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annotate doc/lispref/searching.texi @ 104078:2658bfb08516
Better docstring for `called-interactively-p'.
author | Bastien Guerry <bzg@altern.org> |
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date | Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:02:49 +0000 |
parents | 79feb82d15fb |
children | caa79498564a |
rev | line source |
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84096 | 1 @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. | |
3 @c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, | |
100974 | 4 @c 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
84096 | 5 @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions. |
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6 @setfilename ../../info/searching |
84096 | 7 @node Searching and Matching, Syntax Tables, Non-ASCII Characters, Top |
8 @chapter Searching and Matching | |
9 @cindex searching | |
10 | |
11 GNU Emacs provides two ways to search through a buffer for specified | |
12 text: exact string searches and regular expression searches. After a | |
13 regular expression search, you can examine the @dfn{match data} to | |
14 determine which text matched the whole regular expression or various | |
15 portions of it. | |
16 | |
17 @menu | |
18 * String Search:: Search for an exact match. | |
19 * Searching and Case:: Case-independent or case-significant searching. | |
20 * Regular Expressions:: Describing classes of strings. | |
21 * Regexp Search:: Searching for a match for a regexp. | |
22 * POSIX Regexps:: Searching POSIX-style for the longest match. | |
23 * Match Data:: Finding out which part of the text matched, | |
24 after a string or regexp search. | |
25 * Search and Replace:: Commands that loop, searching and replacing. | |
26 * Standard Regexps:: Useful regexps for finding sentences, pages,... | |
27 @end menu | |
28 | |
29 The @samp{skip-chars@dots{}} functions also perform a kind of searching. | |
30 @xref{Skipping Characters}. To search for changes in character | |
31 properties, see @ref{Property Search}. | |
32 | |
33 @node String Search | |
34 @section Searching for Strings | |
35 @cindex string search | |
36 | |
37 These are the primitive functions for searching through the text in a | |
38 buffer. They are meant for use in programs, but you may call them | |
39 interactively. If you do so, they prompt for the search string; the | |
40 arguments @var{limit} and @var{noerror} are @code{nil}, and @var{repeat} | |
41 is 1. | |
42 | |
43 These search functions convert the search string to multibyte if the | |
44 buffer is multibyte; they convert the search string to unibyte if the | |
45 buffer is unibyte. @xref{Text Representations}. | |
46 | |
47 @deffn Command search-forward string &optional limit noerror repeat | |
48 This function searches forward from point for an exact match for | |
49 @var{string}. If successful, it sets point to the end of the occurrence | |
50 found, and returns the new value of point. If no match is found, the | |
51 value and side effects depend on @var{noerror} (see below). | |
52 @c Emacs 19 feature | |
53 | |
54 In the following example, point is initially at the beginning of the | |
55 line. Then @code{(search-forward "fox")} moves point after the last | |
56 letter of @samp{fox}: | |
57 | |
58 @example | |
59 @group | |
60 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
61 @point{}The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. | |
62 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
63 @end group | |
64 | |
65 @group | |
66 (search-forward "fox") | |
67 @result{} 20 | |
68 | |
69 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
70 The quick brown fox@point{} jumped over the lazy dog. | |
71 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
72 @end group | |
73 @end example | |
74 | |
75 The argument @var{limit} specifies the upper bound to the search. (It | |
76 must be a position in the current buffer.) No match extending after | |
77 that position is accepted. If @var{limit} is omitted or @code{nil}, it | |
78 defaults to the end of the accessible portion of the buffer. | |
79 | |
80 @kindex search-failed | |
81 What happens when the search fails depends on the value of | |
82 @var{noerror}. If @var{noerror} is @code{nil}, a @code{search-failed} | |
83 error is signaled. If @var{noerror} is @code{t}, @code{search-forward} | |
84 returns @code{nil} and does nothing. If @var{noerror} is neither | |
85 @code{nil} nor @code{t}, then @code{search-forward} moves point to the | |
86 upper bound and returns @code{nil}. (It would be more consistent now to | |
87 return the new position of point in that case, but some existing | |
88 programs may depend on a value of @code{nil}.) | |
89 | |
90 The argument @var{noerror} only affects valid searches which fail to | |
91 find a match. Invalid arguments cause errors regardless of | |
92 @var{noerror}. | |
93 | |
94 If @var{repeat} is supplied (it must be a positive number), then the | |
95 search is repeated that many times (each time starting at the end of the | |
96 previous time's match). If these successive searches succeed, the | |
97 function succeeds, moving point and returning its new value. Otherwise | |
98 the search fails, with results depending on the value of | |
99 @var{noerror}, as described above. | |
100 @end deffn | |
101 | |
102 @deffn Command search-backward string &optional limit noerror repeat | |
103 This function searches backward from point for @var{string}. It is | |
104 just like @code{search-forward} except that it searches backwards and | |
105 leaves point at the beginning of the match. | |
106 @end deffn | |
107 | |
108 @deffn Command word-search-forward string &optional limit noerror repeat | |
109 This function searches forward from point for a ``word'' match for | |
110 @var{string}. If it finds a match, it sets point to the end of the | |
111 match found, and returns the new value of point. | |
112 | |
113 Word matching regards @var{string} as a sequence of words, disregarding | |
114 punctuation that separates them. It searches the buffer for the same | |
115 sequence of words. Each word must be distinct in the buffer (searching | |
116 for the word @samp{ball} does not match the word @samp{balls}), but the | |
117 details of punctuation and spacing are ignored (searching for @samp{ball | |
118 boy} does match @samp{ball. Boy!}). | |
119 | |
120 In this example, point is initially at the beginning of the buffer; the | |
121 search leaves it between the @samp{y} and the @samp{!}. | |
122 | |
123 @example | |
124 @group | |
125 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
126 @point{}He said "Please! Find | |
127 the ball boy!" | |
128 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
129 @end group | |
130 | |
131 @group | |
132 (word-search-forward "Please find the ball, boy.") | |
133 @result{} 35 | |
134 | |
135 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
136 He said "Please! Find | |
137 the ball boy@point{}!" | |
138 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
139 @end group | |
140 @end example | |
141 | |
142 If @var{limit} is non-@code{nil}, it must be a position in the current | |
143 buffer; it specifies the upper bound to the search. The match found | |
144 must not extend after that position. | |
145 | |
146 If @var{noerror} is @code{nil}, then @code{word-search-forward} signals | |
147 an error if the search fails. If @var{noerror} is @code{t}, then it | |
148 returns @code{nil} instead of signaling an error. If @var{noerror} is | |
149 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, it moves point to @var{limit} (or the | |
150 end of the accessible portion of the buffer) and returns @code{nil}. | |
151 | |
152 If @var{repeat} is non-@code{nil}, then the search is repeated that many | |
153 times. Point is positioned at the end of the last match. | |
154 @end deffn | |
155 | |
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156 @deffn Command word-search-forward-lax string &optional limit noerror repeat |
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157 This command is identical to @code{word-search-forward}, except that |
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158 the end of @code{string} need not match a word boundary unless it ends |
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159 in whitespace. For instance, searching for @samp{ball boy} matches |
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160 @samp{ball boyee}, but does not match @samp{aball boy}. |
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161 @end deffn |
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162 |
84096 | 163 @deffn Command word-search-backward string &optional limit noerror repeat |
164 This function searches backward from point for a word match to | |
165 @var{string}. This function is just like @code{word-search-forward} | |
166 except that it searches backward and normally leaves point at the | |
167 beginning of the match. | |
168 @end deffn | |
169 | |
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170 @deffn Command word-search-backward-lax string &optional limit noerror repeat |
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171 This command is identical to @code{word-search-backward}, except that |
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172 the end of @code{string} need not match a word boundary unless it ends |
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173 in whitespace. |
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174 @end deffn |
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175 |
84096 | 176 @node Searching and Case |
177 @section Searching and Case | |
178 @cindex searching and case | |
179 | |
180 By default, searches in Emacs ignore the case of the text they are | |
181 searching through; if you specify searching for @samp{FOO}, then | |
182 @samp{Foo} or @samp{foo} is also considered a match. This applies to | |
183 regular expressions, too; thus, @samp{[aB]} would match @samp{a} or | |
184 @samp{A} or @samp{b} or @samp{B}. | |
185 | |
186 If you do not want this feature, set the variable | |
187 @code{case-fold-search} to @code{nil}. Then all letters must match | |
188 exactly, including case. This is a buffer-local variable; altering the | |
