: .rs
802: .sp
803: By default, \fBpcretest\fP uses the standard PCRE matching function,
804: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP to match each data line. PCRE also supports an
805: alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_test()\fP, which operates in a
806: different way, and has some restrictions. The differences between the two
807: functions are described in the
808: .\" HREF
809: \fBpcrematching\fP
810: .\"
811: documentation.
812: .P
813: If a data line contains the \eD escape sequence, or if the command line
814: contains the \fB-dfa\fP option, the alternative matching function is used.
815: This function finds all possible matches at a given point. If, however, the \eF
816: escape sequence is present in the data line, it stops after the first match is
817: found. This is always the shortest possible match.
818: .
819: .
820: .SH "DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM PCRETEST"
821: .rs
822: .sp
823: This section describes the output when the normal matching function,
824: \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, is being used.
825: .P
826: When a match succeeds, \fBpcretest\fP outputs the list of captured substrings
827: that \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP returns, starting with number 0 for the string that
828: matched the whole pattern. Otherwise, it outputs "No match" when the return is
829: PCRE_ERROR_NOMATCH, and "Partial match:" followed by the partially matching
830: substring when \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP returns PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL. (Note that
831: this is the entire substring that was inspected during the partial match; it
832: may include characters before the actual match start if a lookbehind assertion,
833: \eK, \eb, or \eB was involved.) For any other return, \fBpcretest\fP outputs
834: the PCRE negative error number and a short descriptive phrase. If the error is
835: a failed UTF string check, the offset of the start of the failing character and
836: the reason code are also output, provided that the size of the output vector is
837: at least two. Here is an example of an interactive \fBpcretest\fP run.
838: .sp
839: $ pcretest
840: PCRE version 8.13 2011-04-30
841: .sp
842: re> /^abc(\ed+)/
843: data> abc123
844: 0: abc123
845: 1: 123
846: data> xyz
847: No match
848: .sp
849: Unset capturing substrings that are not followed by one that is set are not
850: returned by \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP, and are not shown by \fBpcretest\fP. In the
851: following example, there are two capturing substrings, but when the first data
852: line is matched, the second, unset substring is not shown. An "internal" unset
853: substring is shown as "<unset>", as for the second data line.
854: .sp
855: re> /(a)|(b)/
856: data> a
857: 0: a
858: 1: a
859: data> b
860: 0: b
861: 1: <unset>
862: 2: b
863: .sp
864: If the strings contain any non-printing characters, they are output as \exhh
865: escapes if the value is less than 256 and UTF mode is not set. Otherwise they
866: are output as \ex{hh...} escapes. See below for the definition of non-printing
867: characters. If the pattern has the \fB/+\fP modifier, the output for substring
868: 0 is followed by the the rest of the subject string, identified by "0+" like
869: this:
870: .sp
871: re> /cat/+
872: data> cataract
873: 0: cat
874: 0+ aract
875: .sp
876: If the pattern has the \fB/g\fP or \fB/G\fP modifier, the results of successive
877: matching attempts are output in sequence, like this:
878: .sp
879: re> /\eBi(\ew\ew)/g
880: data> Mississippi
881: 0: iss
882: 1: ss
883: 0: iss
884: 1: ss
885: 0: ipp
886: 1: pp
887: .sp
888: "No match" is output only if the first match attempt fails. Here is an example
889: of a failure message (the offset 4 that is specified by \e>4 is past the end of
890: the subject string):
891: .sp
892: re> /xyz/
893: data> xyz\e>4
894: Error -24 (bad offset value)
895: .P
896: If any of the sequences \fB\eC\fP, \fB\eG\fP, or \fB\eL\fP are present in a
897: data line that is successfully matched, the substrings extracted by the
898: convenience functions are output with C, G, or L after the string number
899: instead of a colon. This is in addition to the normal full list. The string
900: length (that is, the return from the extraction function) is given in
901: parentheses after each string for \fB\eC\fP and \fB\eG\fP.
902: .P
903: Note that whereas patterns can be continued over several lines (a plain ">"
904: prompt is used for continuations), data lines may not. However newlines can be
905: included in data by means of the \en escape (or \er, \er\en, etc., depending on
906: the newline sequence setting).
907: .
908: .
909: .
910: .SH "OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION"
911: .rs
912: .sp
913: When the alternative matching function, \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP, is used (by
914: means of the \eD escape sequence or the \fB-dfa\fP command line option), the
915: output consists of a list of all the matches that start at the first point in
916: the subject where there is at least one match. For example:
917: .sp
918: re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/
919: data> yellow tangerine\eD
920: 0: tangerine
921: 1: tang
922: 2: tan
923: .sp
924: (Using the normal matching function on this data finds only "tang".) The
925: longest matching string is always given first (and numbered zero). After a
926: PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL return, the output is "Partial match:", followed by the
927: partially matching substring. (Note that this is the entire substring that was
928: inspected during the partial match; it may include characters before the actual
929: match start if a lookbehind assertion, \eK, \eb, or \eB was involved.)