189 variable affects only the current buffer. (@xref{Intro to | |
190 Buffer-Local}.) Alternatively, you may change the value of | |
191 @code{default-case-fold-search}, which is the default value of | |
192 @code{case-fold-search} for buffers that do not override it. | |
193 | |
194 Note that the user-level incremental search feature handles case | |
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195 distinctions differently. When the search string contains only lower |
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196 case letters, the search ignores case, but when the search string |
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197 contains one or more upper case letters, the search becomes |
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198 case-sensitive. But this has nothing to do with the searching |
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199 functions used in Lisp code. |
84096 | 200 |
201 @defopt case-fold-search | |
202 This buffer-local variable determines whether searches should ignore | |
203 case. If the variable is @code{nil} they do not ignore case; otherwise | |
204 they do ignore case. | |
205 @end defopt | |
206 | |
207 @defvar default-case-fold-search | |
208 The value of this variable is the default value for | |
209 @code{case-fold-search} in buffers that do not override it. This is the | |
210 same as @code{(default-value 'case-fold-search)}. | |
211 @end defvar | |
212 | |
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213 @defopt case-replace |
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214 This variable determines whether the higher level replacement |
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215 functions should preserve case. If the variable is @code{nil}, that |
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216 means to use the replacement text verbatim. A non-@code{nil} value |
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217 means to convert the case of the replacement text according to the |
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218 text being replaced. |
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219 |
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220 This variable is used by passing it as an argument to the function |
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221 @code{replace-match}. @xref{Replacing Match}. |
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222 @end defopt |
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223 |
84096 | 224 @node Regular Expressions |
225 @section Regular Expressions | |
226 @cindex regular expression | |
227 @cindex regexp | |
228 | |
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229 A @dfn{regular expression}, or @dfn{regexp} for short, is a pattern that |
84096 | 230 denotes a (possibly infinite) set of strings. Searching for matches for |
231 a regexp is a very powerful operation. This section explains how to write | |
232 regexps; the following section says how to search for them. | |
233 | |
234 @findex re-builder | |
235 @cindex regular expressions, developing | |
236 For convenient interactive development of regular expressions, you | |
237 can use the @kbd{M-x re-builder} command. It provides a convenient | |
238 interface for creating regular expressions, by giving immediate visual | |
239 feedback in a separate buffer. As you edit the regexp, all its | |
240 matches in the target buffer are highlighted. Each parenthesized | |
241 sub-expression of the regexp is shown in a distinct face, which makes | |
242 it easier to verify even very complex regexps. | |
243 | |
244 @menu | |
245 * Syntax of Regexps:: Rules for writing regular expressions. | |
246 * Regexp Example:: Illustrates regular expression syntax. | |
247 * Regexp Functions:: Functions for operating on regular expressions. | |
248 @end menu | |
249 | |
250 @node Syntax of Regexps | |
251 @subsection Syntax of Regular Expressions | |
252 | |
253 Regular expressions have a syntax in which a few characters are | |
254 special constructs and the rest are @dfn{ordinary}. An ordinary | |
255 character is a simple regular expression that matches that character | |
256 and nothing else. The special characters are @samp{.}, @samp{*}, | |
257 @samp{+}, @samp{?}, @samp{[}, @samp{^}, @samp{$}, and @samp{\}; no new | |
258 special characters will be defined in the future. The character | |
259 @samp{]} is special if it ends a character alternative (see later). | |
260 The character @samp{-} is special inside a character alternative. A | |
261 @samp{[:} and balancing @samp{:]} enclose a character class inside a | |
262 character alternative. Any other character appearing in a regular | |
263 expression is ordinary, unless a @samp{\} precedes it. | |
264 | |
265 For example, @samp{f} is not a special character, so it is ordinary, and | |
266 therefore @samp{f} is a regular expression that matches the string | |
267 @samp{f} and no other string. (It does @emph{not} match the string | |
268 @samp{fg}, but it does match a @emph{part} of that string.) Likewise, | |
269 @samp{o} is a regular expression that matches only @samp{o}.@refill | |
270 | |
271 Any two regular expressions @var{a} and @var{b} can be concatenated. The | |
272 result is a regular expression that matches a string if @var{a} matches | |
273 some amount of the beginning of that string and @var{b} matches the rest of | |
274 the string.@refill | |
275 | |
276 As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions @samp{f} | |
277 and @samp{o} to get the regular expression @samp{fo}, which matches only | |
278 the string @samp{fo}. Still trivial. To do something more powerful, you | |
279 need to use one of the special regular expression constructs. | |
280 | |
281 @menu | |
282 * Regexp Special:: Special characters in regular expressions. | |
283 * Char Classes:: Character classes used in regular expressions. | |
284 * Regexp Backslash:: Backslash-sequences in regular expressions. | |
285 @end menu | |
286 | |
287 @node Regexp Special | |
288 @subsubsection Special Characters in Regular Expressions | |
289 | |
290 Here is a list of the characters that are special in a regular | |
291 expression. | |
292 | |
293 @need 800 | |
294 @table @asis | |
295 @item @samp{.}@: @r{(Period)} | |
296 @cindex @samp{.} in regexp | |
297 is a special character that matches any single character except a newline. | |
298 Using concatenation, we can make regular expressions like @samp{a.b}, which | |
299 matches any three-character string that begins with @samp{a} and ends with | |
300 @samp{b}.@refill | |
301 | |
302 @item @samp{*} | |
303 @cindex @samp{*} in regexp | |
304 is not a construct by itself; it is a postfix operator that means to | |
305 match the preceding regular expression repetitively as many times as | |
306 possible. Thus, @samp{o*} matches any number of @samp{o}s (including no | |
307 @samp{o}s). | |
308 | |
309 @samp{*} always applies to the @emph{smallest} possible preceding | |
310 expression. Thus, @samp{fo*} has a repeating @samp{o}, not a repeating | |
311 @samp{fo}. It matches @samp{f}, @samp{fo}, @samp{foo}, and so on. | |
312 | |
313 The matcher processes a @samp{*} construct by matching, immediately, as | |
314 many repetitions as can be found. Then it continues with the rest of | |
315 the pattern. If that fails, backtracking occurs, discarding some of the | |
316 matches of the @samp{*}-modified construct in the hope that that will | |
317 make it possible to match the rest of the pattern. For example, in | |
318 matching @samp{ca*ar} against the string @samp{caaar}, the @samp{a*} | |
319 first tries to match all three @samp{a}s; but the rest of the pattern is | |
320 @samp{ar} and there is only @samp{r} left to match, so this try fails. | |
321 The next alternative is for @samp{a*} to match only two @samp{a}s. With | |
322 this choice, the rest of the regexp matches successfully. | |
323 | |
324 @strong{Warning:} Nested repetition operators can run for an | |
325 indefinitely long time, if they lead to ambiguous matching. For | |
326 example, trying to match the regular expression @samp{\(x+y*\)*a} | |
327 against the string @samp{xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxz} could | |
328 take hours before it ultimately fails. Emacs must try each way of | |
329 grouping the @samp{x}s before concluding that none of them can work. | |
330 Even worse, @samp{\(x*\)*} can match the null string in infinitely | |
331 many ways, so it causes an infinite loop. To avoid these problems, | |
332 check nested repetitions carefully, to make sure that they do not | |
333 cause combinatorial explosions in backtracking. | |
334 | |
335 @item @samp{+} | |
336 @cindex @samp{+} in regexp | |
337 is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match | |
338 the preceding expression at least once. So, for example, @samp{ca+r} | |
339 matches the strings @samp{car} and @samp{caaaar} but not the string | |
340 @samp{cr}, whereas @samp{ca*r} matches all three strings. | |
341 | |
342 @item @samp{?} | |
343 @cindex @samp{?} in regexp | |
344 is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match the | |
345 preceding expression either once or not at all. For example, | |
346 @samp{ca?r} matches @samp{car} or @samp{cr}; nothing else. | |
347 | |
348 @item @samp{*?}, @samp{+?}, @samp{??} | |
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349 @cindex non-greedy repetition characters in regexp |
84096 | 350 These are ``non-greedy'' variants of the operators @samp{*}, @samp{+} |
351 and @samp{?}. Where those operators match the largest possible | |
352 substring (consistent with matching the entire containing expression), | |
353 the non-greedy variants match the smallest possible substring | |
354 (consistent with matching the entire containing expression). | |
355 | |
356 For example, the regular expression @samp{c[ad]*a} when applied to the | |
357 string @samp{cdaaada} matches the whole string; but the regular | |
358 expression @samp{c[ad]*?a}, applied to that same string, matches just | |
359 @samp{cda}. (The smallest possible match here for @samp{[ad]*?} that | |
360 permits the whole expression to match is @samp{d}.) | |
361 | |
362 @item @samp{[ @dots{} ]} | |
363 @cindex character alternative (in regexp) | |
364 @cindex @samp{[} in regexp | |
365 @cindex @samp{]} in regexp | |
366 is a @dfn{character alternative}, which begins with @samp{[} and is | |
367 terminated by @samp{]}. In the simplest case, the characters between | |
368 the two brackets are what this character alternative can match. | |
369 | |
370 Thus, @samp{[ad]} matches either one @samp{a} or one @samp{d}, and | |
371 @samp{[ad]*} matches any string composed of just @samp{a}s and @samp{d}s | |
372 (including the empty string), from which it follows that @samp{c[ad]*r} | |
373 matches @samp{cr}, @samp{car}, @samp{cdr}, @samp{caddaar}, etc. | |
374 | |
375 You can also include character ranges in a character alternative, by | |
376 writing the starting and ending characters with a @samp{-} between them. | |
377 Thus, @samp{[a-z]} matches any lower-case @acronym{ASCII} letter. | |
378 Ranges may be intermixed freely with individual characters, as in | |
379 @samp{[a-z$%.]}, which matches any lower case @acronym{ASCII} letter | |
380 or @samp{$}, @samp{%} or period. | |
381 | |
382 Note that the usual regexp special characters are not special inside a | |
383 character alternative. A completely different set of characters is | |
384 special inside character alternatives: @samp{]}, @samp{-} and @samp{^}. | |
385 | |
386 To include a @samp{]} in a character alternative, you must make it the | |
387 first character. For example, @samp{[]a]} matches @samp{]} or @samp{a}. | |
388 To include a @samp{-}, write @samp{-} as the first or last character of | |
389 the character alternative, or put it after a range. Thus, @samp{[]-]} | |
390 matches both @samp{]} and @samp{-}. | |
391 | |
392 To include @samp{^} in a character alternative, put it anywhere but at | |
393 the beginning. | |
394 | |
395 The beginning and end of a range of multibyte characters must be in | |
396 the same character set (@pxref{Character Sets}). Thus, | |
397 @code{"[\x8e0-\x97c]"} is invalid because character 0x8e0 (@samp{a} | |
398 with grave accent) is in the Emacs character set for Latin-1 but the | |
399 character 0x97c (@samp{u} with diaeresis) is in the Emacs character | |
400 set for Latin-2. (We use Lisp string syntax to write that example, | |
401 and a few others in the next few paragraphs, in order to include hex | |
402 escape sequences in them.) | |
403 | |
404 If a range starts with a unibyte character @var{c} and ends with a | |
405 multibyte character @var{c2}, the range is divided into two parts: one | |
406 is @samp{@var{c}..?\377}, the other is @samp{@var{c1}..@var{c2}}, where | |
407 @var{c1} is the first character of the charset to which @var{c2} | |
408 belongs. | |
409 | |
410 You cannot always match all non-@acronym{ASCII} characters with the regular | |
411 expression @code{"[\200-\377]"}. This works when searching a unibyte | |
412 buffer or string (@pxref{Text Representations}), but not in a multibyte | |
413 buffer or string, because many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters have codes | |
414 above octal 0377. However, the regular expression @code{"[^\000-\177]"} | |
415 does match all non-@acronym{ASCII} characters (see below regarding @samp{^}), | |
416 in both multibyte and unibyte representations, because only the | |
417 @acronym{ASCII} characters are excluded. | |
418 | |
419 A character alternative can also specify named | |
420 character classes (@pxref{Char Classes}). This is a POSIX feature whose | |
421 syntax is @samp{[:@var{class}:]}. Using a character class is equivalent | |
422 to mentioning each of the characters in that class; but the latter is | |
423 not feasible in practice, since some classes include thousands of | |
424 different characters. | |
425 | |
426 @item @samp{[^ @dots{} ]} | |
427 @cindex @samp{^} in regexp | |
428 @samp{[^} begins a @dfn{complemented character alternative}. This | |
429 matches any character except the ones specified. Thus, | |
430 @samp{[^a-z0-9A-Z]} matches all characters @emph{except} letters and | |
431 digits. | |
432 | |
433 @samp{^} is not special in a character alternative unless it is the first | |
434 character. The character following the @samp{^} is treated as if it | |
435 were first (in other words, @samp{-} and @samp{]} are not special there). | |
436 | |
437 A complemented character alternative can match a newline, unless newline is | |
438 mentioned as one of the characters not to match. This is in contrast to | |
439 the handling of regexps in programs such as @code{grep}. | |
440 | |
441 @item @samp{^} | |
442 @cindex beginning of line in regexp | |
443 When matching a buffer, @samp{^} matches the empty string, but only at the | |
444 beginning of a line in the text being matched (or the beginning of the | |
445 accessible portion of the buffer). Otherwise it fails to match | |
446 anything. Thus, @samp{^foo} matches a @samp{foo} that occurs at the | |
447 beginning of a line. | |
448 | |
449 When matching a string instead of a buffer, @samp{^} matches at the | |
450 beginning of the string or after a newline character. | |
451 | |
452 For historical compatibility reasons, @samp{^} can be used only at the | |
453 beginning of the regular expression, or after @samp{\(}, @samp{\(?:} | |
454 or @samp{\|}. | |
455 | |
456 @item @samp{$} | |
457 @cindex @samp{$} in regexp | |
458 @cindex end of line in regexp | |
459 is similar to @samp{^} but matches only at the end of a line (or the | |
460 end of the accessible portion of the buffer). Thus, @samp{x+$} | |
461 matches a string of one @samp{x} or more at the end of a line. | |
462 | |
463 When matching a string instead of a buffer, @samp{$} matches at the end | |
464 of the string or before a newline character. | |
465 | |
466 For historical compatibility reasons, @samp{$} can be used only at the | |
467 end of the regular expression, or before @samp{\)} or @samp{\|}. | |
468 | |
469 @item @samp{\} | |
470 @cindex @samp{\} in regexp | |
471 has two functions: it quotes the special characters (including | |
472 @samp{\}), and it introduces additional special constructs. | |
473 | |
474 Because @samp{\} quotes special characters, @samp{\$} is a regular | |
475 expression that matches only @samp{$}, and @samp{\[} is a regular | |
476 expression that matches only @samp{[}, and so on. | |
477 | |
478 Note that @samp{\} also has special meaning in the read syntax of Lisp | |
479 strings (@pxref{String Type}), and must be quoted with @samp{\}. For | |
480 example, the regular expression that matches the @samp{\} character is | |
481 @samp{\\}. To write a Lisp string that contains the characters | |
482 @samp{\\}, Lisp syntax requires you to quote each @samp{\} with another | |
483 @samp{\}. Therefore, the read syntax for a regular expression matching | |
484 @samp{\} is @code{"\\\\"}.@refill | |
485 @end table | |
486 | |
487 @strong{Please note:} For historical compatibility, special characters | |
488 are treated as ordinary ones if they are in contexts where their special | |
489 meanings make no sense. For example, @samp{*foo} treats @samp{*} as | |
490 ordinary since there is no preceding expression on which the @samp{*} | |
491 can act. It is poor practice to depend on this behavior; quote the | |
492 special character anyway, regardless of where it appears.@refill | |
493 | |
494 As a @samp{\} is not special inside a character alternative, it can | |
495 never remove the special meaning of @samp{-} or @samp{]}. So you | |
496 should not quote these characters when they have no special meaning | |
497 either. This would not clarify anything, since backslashes can | |
498 legitimately precede these characters where they @emph{have} special | |
499 meaning, as in @samp{[^\]} (@code{"[^\\]"} for Lisp string syntax), | |
500 which matches any single character except a backslash. | |
501 | |
502 In practice, most @samp{]} that occur in regular expressions close a | |
503 character alternative and hence are special. However, occasionally a | |
504 regular expression may try to match a complex pattern of literal | |
505 @samp{[} and @samp{]}. In such situations, it sometimes may be | |
506 necessary to carefully parse the regexp from the start to determine | |
507 which square brackets enclose a character alternative. For example, | |
508 @samp{[^][]]} consists of the complemented character alternative | |
509 @samp{[^][]} (which matches any single character that is not a square | |
510 bracket), followed by a literal @samp{]}. | |
511 | |
512 The exact rules are that at the beginning of a regexp, @samp{[} is | |
513 special and @samp{]} not. This lasts until the first unquoted | |
514 @samp{[}, after which we are in a character alternative; @samp{[} is | |
515 no longer special (except when it starts a character class) but @samp{]} | |
516 is special, unless it immediately follows the special @samp{[} or that | |
517 @samp{[} followed by a @samp{^}. This lasts until the next special | |
518 @samp{]} that does not end a character class. This ends the character | |
519 alternative and restores the ordinary syntax of regular expressions; | |
520 an unquoted @samp{[} is special again and a @samp{]} not. | |
521 | |
522 @node Char Classes | |
523 @subsubsection Character Classes | |
524 @cindex character classes in regexp | |
525 | |
526 Here is a table of the classes you can use in a character alternative, | |
527 and what they mean: | |
528 | |
529 @table @samp | |
530 @item [:ascii:] | |
531 This matches any @acronym{ASCII} character (codes 0--127). | |
532 @item [:alnum:] | |
533 This matches any letter or digit. (At present, for multibyte | |
534 characters, it matches anything that has word syntax.) | |
535 @item [:alpha:] | |
536 This matches any letter. (At present, for multibyte characters, it | |
537 matches anything that has word syntax.) | |
538 @item [:blank:] | |
539 This matches space and tab only. | |
540 @item [:cntrl:] | |
541 This matches any @acronym{ASCII} control character. | |
542 @item [:digit:] | |
543 This matches @samp{0} through @samp{9}. Thus, @samp{[-+[:digit:]]} | |
544 matches any digit, as well as @samp{+} and @samp{-}. | |
545 @item [:graph:] | |
546 This matches graphic characters---everything except @acronym{ASCII} control | |
547 characters, space, and the delete character. | |
548 @item [:lower:] | |