930: .P
931: If \fB/g\fP is present on the pattern, the search for further matches resumes
932: at the end of the longest match. For example:
933: .sp
934: re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/g
935: data> yellow tangerine and tangy sultana\eD
936: 0: tangerine
937: 1: tang
938: 2: tan
939: 0: tang
940: 1: tan
941: 0: tan
942: .sp
943: Since the matching function does not support substring capture, the escape
944: sequences that are concerned with captured substrings are not relevant.
945: .
946: .
947: .SH "RESTARTING AFTER A PARTIAL MATCH"
948: .rs
949: .sp
950: When the alternative matching function has given the PCRE_ERROR_PARTIAL return,
951: indicating that the subject partially matched the pattern, you can restart the
952: match with additional subject data by means of the \eR escape sequence. For
953: example:
954: .sp
955: re> /^\ed?\ed(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\ed\ed$/
956: data> 23ja\eP\eD
957: Partial match: 23ja
958: data> n05\eR\eD
959: 0: n05
960: .sp
961: For further information about partial matching, see the
962: .\" HREF
963: \fBpcrepartial\fP
964: .\"
965: documentation.
966: .
967: .
968: .SH CALLOUTS
969: .rs
970: .sp
971: If the pattern contains any callout requests, \fBpcretest\fP's callout function
972: is called during matching. This works with both matching functions. By default,
973: the called function displays the callout number, the start and current
974: positions in the text at the callout time, and the next pattern item to be
975: tested. For example:
976: .sp
977: --->pqrabcdef
978: 0 ^ ^ \ed
979: .sp
980: This output indicates that callout number 0 occurred for a match attempt
981: starting at the fourth character of the subject string, when the pointer was at
982: the seventh character of the data, and when the next pattern item was \ed. Just
983: one circumflex is output if the start and current positions are the same.
984: .P
985: Callouts numbered 255 are assumed to be automatic callouts, inserted as a
986: result of the \fB/C\fP pattern modifier. In this case, instead of showing the
987: callout number, the offset in the pattern, preceded by a plus, is output. For
988: example:
989: .sp
990: re> /\ed?[A-E]\e*/C
991: data> E*
992: --->E*
993: +0 ^ \ed?
994: +3 ^ [A-E]
995: +8 ^^ \e*
996: +10 ^ ^
997: 0: E*
998: .sp
999: If a pattern contains (*MARK) items, an additional line is output whenever
1000: a change of latest mark is passed to the callout function. For example:
1001: .sp
1002: re> /a(*MARK:X)bc/C
1003: data> abc
1004: --->abc
1005: +0 ^ a
1006: +1 ^^ (*MARK:X)
1007: +10 ^^ b
1008: Latest Mark: X
1009: +11 ^ ^ c
1010: +12 ^ ^
1011: 0: abc
1012: .sp
1013: The mark changes between matching "a" and "b", but stays the same for the rest
1014: of the match, so nothing more is output. If, as a result of backtracking, the
1015: mark reverts to being unset, the text "<unset>" is output.
1016: .P
1017: The callout function in \fBpcretest\fP returns zero (carry on matching) by
1018: default, but you can use a \eC item in a data line (as described above) to
1019: change this and other parameters of the callout.
1020: .P
1021: Inserting callouts can be helpful when using \fBpcretest\fP to check
1022: complicated regular expressions. For further information about callouts, see
1023: the
1024: .\" HREF
1025: \fBpcrecallout\fP
1026: .\"
1027: documentation.
1028: .
1029: .
1030: .
1031: .SH "NON-PRINTING CHARACTERS"
1032: .rs
1033: .sp
1034: When \fBpcretest\fP is outputting text in the compiled version of a pattern,
1035: bytes other than 32-126 are always treated as non-printing characters are are
1036: therefore shown as hex escapes.
1037: .P
1038: When \fBpcretest\fP is outputting text that is a matched part of a subject
1039: string, it behaves in the same way, unless a different locale has been set for
1040: the pattern (using the \fB/L\fP modifier). In this case, the \fBisprint()\fP
1041: function to distinguish printing and non-printing characters.
1042: .
1043: .
1044: .