549 This matches any lower-case letter, as determined by | |
550 the current case table (@pxref{Case Tables}). | |
551 @item [:multibyte:] | |
552 This matches any multibyte character (@pxref{Text Representations}). | |
553 @item [:nonascii:] | |
554 This matches any non-@acronym{ASCII} character. | |
555 @item [:print:] | |
556 This matches printing characters---everything except @acronym{ASCII} control | |
557 characters and the delete character. | |
558 @item [:punct:] | |
559 This matches any punctuation character. (At present, for multibyte | |
560 characters, it matches anything that has non-word syntax.) | |
561 @item [:space:] | |
562 This matches any character that has whitespace syntax | |
563 (@pxref{Syntax Class Table}). | |
564 @item [:unibyte:] | |
565 This matches any unibyte character (@pxref{Text Representations}). | |
566 @item [:upper:] | |
567 This matches any upper-case letter, as determined by | |
568 the current case table (@pxref{Case Tables}). | |
569 @item [:word:] | |
570 This matches any character that has word syntax (@pxref{Syntax Class | |
571 Table}). | |
572 @item [:xdigit:] | |
573 This matches the hexadecimal digits: @samp{0} through @samp{9}, @samp{a} | |
574 through @samp{f} and @samp{A} through @samp{F}. | |
575 @end table | |
576 | |
577 @node Regexp Backslash | |
578 @subsubsection Backslash Constructs in Regular Expressions | |
579 | |
580 For the most part, @samp{\} followed by any character matches only | |
581 that character. However, there are several exceptions: certain | |
582 two-character sequences starting with @samp{\} that have special | |
583 meanings. (The character after the @samp{\} in such a sequence is | |
584 always ordinary when used on its own.) Here is a table of the special | |
585 @samp{\} constructs. | |
586 | |
587 @table @samp | |
588 @item \| | |
589 @cindex @samp{|} in regexp | |
590 @cindex regexp alternative | |
591 specifies an alternative. | |
592 Two regular expressions @var{a} and @var{b} with @samp{\|} in | |
593 between form an expression that matches anything that either @var{a} or | |
594 @var{b} matches.@refill | |
595 | |
596 Thus, @samp{foo\|bar} matches either @samp{foo} or @samp{bar} | |
597 but no other string.@refill | |
598 | |
599 @samp{\|} applies to the largest possible surrounding expressions. Only a | |
600 surrounding @samp{\( @dots{} \)} grouping can limit the grouping power of | |
601 @samp{\|}.@refill | |
602 | |
603 If you need full backtracking capability to handle multiple uses of | |
604 @samp{\|}, use the POSIX regular expression functions (@pxref{POSIX | |
605 Regexps}). | |
606 | |
607 @item \@{@var{m}\@} | |
608 is a postfix operator that repeats the previous pattern exactly @var{m} | |
609 times. Thus, @samp{x\@{5\@}} matches the string @samp{xxxxx} | |
610 and nothing else. @samp{c[ad]\@{3\@}r} matches string such as | |
611 @samp{caaar}, @samp{cdddr}, @samp{cadar}, and so on. | |
612 | |
613 @item \@{@var{m},@var{n}\@} | |
614 is a more general postfix operator that specifies repetition with a | |
615 minimum of @var{m} repeats and a maximum of @var{n} repeats. If @var{m} | |
616 is omitted, the minimum is 0; if @var{n} is omitted, there is no | |
617 maximum. | |
618 | |
619 For example, @samp{c[ad]\@{1,2\@}r} matches the strings @samp{car}, | |
620 @samp{cdr}, @samp{caar}, @samp{cadr}, @samp{cdar}, and @samp{cddr}, and | |
621 nothing else.@* | |
622 @samp{\@{0,1\@}} or @samp{\@{,1\@}} is equivalent to @samp{?}. @* | |
623 @samp{\@{0,\@}} or @samp{\@{,\@}} is equivalent to @samp{*}. @* | |
624 @samp{\@{1,\@}} is equivalent to @samp{+}. | |
625 | |
626 @item \( @dots{} \) | |
627 @cindex @samp{(} in regexp | |
628 @cindex @samp{)} in regexp | |
629 @cindex regexp grouping | |
630 is a grouping construct that serves three purposes: | |
631 | |
632 @enumerate | |
633 @item | |
634 To enclose a set of @samp{\|} alternatives for other operations. Thus, | |
635 the regular expression @samp{\(foo\|bar\)x} matches either @samp{foox} | |
636 or @samp{barx}. | |
637 | |
638 @item | |
639 To enclose a complicated expression for the postfix operators @samp{*}, | |
640 @samp{+} and @samp{?} to operate on. Thus, @samp{ba\(na\)*} matches | |
641 @samp{ba}, @samp{bana}, @samp{banana}, @samp{bananana}, etc., with any | |
642 number (zero or more) of @samp{na} strings. | |
643 | |
644 @item | |
645 To record a matched substring for future reference with | |
646 @samp{\@var{digit}} (see below). | |
647 @end enumerate | |
648 | |
649 This last application is not a consequence of the idea of a | |
650 parenthetical grouping; it is a separate feature that was assigned as a | |
651 second meaning to the same @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct because, in | |
652 practice, there was usually no conflict between the two meanings. But | |
653 occasionally there is a conflict, and that led to the introduction of | |
654 shy groups. | |
655 | |
656 @item \(?: @dots{} \) | |
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657 @cindex shy groups |
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658 @cindex non-capturing group |
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659 @cindex unnumbered group |
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660 @cindex @samp{(?:} in regexp |
84096 | 661 is the @dfn{shy group} construct. A shy group serves the first two |
662 purposes of an ordinary group (controlling the nesting of other | |
663 operators), but it does not get a number, so you cannot refer back to | |
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664 its value with @samp{\@var{digit}}. Shy groups are particularly |
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665 useful for mechanically-constructed regular expressions, because they |
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666 can be added automatically without altering the numbering of ordinary, |
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667 non-shy groups. |
84096 | 668 |
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669 Shy groups are also called @dfn{non-capturing} or @dfn{unnumbered |
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670 groups}. |
84096 | 671 |
672 @item \(?@var{num}: @dots{} \) | |
673 is the @dfn{explicitly numbered group} construct. Normal groups get | |
674 their number implicitly, based on their position, which can be | |
675 inconvenient. This construct allows you to force a particular group | |
676 number. There is no particular restriction on the numbering, | |
677 e.g.@: you can have several groups with the same number in which case | |
678 the last one to match (i.e.@: the rightmost match) will win. | |
679 Implicitly numbered groups always get the smallest integer larger than | |
680 the one of any previous group. | |
681 | |
682 @item \@var{digit} | |
683 matches the same text that matched the @var{digit}th occurrence of a | |
684 grouping (@samp{\( @dots{} \)}) construct. | |
685 | |
686 In other words, after the end of a group, the matcher remembers the | |
687 beginning and end of the text matched by that group. Later on in the | |
688 regular expression you can use @samp{\} followed by @var{digit} to | |
689 match that same text, whatever it may have been. | |
690 | |
691 The strings matching the first nine grouping constructs appearing in | |
692 the entire regular expression passed to a search or matching function | |
693 are assigned numbers 1 through 9 in the order that the open | |
694 parentheses appear in the regular expression. So you can use | |
695 @samp{\1} through @samp{\9} to refer to the text matched by the | |
696 corresponding grouping constructs. | |
697 | |
698 For example, @samp{\(.*\)\1} matches any newline-free string that is | |
699 composed of two identical halves. The @samp{\(.*\)} matches the first | |
700 half, which may be anything, but the @samp{\1} that follows must match | |
701 the same exact text. | |
702 | |
703 If a @samp{\( @dots{} \)} construct matches more than once (which can | |
704 happen, for instance, if it is followed by @samp{*}), only the last | |
705 match is recorded. | |
706 | |
707 If a particular grouping construct in the regular expression was never | |
708 matched---for instance, if it appears inside of an alternative that | |
709 wasn't used, or inside of a repetition that repeated zero times---then | |
710 the corresponding @samp{\@var{digit}} construct never matches | |
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711 anything. To use an artificial example, @samp{\(foo\(b*\)\|lose\)\2} |
84096 | 712 cannot match @samp{lose}: the second alternative inside the larger |
713 group matches it, but then @samp{\2} is undefined and can't match | |
714 anything. But it can match @samp{foobb}, because the first | |
715 alternative matches @samp{foob} and @samp{\2} matches @samp{b}. | |
716 | |
717 @item \w | |
718 @cindex @samp{\w} in regexp | |
719 matches any word-constituent character. The editor syntax table | |
720 determines which characters these are. @xref{Syntax Tables}. | |
721 | |
722 @item \W | |
723 @cindex @samp{\W} in regexp | |
724 matches any character that is not a word constituent. | |
725 | |
726 @item \s@var{code} | |
727 @cindex @samp{\s} in regexp | |
728 matches any character whose syntax is @var{code}. Here @var{code} is a | |
729 character that represents a syntax code: thus, @samp{w} for word | |
730 constituent, @samp{-} for whitespace, @samp{(} for open parenthesis, | |
731 etc. To represent whitespace syntax, use either @samp{-} or a space | |
732 character. @xref{Syntax Class Table}, for a list of syntax codes and | |
733 the characters that stand for them. | |
734 | |
735 @item \S@var{code} | |
736 @cindex @samp{\S} in regexp | |
737 matches any character whose syntax is not @var{code}. | |
738 | |
739 @item \c@var{c} | |
740 matches any character whose category is @var{c}. Here @var{c} is a | |
741 character that represents a category: thus, @samp{c} for Chinese | |
742 characters or @samp{g} for Greek characters in the standard category | |
743 table. | |
744 | |
745 @item \C@var{c} | |
746 matches any character whose category is not @var{c}. | |
747 @end table | |
748 | |
749 The following regular expression constructs match the empty string---that is, | |
750 they don't use up any characters---but whether they match depends on the | |
751 context. For all, the beginning and end of the accessible portion of | |
752 the buffer are treated as if they were the actual beginning and end of | |
753 the buffer. | |
754 | |
755 @table @samp | |
756 @item \` | |
757 @cindex @samp{\`} in regexp | |
758 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning | |
759 of the buffer or string being matched against. | |
760 | |
761 @item \' | |
762 @cindex @samp{\'} in regexp | |
763 matches the empty string, but only at the end of | |
764 the buffer or string being matched against. | |
765 | |
766 @item \= | |
767 @cindex @samp{\=} in regexp | |
768 matches the empty string, but only at point. | |
769 (This construct is not defined when matching against a string.) | |
770 | |
771 @item \b | |
772 @cindex @samp{\b} in regexp | |
773 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or | |
774 end of a word. Thus, @samp{\bfoo\b} matches any occurrence of | |
775 @samp{foo} as a separate word. @samp{\bballs?\b} matches | |
776 @samp{ball} or @samp{balls} as a separate word.@refill | |
777 | |
778 @samp{\b} matches at the beginning or end of the buffer (or string) | |
779 regardless of what text appears next to it. | |
780 | |
781 @item \B | |
782 @cindex @samp{\B} in regexp | |
783 matches the empty string, but @emph{not} at the beginning or | |
784 end of a word, nor at the beginning or end of the buffer (or string). | |
785 | |
786 @item \< | |
787 @cindex @samp{\<} in regexp | |
788 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a word. | |
789 @samp{\<} matches at the beginning of the buffer (or string) only if a | |
790 word-constituent character follows. | |
791 | |
792 @item \> | |
793 @cindex @samp{\>} in regexp | |
794 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word. @samp{\>} | |
795 matches at the end of the buffer (or string) only if the contents end | |
796 with a word-constituent character. | |
797 | |
798 @item \_< | |
799 @cindex @samp{\_<} in regexp | |
800 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a symbol. A | |
801 symbol is a sequence of one or more word or symbol constituent | |
802 characters. @samp{\_<} matches at the beginning of the buffer (or | |
803 string) only if a symbol-constituent character follows. | |
804 | |
805 @item \_> | |
806 @cindex @samp{\_>} in regexp | |
807 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a symbol. @samp{\_>} | |
808 matches at the end of the buffer (or string) only if the contents end | |
809 with a symbol-constituent character. | |
810 @end table | |
811 | |
812 @kindex invalid-regexp | |
813 Not every string is a valid regular expression. For example, a string | |
814 that ends inside a character alternative without terminating @samp{]} | |
815 is invalid, and so is a string that ends with a single @samp{\}. If | |
816 an invalid regular expression is passed to any of the search functions, | |
817 an @code{invalid-regexp} error is signaled. | |
818 | |
819 @node Regexp Example | |
820 @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
821 @subsection Complex Regexp Example | |
822 | |
823 Here is a complicated regexp which was formerly used by Emacs to | |
824 recognize the end of a sentence together with any whitespace that | |
825 follows. (Nowadays Emacs uses a similar but more complex default | |
826 regexp constructed by the function @code{sentence-end}. | |
827 @xref{Standard Regexps}.) | |
828 | |
829 First, we show the regexp as a string in Lisp syntax to distinguish | |
830 spaces from tab characters. The string constant begins and ends with a | |
831 double-quote. @samp{\"} stands for a double-quote as part of the | |
832 string, @samp{\\} for a backslash as part of the string, @samp{\t} for a | |
833 tab and @samp{\n} for a newline. | |
834 | |
835 @example | |
836 "[.?!][]\"')@}]*\\($\\| $\\|\t\\|@ @ \\)[ \t\n]*" | |
837 @end example | |
838 | |
839 @noindent | |
840 In contrast, if you evaluate this string, you will see the following: | |
841 | |
842 @example | |
843 @group | |
844 "[.?!][]\"')@}]*\\($\\| $\\|\t\\|@ @ \\)[ \t\n]*" | |
845 @result{} "[.?!][]\"')@}]*\\($\\| $\\| \\|@ @ \\)[ | |
846 ]*" | |
847 @end group | |
848 @end example | |
849 | |
850 @noindent | |
851 In this output, tab and newline appear as themselves. | |
852 | |
853 This regular expression contains four parts in succession and can be | |
854 deciphered as follows: | |
855 | |
856 @table @code | |
857 @item [.?!] | |
858 The first part of the pattern is a character alternative that matches | |
859 any one of three characters: period, question mark, and exclamation | |
860 mark. The match must begin with one of these three characters. (This | |
861 is one point where the new default regexp used by Emacs differs from | |
862 the old. The new value also allows some non-@acronym{ASCII} | |
863 characters that end a sentence without any following whitespace.) | |
864 | |
865 @item []\"')@}]* | |
866 The second part of the pattern matches any closing braces and quotation | |
867 marks, zero or more of them, that may follow the period, question mark | |
868 or exclamation mark. The @code{\"} is Lisp syntax for a double-quote in | |
869 a string. The @samp{*} at the end indicates that the immediately | |
870 preceding regular expression (a character alternative, in this case) may be | |
871 repeated zero or more times. | |
872 | |
873 @item \\($\\|@ $\\|\t\\|@ @ \\) | |
874 The third part of the pattern matches the whitespace that follows the | |
875 end of a sentence: the end of a line (optionally with a space), or a | |
876 tab, or two spaces. The double backslashes mark the parentheses and | |
877 vertical bars as regular expression syntax; the parentheses delimit a | |
878 group and the vertical bars separate alternatives. The dollar sign is | |
879 used to match the end of a line. | |
880 | |
881 @item [ \t\n]* | |
882 Finally, the last part of the pattern matches any additional whitespace | |
883 beyond the minimum needed to end a sentence. | |
884 @end table | |
885 | |
886 @node Regexp Functions | |
887 @subsection Regular Expression Functions | |
888 | |
889 These functions operate on regular expressions. | |
890 | |
891 @defun regexp-quote string | |
892 This function returns a regular expression whose only exact match is | |
893 @var{string}. Using this regular expression in @code{looking-at} will | |
894 succeed only if the next characters in the buffer are @var{string}; | |
895 using it in a search function will succeed if the text being searched | |
896 contains @var{string}. | |
897 | |
898 This allows you to request an exact string match or search when calling | |
899 a function that wants a regular expression. | |
900 | |
901 @example | |
902 @group | |
903 (regexp-quote "^The cat$") | |
904 @result{} "\\^The cat\\$" | |
905 @end group | |
906 @end example | |
907 | |
908 One use of @code{regexp-quote} is to combine an exact string match with | |
909 context described as a regular expression. For example, this searches | |
910 for the string that is the value of @var{string}, surrounded by | |
911 whitespace: | |
912 | |
913 @example | |
914 @group | |
915 (re-search-forward | |
916 (concat "\\s-" (regexp-quote string) "\\s-")) | |
917 @end group | |
918 @end example | |
919 @end defun | |
920 | |
921 @defun regexp-opt strings &optional paren | |
922 This function returns an efficient regular expression that will match | |
923 any of the strings in the list @var{strings}. This is useful when you | |
924 need to make matching or searching as fast as possible---for example, | |
925 for Font Lock mode. | |
926 | |
927 If the optional argument @var{paren} is non-@code{nil}, then the | |
928 returned regular expression is always enclosed by at least one | |
929 parentheses-grouping construct. If @var{paren} is @code{words}, then | |
930 that construct is additionally surrounded by @samp{\<} and @samp{\>}. | |
931 | |
932 This simplified definition of @code{regexp-opt} produces a | |
933 regular expression which is equivalent to the actual value | |
934 (but not as efficient): | |
935 | |
936 @example | |
937 (defun regexp-opt (strings paren) | |
938 (let ((open-paren (if paren "\\(" "")) | |
939 (close-paren (if paren "\\)" ""))) | |
940 (concat open-paren | |
941 (mapconcat 'regexp-quote strings "\\|") | |
942 close-paren))) | |
943 @end example | |
944 @end defun | |
945 | |
946 @defun regexp-opt-depth regexp | |
947 This function returns the total number of grouping constructs | |
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948 (parenthesized expressions) in @var{regexp}. This does not include |
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949 shy groups (@pxref{Regexp Backslash}). |
84096 | 950 @end defun |
951 | |
952 @node Regexp Search | |
953 @section Regular Expression Searching | |
954 @cindex regular expression searching | |
955 @cindex regexp searching | |
956 @cindex searching for regexp | |
957 | |
958 In GNU Emacs, you can search for the next match for a regular | |
959 expression either incrementally or not. For incremental search | |
960 commands, see @ref{Regexp Search, , Regular Expression Search, emacs, | |
961 The GNU Emacs Manual}. Here we describe only the search functions | |
962 useful in programs. The principal one is @code{re-search-forward}. | |
963 | |
964 These search functions convert the regular expression to multibyte if | |
965 the buffer is multibyte; they convert the regular expression to unibyte | |
966 if the buffer is unibyte. @xref{Text Representations}. | |
967 | |
968 @deffn Command re-search-forward regexp &optional limit noerror repeat | |
969 This function searches forward in the current buffer for a string of | |
970 text that is matched by the regular expression @var{regexp}. The | |
971 function skips over any amount of text that is not matched by | |
972 @var{regexp}, and leaves point at the end of the first match found. | |
973 It returns the new value of point. | |
974 | |
975 If @var{limit} is non-@code{nil}, it must be a position in the current | |
976 buffer. It specifies the upper bound to the search. No match | |
977 extending after that position is accepted. | |
978 | |
979 If @var{repeat} is supplied, it must be a positive number; the search | |
980 is repeated that many times; each repetition starts at the end of the | |