1045: .SH "SAVING AND RELOADING COMPILED PATTERNS"
1046: .rs
1047: .sp
1048: The facilities described in this section are not available when the POSIX
1049: interface to PCRE is being used, that is, when the \fB/P\fP pattern modifier is
1050: specified.
1051: .P
1052: When the POSIX interface is not in use, you can cause \fBpcretest\fP to write a
1053: compiled pattern to a file, by following the modifiers with > and a file name.
1054: For example:
1055: .sp
1056: /pattern/im >/some/file
1057: .sp
1058: See the
1059: .\" HREF
1060: \fBpcreprecompile\fP
1061: .\"
1062: documentation for a discussion about saving and re-using compiled patterns.
1063: Note that if the pattern was successfully studied with JIT optimization, the
1064: JIT data cannot be saved.
1065: .P
1066: The data that is written is binary. The first eight bytes are the length of the
1067: compiled pattern data followed by the length of the optional study data, each
1068: written as four bytes in big-endian order (most significant byte first). If
1069: there is no study data (either the pattern was not studied, or studying did not
1070: return any data), the second length is zero. The lengths are followed by an
1071: exact copy of the compiled pattern. If there is additional study data, this
1072: (excluding any JIT data) follows immediately after the compiled pattern. After
1073: writing the file, \fBpcretest\fP expects to read a new pattern.
1074: .P
1075: A saved pattern can be reloaded into \fBpcretest\fP by specifying < and a file
1076: name instead of a pattern. There must be no space between < and the file name,
1077: which must not contain a < character, as otherwise \fBpcretest\fP will
1078: interpret the line as a pattern delimited by < characters. For example:
1079: .sp
1080: re> </some/file
1081: Compiled pattern loaded from /some/file
1082: No study data
1083: .sp
1084: If the pattern was previously studied with the JIT optimization, the JIT
1085: information cannot be saved and restored, and so is lost. When the pattern has
1086: been loaded, \fBpcretest\fP proceeds to read data lines in the usual way.
1087: .P
1088: You can copy a file written by \fBpcretest\fP to a different host and reload it
1089: there, even if the new host has opposite endianness to the one on which the
1090: pattern was compiled. For example, you can compile on an i86 machine and run on
1091: a SPARC machine. When a pattern is reloaded on a host with different
1092: endianness, the confirmation message is changed to:
1093: .sp
1094: Compiled pattern (byte-inverted) loaded from /some/file
1095: .sp
1096: The test suite contains some saved pre-compiled patterns with different
1097: endianness. These are reloaded using "<!" instead of just "<". This suppresses
1098: the "(byte-inverted)" text so that the output is the same on all hosts. It also
1099: forces debugging output once the pattern has been reloaded.
1100: .P
1101: File names for saving and reloading can be absolute or relative, but note that
1102: the shell facility of expanding a file name that starts with a tilde (~) is not
1103: available.
1104: .P
1105: The ability to save and reload files in \fBpcretest\fP is intended for testing
1106: and experimentation. It is not intended for production use because only a
1107: single pattern can be written to a file. Furthermore, there is no facility for
1108: supplying custom character tables for use with a reloaded pattern. If the
1109: original pattern was compiled with custom tables, an attempt to match a subject
1110: string using a reloaded pattern is likely to cause \fBpcretest\fP to crash.
1111: Finally, if you attempt to load a file that is not in the correct format, the
1112: result is undefined.
1113: .
1114: .
1115: .SH "SEE ALSO"
1116: .rs
1117: .sp
1118: \fBpcre\fP(3), \fBpcre16\fP(3), \fBpcre32\fP(3), \fBpcreapi\fP(3),
1119: \fBpcrecallout\fP(3),
1120: \fBpcrejit\fP, \fBpcrematching\fP(3), \fBpcrepartial\fP(d),
1121: \fBpcrepattern\fP(3), \fBpcreprecompile\fP(3).
1122: .
1123: .
1124: .SH AUTHOR
1125: .rs
1126: .sp
1127: .nf
1128: Philip Hazel
1129: University Computing Service
1130: Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
1131: .fi
1132: .
1133: .
1134: .SH REVISION
1135: .rs
1136: .sp
1137: .nf
1138: Last updated: 12 November 2013
1139: Copyright (c) 1997-2013 University of Cambridge.
1140: .fi
FreeBSD-CVSweb <freebsd-cvsweb@FreeBSD.org>
![[BACK]](/icons/cvsweb/back.gif){kind=icon}
Return to pcretest.1 CVS log ![[TXT]](/icons/cvsweb/text.gif){kind=icon}
![[DIR]](/icons/cvsweb/dir.gif){kind=icon}
Up to [ELWIX - Embedded LightWeight unIX -] / embedaddon / pcre / doc