981 previous match. If all these successive searches succeed, the search | |
982 succeeds, moving point and returning its new value. Otherwise the | |
983 search fails. What @code{re-search-forward} does when the search | |
984 fails depends on the value of @var{noerror}: | |
985 | |
986 @table @asis | |
987 @item @code{nil} | |
988 Signal a @code{search-failed} error. | |
989 @item @code{t} | |
990 Do nothing and return @code{nil}. | |
991 @item anything else | |
992 Move point to @var{limit} (or the end of the accessible portion of the | |
993 buffer) and return @code{nil}. | |
994 @end table | |
995 | |
996 In the following example, point is initially before the @samp{T}. | |
997 Evaluating the search call moves point to the end of that line (between | |
998 the @samp{t} of @samp{hat} and the newline). | |
999 | |
1000 @example | |
1001 @group | |
1002 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1003 I read "@point{}The cat in the hat | |
1004 comes back" twice. | |
1005 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1006 @end group | |
1007 | |
1008 @group | |
1009 (re-search-forward "[a-z]+" nil t 5) | |
1010 @result{} 27 | |
1011 | |
1012 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1013 I read "The cat in the hat@point{} | |
1014 comes back" twice. | |
1015 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1016 @end group | |
1017 @end example | |
1018 @end deffn | |
1019 | |
1020 @deffn Command re-search-backward regexp &optional limit noerror repeat | |
1021 This function searches backward in the current buffer for a string of | |
1022 text that is matched by the regular expression @var{regexp}, leaving | |
1023 point at the beginning of the first text found. | |
1024 | |
1025 This function is analogous to @code{re-search-forward}, but they are not | |
1026 simple mirror images. @code{re-search-forward} finds the match whose | |
1027 beginning is as close as possible to the starting point. If | |
1028 @code{re-search-backward} were a perfect mirror image, it would find the | |
1029 match whose end is as close as possible. However, in fact it finds the | |
1030 match whose beginning is as close as possible (and yet ends before the | |
1031 starting point). The reason for this is that matching a regular | |
1032 expression at a given spot always works from beginning to end, and | |
1033 starts at a specified beginning position. | |
1034 | |
1035 A true mirror-image of @code{re-search-forward} would require a special | |
1036 feature for matching regular expressions from end to beginning. It's | |
1037 not worth the trouble of implementing that. | |
1038 @end deffn | |
1039 | |
1040 @defun string-match regexp string &optional start | |
1041 This function returns the index of the start of the first match for | |
1042 the regular expression @var{regexp} in @var{string}, or @code{nil} if | |
1043 there is no match. If @var{start} is non-@code{nil}, the search starts | |
1044 at that index in @var{string}. | |
1045 | |
1046 For example, | |
1047 | |
1048 @example | |
1049 @group | |
1050 (string-match | |
1051 "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly.") | |
1052 @result{} 4 | |
1053 @end group | |
1054 @group | |
1055 (string-match | |
1056 "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly." 8) | |
1057 @result{} 27 | |
1058 @end group | |
1059 @end example | |
1060 | |
1061 @noindent | |
1062 The index of the first character of the | |
1063 string is 0, the index of the second character is 1, and so on. | |
1064 | |
1065 After this function returns, the index of the first character beyond | |
1066 the match is available as @code{(match-end 0)}. @xref{Match Data}. | |
1067 | |
1068 @example | |
1069 @group | |
1070 (string-match | |
1071 "quick" "The quick brown fox jumped quickly." 8) | |
1072 @result{} 27 | |
1073 @end group | |
1074 | |
1075 @group | |
1076 (match-end 0) | |
1077 @result{} 32 | |
1078 @end group | |
1079 @end example | |
1080 @end defun | |
1081 | |
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1082 @defun string-match-p regexp string &optional start |
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1083 This predicate function does what @code{string-match} does, but it |
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1084 avoids modifying the match data. |
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1085 @end defun |
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1086 |
84096 | 1087 @defun looking-at regexp |
1088 This function determines whether the text in the current buffer directly | |
1089 following point matches the regular expression @var{regexp}. ``Directly | |
1090 following'' means precisely that: the search is ``anchored'' and it can | |
1091 succeed only starting with the first character following point. The | |
1092 result is @code{t} if so, @code{nil} otherwise. | |
1093 | |
1094 This function does not move point, but it updates the match data, which | |
1095 you can access using @code{match-beginning} and @code{match-end}. | |
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1096 @xref{Match Data}. If you need to test for a match without modifying |
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1097 the match data, use @code{looking-at-p}, described below. |
84096 | 1098 |
1099 In this example, point is located directly before the @samp{T}. If it | |
1100 were anywhere else, the result would be @code{nil}. | |
1101 | |
1102 @example | |
1103 @group | |
1104 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1105 I read "@point{}The cat in the hat | |
1106 comes back" twice. | |
1107 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1108 | |
1109 (looking-at "The cat in the hat$") | |
1110 @result{} t | |
1111 @end group | |
1112 @end example | |
1113 @end defun | |
1114 | |
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1115 @defun looking-back regexp &optional limit greedy |
84096 | 1116 This function returns @code{t} if @var{regexp} matches text before |
1117 point, ending at point, and @code{nil} otherwise. | |
1118 | |
1119 Because regular expression matching works only going forward, this is | |
1120 implemented by searching backwards from point for a match that ends at | |
1121 point. That can be quite slow if it has to search a long distance. | |
1122 You can bound the time required by specifying @var{limit}, which says | |
1123 not to search before @var{limit}. In this case, the match that is | |
1124 found must begin at or after @var{limit}. | |
1125 | |
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1126 If @var{greedy} is non-@code{nil}, this function extends the match |
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1127 backwards as far as possible, stopping when a single additional |
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1128 previous character cannot be part of a match for regexp. When the |
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1129 match is extended, its starting position is allowed to occur before |
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1130 @var{limit}. |
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1131 |
84096 | 1132 @example |
1133 @group | |
1134 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1135 I read "@point{}The cat in the hat | |
1136 comes back" twice. | |
1137 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1138 | |
1139 (looking-back "read \"" 3) | |
1140 @result{} t | |
1141 (looking-back "read \"" 4) | |
1142 @result{} nil | |
1143 @end group | |
1144 @end example | |
1145 @end defun | |
1146 | |
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1147 @defun looking-at-p regexp |
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1148 This predicate function works like @code{looking-at}, but without |
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1149 updating the match data. |
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1150 @end defun |
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1151 |
84096 | 1152 @defvar search-spaces-regexp |
1153 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression | |
1154 that says how to search for whitespace. In that case, any group of | |
1155 spaces in a regular expression being searched for stands for use of | |
1156 this regular expression. However, spaces inside of constructs such as | |
1157 @samp{[@dots{}]} and @samp{*}, @samp{+}, @samp{?} are not affected by | |
1158 @code{search-spaces-regexp}. | |
1159 | |
1160 Since this variable affects all regular expression search and match | |
1161 constructs, you should bind it temporarily for as small as possible | |
1162 a part of the code. | |
1163 @end defvar | |
1164 | |
1165 @node POSIX Regexps | |
1166 @section POSIX Regular Expression Searching | |
1167 | |
1168 The usual regular expression functions do backtracking when necessary | |
1169 to handle the @samp{\|} and repetition constructs, but they continue | |
1170 this only until they find @emph{some} match. Then they succeed and | |
1171 report the first match found. | |
1172 | |
1173 This section describes alternative search functions which perform the | |
1174 full backtracking specified by the POSIX standard for regular expression | |
1175 matching. They continue backtracking until they have tried all | |
1176 possibilities and found all matches, so they can report the longest | |
1177 match, as required by POSIX. This is much slower, so use these | |
1178 functions only when you really need the longest match. | |
1179 | |
1180 The POSIX search and match functions do not properly support the | |
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1181 non-greedy repetition operators (@pxref{Regexp Special, non-greedy}). |
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1182 This is because POSIX backtracking conflicts with the semantics of |
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1183 non-greedy repetition. |
84096 | 1184 |
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1185 @deffn Command posix-search-forward regexp &optional limit noerror repeat |
84096 | 1186 This is like @code{re-search-forward} except that it performs the full |
1187 backtracking specified by the POSIX standard for regular expression | |
1188 matching. | |
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1189 @end deffn |
84096 | 1190 |
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1191 @deffn Command posix-search-backward regexp &optional limit noerror repeat |
84096 | 1192 This is like @code{re-search-backward} except that it performs the full |
1193 backtracking specified by the POSIX standard for regular expression | |
1194 matching. | |
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1195 @end deffn |
84096 | 1196 |
1197 @defun posix-looking-at regexp | |
1198 This is like @code{looking-at} except that it performs the full | |
1199 backtracking specified by the POSIX standard for regular expression | |
1200 matching. | |
1201 @end defun | |
1202 | |
1203 @defun posix-string-match regexp string &optional start | |
1204 This is like @code{string-match} except that it performs the full | |
1205 backtracking specified by the POSIX standard for regular expression | |
1206 matching. | |
1207 @end defun | |
1208 | |
1209 @node Match Data | |
1210 @section The Match Data | |
1211 @cindex match data | |
1212 | |
1213 Emacs keeps track of the start and end positions of the segments of | |
1214 text found during a search; this is called the @dfn{match data}. | |
1215 Thanks to the match data, you can search for a complex pattern, such | |
1216 as a date in a mail message, and then extract parts of the match under | |
1217 control of the pattern. | |
1218 | |
1219 Because the match data normally describe the most recent search only, | |
1220 you must be careful not to do another search inadvertently between the | |
1221 search you wish to refer back to and the use of the match data. If you | |
1222 can't avoid another intervening search, you must save and restore the | |
1223 match data around it, to prevent it from being overwritten. | |
1224 | |
1225 @menu | |
1226 * Replacing Match:: Replacing a substring that was matched. | |
1227 * Simple Match Data:: Accessing single items of match data, | |
1228 such as where a particular subexpression started. | |
1229 * Entire Match Data:: Accessing the entire match data at once, as a list. | |
1230 * Saving Match Data:: Saving and restoring the match data. | |
1231 @end menu | |
1232 | |
1233 @node Replacing Match | |
1234 @subsection Replacing the Text that Matched | |
1235 @cindex replace matched text | |
1236 | |
1237 This function replaces all or part of the text matched by the last | |
1238 search. It works by means of the match data. | |
1239 | |
1240 @cindex case in replacements | |
1241 @defun replace-match replacement &optional fixedcase literal string subexp | |
1242 This function replaces the text in the buffer (or in @var{string}) that | |
1243 was matched by the last search. It replaces that text with | |
1244 @var{replacement}. | |
1245 | |
1246 If you did the last search in a buffer, you should specify @code{nil} | |
1247 for @var{string} and make sure that the current buffer when you call | |
1248 @code{replace-match} is the one in which you did the searching or | |
1249 matching. Then @code{replace-match} does the replacement by editing | |
1250 the buffer; it leaves point at the end of the replacement text, and | |
1251 returns @code{t}. | |
1252 | |
1253 If you did the search in a string, pass the same string as @var{string}. | |
1254 Then @code{replace-match} does the replacement by constructing and | |
1255 returning a new string. | |
1256 | |
1257 If @var{fixedcase} is non-@code{nil}, then @code{replace-match} uses | |
1258 the replacement text without case conversion; otherwise, it converts | |
1259 the replacement text depending upon the capitalization of the text to | |
1260 be replaced. If the original text is all upper case, this converts | |
1261 the replacement text to upper case. If all words of the original text | |
1262 are capitalized, this capitalizes all the words of the replacement | |
1263 text. If all the words are one-letter and they are all upper case, | |
1264 they are treated as capitalized words rather than all-upper-case | |
1265 words. | |
1266 | |
1267 If @var{literal} is non-@code{nil}, then @var{replacement} is inserted | |
1268 exactly as it is, the only alterations being case changes as needed. | |
1269 If it is @code{nil} (the default), then the character @samp{\} is treated | |
1270 specially. If a @samp{\} appears in @var{replacement}, then it must be | |
1271 part of one of the following sequences: | |
1272 | |
1273 @table @asis | |
1274 @item @samp{\&} | |
1275 @cindex @samp{&} in replacement | |
1276 @samp{\&} stands for the entire text being replaced. | |
1277 | |
1278 @item @samp{\@var{n}} | |
1279 @cindex @samp{\@var{n}} in replacement | |
1280 @samp{\@var{n}}, where @var{n} is a digit, stands for the text that | |
1281 matched the @var{n}th subexpression in the original regexp. | |
1282 Subexpressions are those expressions grouped inside @samp{\(@dots{}\)}. | |
1283 If the @var{n}th subexpression never matched, an empty string is substituted. | |
1284 | |
1285 @item @samp{\\} | |
1286 @cindex @samp{\} in replacement | |
1287 @samp{\\} stands for a single @samp{\} in the replacement text. | |
1288 @end table | |
1289 | |
1290 These substitutions occur after case conversion, if any, | |
1291 so the strings they substitute are never case-converted. | |
1292 | |
1293 If @var{subexp} is non-@code{nil}, that says to replace just | |
1294 subexpression number @var{subexp} of the regexp that was matched, not | |
1295 the entire match. For example, after matching @samp{foo \(ba*r\)}, | |
1296 calling @code{replace-match} with 1 as @var{subexp} means to replace | |
1297 just the text that matched @samp{\(ba*r\)}. | |
1298 @end defun | |
1299 | |
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1300 @defun match-substitute-replacement replacement &optional fixedcase literal string subexp |
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1301 This function returns the text that would be inserted into the buffer |
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1302 by @code{replace-match}, but without modifying the buffer. It is |
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1303 useful if you want to present the user with actual replacement result, |
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1304 with constructs like @samp{\@var{n}} or @samp{\&} substituted with |
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1305 matched groups. Arguments @var{replacement} and optional |
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1306 @var{fixedcase}, @var{literal}, @var{string} and @var{subexp} have the |
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1307 same meaning as for @code{replace-match}. |
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1308 @end defun |
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1309 |
84096 | 1310 @node Simple Match Data |
1311 @subsection Simple Match Data Access | |
1312 | |
1313 This section explains how to use the match data to find out what was | |
1314 matched by the last search or match operation, if it succeeded. | |
1315 | |
1316 You can ask about the entire matching text, or about a particular | |
1317 parenthetical subexpression of a regular expression. The @var{count} | |
1318 argument in the functions below specifies which. If @var{count} is | |
1319 zero, you are asking about the entire match. If @var{count} is | |
1320 positive, it specifies which subexpression you want. | |
1321 | |
1322 Recall that the subexpressions of a regular expression are those | |
1323 expressions grouped with escaped parentheses, @samp{\(@dots{}\)}. The | |
1324 @var{count}th subexpression is found by counting occurrences of | |
1325 @samp{\(} from the beginning of the whole regular expression. The first | |
1326 subexpression is numbered 1, the second 2, and so on. Only regular | |
1327 expressions can have subexpressions---after a simple string search, the | |
1328 only information available is about the entire match. | |
1329 | |
1330 Every successful search sets the match data. Therefore, you should | |
1331 query the match data immediately after searching, before calling any | |
1332 other function that might perform another search. Alternatively, you | |
1333 may save and restore the match data (@pxref{Saving Match Data}) around | |
1334 the call to functions that could perform another search. | |
1335 | |
1336 A search which fails may or may not alter the match data. In the | |
1337 past, a failing search did not do this, but we may change it in the | |
1338 future. So don't try to rely on the value of the match data after | |
1339 a failing search. | |
1340 | |
1341 @defun match-string count &optional in-string | |
1342 This function returns, as a string, the text matched in the last search | |
1343 or match operation. It returns the entire text if @var{count} is zero, | |
1344 or just the portion corresponding to the @var{count}th parenthetical | |
1345 subexpression, if @var{count} is positive. | |
1346 | |
1347 If the last such operation was done against a string with | |
1348 @code{string-match}, then you should pass the same string as the | |
1349 argument @var{in-string}. After a buffer search or match, | |
1350 you should omit @var{in-string} or pass @code{nil} for it; but you | |
1351 should make sure that the current buffer when you call | |
1352 @code{match-string} is the one in which you did the searching or | |
1353 matching. | |
1354 | |
1355 The value is @code{nil} if @var{count} is out of range, or for a | |
1356 subexpression inside a @samp{\|} alternative that wasn't used or a | |
1357 repetition that repeated zero times. | |
1358 @end defun | |
1359 | |
1360 @defun match-string-no-properties count &optional in-string | |
1361 This function is like @code{match-string} except that the result | |
1362 has no text properties. | |
1363 @end defun | |
1364 | |
1365 @defun match-beginning count | |
1366 This function returns the position of the start of text matched by the | |
1367 last regular expression searched for, or a subexpression of it. | |
1368 | |
1369 If @var{count} is zero, then the value is the position of the start of | |
1370 the entire match. Otherwise, @var{count} specifies a subexpression in | |
1371 the regular expression, and the value of the function is the starting | |
1372 position of the match for that subexpression. | |
1373 | |
1374 The value is @code{nil} for a subexpression inside a @samp{\|} | |
1375 alternative that wasn't used or a repetition that repeated zero times. | |
1376 @end defun | |
1377 | |
1378 @defun match-end count | |
1379 This function is like @code{match-beginning} except that it returns the | |
1380 position of the end of the match, rather than the position of the | |
1381 beginning. | |
1382 @end defun | |
1383 | |
1384 Here is an example of using the match data, with a comment showing the | |
1385 positions within the text: | |
1386 | |
1387 @example | |
1388 @group | |
1389 (string-match "\\(qu\\)\\(ick\\)" | |
1390 "The quick fox jumped quickly.") | |
1391 ;0123456789 | |
1392 @result{} 4 | |
1393 @end group | |
1394 | |
1395 @group | |
1396 (match-string 0 "The quick fox jumped quickly.") | |
1397 @result{} "quick" | |
1398 (match-string 1 "The quick fox jumped quickly.") | |
1399 @result{} "qu" | |
1400 (match-string 2 "The quick fox jumped quickly.") | |
1401 @result{} "ick" | |
1402 @end group | |
1403 | |
1404 @group | |
1405 (match-beginning 1) ; @r{The beginning of the match} | |
1406 @result{} 4 ; @r{with @samp{qu} is at index 4.} | |
1407 @end group | |
1408 | |
1409 @group | |
1410 (match-beginning 2) ; @r{The beginning of the match} | |
1411 @result{} 6 ; @r{with @samp{ick} is at index 6.} | |
1412 @end group | |
1413 | |
1414 @group | |
1415 (match-end 1) ; @r{The end of the match} | |
1416 @result{} 6 ; @r{with @samp{qu} is at index 6.} | |
1417 | |
1418 (match-end 2) ; @r{The end of the match} | |
1419 @result{} 9 ; @r{with @samp{ick} is at index 9.} | |
1420 @end group | |
1421 @end example | |
1422 | |
1423 Here is another example. Point is initially located at the beginning | |
1424 of the line. Searching moves point to between the space and the word | |
1425 @samp{in}. The beginning of the entire match is at the 9th character of | |
1426 the buffer (@samp{T}), and the beginning of the match for the first | |
1427 subexpression is at the 13th character (@samp{c}). | |
1428 | |
1429 @example | |
1430 @group | |
1431 (list | |
1432 (re-search-forward "The \\(cat \\)") | |
1433 (match-beginning 0) | |
1434 (match-beginning 1)) | |
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1435 @result{} (17 9 13) |
84096 | 1436 @end group |
1437 | |
1438 @group | |
1439 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1440 I read "The cat @point{}in the hat comes back" twice. | |
1441 ^ ^ | |
1442 9 13 | |
1443 ---------- Buffer: foo ---------- | |
1444 @end group | |
1445 @end example | |
1446 | |
1447 @noindent | |
1448 (In this case, the index returned is a buffer position; the first | |
1449 character of the buffer counts as 1.) | |
1450 | |
1451 @node Entire Match Data | |
1452 @subsection Accessing the Entire Match Data | |
1453 | |
1454 The functions @code{match-data} and @code{set-match-data} read or | |
1455 write the entire match data, all at once. | |
1456 | |
1457 @defun match-data &optional integers reuse reseat | |
1458 This function returns a list of positions (markers or integers) that | |
1459 record all the information on what text the last search matched. | |
1460 Element zero is the position of the beginning of the match for the | |
1461 whole expression; element one is the position of the end of the match | |
1462 for the expression. The next two elements are the positions of the | |
1463 beginning and end of the match for the first subexpression, and so on. | |
1464 In general, element | |
1465 @ifnottex | |
1466 number 2@var{n} | |
1467 @end ifnottex | |
1468 @tex | |
1469 number {\mathsurround=0pt $2n$} | |
1470 @end tex | |
1471 corresponds to @code{(match-beginning @var{n})}; and | |
1472 element | |
1473 @ifnottex | |
1474 number 2@var{n} + 1 | |
1475 @end ifnottex | |
1476 @tex | |
1477 number {\mathsurround=0pt $2n+1$} | |
1478 @end tex | |
1479 corresponds to @code{(match-end @var{n})}. | |
1480 | |
1481 Normally all the elements are markers or @code{nil}, but if | |
1482 @var{integers} is non-@code{nil}, that means to use integers instead | |
1483 of markers. (In that case, the buffer itself is appended as an | |
1484 additional element at the end of the list, to facilitate complete | |
1485 restoration of the match data.) If the last match was done on a | |
1486 string with @code{string-match}, then integers are always used, | |
1487 since markers can't point into a string. | |
1488 | |
1489 If @var{reuse} is non-@code{nil}, it should be a list. In that case, | |
1490 @code{match-data} stores the match data in @var{reuse}. That is, | |
1491 @var{reuse} is destructively modified. @var{reuse} does not need to | |
1492 have the right length. If it is not long enough to contain the match | |
1493 data, it is extended. If it is too long, the length of @var{reuse} | |
1494 stays the same, but the elements that were not used are set to | |
1495 @code{nil}. The purpose of this feature is to reduce the need for | |
1496 garbage collection. | |
1497 | |
1498 If @var{reseat} is non-@code{nil}, all markers on the @var{reuse} list | |
1499 are reseated to point to nowhere. | |
1500 | |
1501 As always, there must be no possibility of intervening searches between | |
1502 the call to a search function and the call to @code{match-data} that is | |
1503 intended to access the match data for that search. | |
1504 | |
1505 @example | |
1506 @group | |
1507 (match-data) | |
1508 @result{} (#<marker at 9 in foo> | |
1509 #<marker at 17 in foo> | |
1510 #<marker at 13 in foo> | |
1511 #<marker at 17 in foo>) | |
1512 @end group | |
1513 @end example | |
1514 @end defun | |
1515 | |
1516 @defun set-match-data match-list &optional reseat | |
1517 This function sets the match data from the elements of @var{match-list}, | |
1518 which should be a list that was the value of a previous call to | |
1519 @code{match-data}. (More precisely, anything that has the same format | |
1520 will work.) | |
1521 | |
1522 If @var{match-list} refers to a buffer that doesn't exist, you don't get | |
1523 an error; that sets the match data in a meaningless but harmless way. | |
1524 | |
1525 If @var{reseat} is non-@code{nil}, all markers on the @var{match-list} list | |
1526 are reseated to point to nowhere. | |
1527 | |
1528 @findex store-match-data | |
1529 @code{store-match-data} is a semi-obsolete alias for @code{set-match-data}. | |
1530 @end defun | |
1531 | |
1532 @node Saving Match Data | |
1533 @subsection Saving and Restoring the Match Data | |
1534 | |
1535 When you call a function that may do a search, you may need to save | |
1536 and restore the match data around that call, if you want to preserve the | |
1537 match data from an earlier search for later use. Here is an example | |
1538 that shows the problem that arises if you fail to save the match data: | |
1539 | |
1540 @example | |
1541 @group | |
1542 (re-search-forward "The \\(cat \\)") | |
1543 @result{} 48 | |
1544 (foo) ; @r{Perhaps @code{foo} does} | |
1545 ; @r{more searching.} | |
1546 (match-end 0) | |
1547 @result{} 61 ; @r{Unexpected result---not 48!} | |
1548 @end group | |
1549 @end example | |
1550 | |
1551 You can save and restore the match data with @code{save-match-data}: | |
1552 | |
1553 @defmac save-match-data body@dots{} | |
1554 This macro executes @var{body}, saving and restoring the match | |
1555 data around it. The return value is the value of the last form in | |
1556 @var{body}. | |
1557 @end defmac | |
1558 | |
1559 You could use @code{set-match-data} together with @code{match-data} to | |
1560 imitate the effect of the special form @code{save-match-data}. Here is | |
1561 how: | |
1562 | |
1563 @example | |
1564 @group | |
1565 (let ((data (match-data))) | |
1566 (unwind-protect | |
1567 @dots{} ; @r{Ok to change the original match data.} | |
1568 (set-match-data data))) | |
1569 @end group | |
1570 @end example | |
1571 | |
1572 Emacs automatically saves and restores the match data when it runs | |
1573 process filter functions (@pxref{Filter Functions}) and process | |
1574 sentinels (@pxref{Sentinels}). | |
1575 | |
1576 @ignore | |
1577 Here is a function which restores the match data provided the buffer | |
1578 associated with it still exists. | |
1579 | |
1580 @smallexample | |
1581 @group | |
1582 (defun restore-match-data (data) | |
1583 @c It is incorrect to split the first line of a doc string. | |
1584 @c If there's a problem here, it should be solved in some other way. | |
1585 "Restore the match data DATA unless the buffer is missing." | |
1586 (catch 'foo | |
1587 (let ((d data)) | |
1588 @end group | |
1589 (while d | |
1590 (and (car d) | |
1591 (null (marker-buffer (car d))) | |
1592 @group | |
1593 ;; @file{match-data} @r{buffer is deleted.} | |
1594 (throw 'foo nil)) | |
1595 (setq d (cdr d))) | |
1596 (set-match-data data)))) | |
1597 @end group | |
1598 @end smallexample | |
1599 @end ignore | |
1600 | |
1601 @node Search and Replace | |
1602 @section Search and Replace | |
1603 @cindex replacement after search | |
1604 @cindex searching and replacing | |
1605 | |
1606 If you want to find all matches for a regexp in part of the buffer, | |
1607 and replace them, the best way is to write an explicit loop using | |
1608 @code{re-search-forward} and @code{replace-match}, like this: | |
1609 | |
1610 @example | |
1611 (while (re-search-forward "foo[ \t]+bar" nil t) | |
1612 (replace-match "foobar")) | |
1613 @end example | |
1614 | |
1615 @noindent | |
1616 @xref{Replacing Match,, Replacing the Text that Matched}, for a | |
1617 description of @code{replace-match}. | |
1618 | |
1619 However, replacing matches in a string is more complex, especially | |
1620 if you want to do it efficiently. So Emacs provides a function to do | |
1621 this. | |
1622 | |
1623 @defun replace-regexp-in-string regexp rep string &optional fixedcase literal subexp start | |
1624 This function copies @var{string} and searches it for matches for | |
1625 @var{regexp}, and replaces them with @var{rep}. It returns the | |
1626 modified copy. If @var{start} is non-@code{nil}, the search for | |
1627 matches starts at that index in @var{string}, so matches starting | |
1628 before that index are not changed. | |
1629 | |
1630 This function uses @code{replace-match} to do the replacement, and it | |
1631 passes the optional arguments @var{fixedcase}, @var{literal} and | |
1632 @var{subexp} along to @code{replace-match}. | |
1633 | |
1634 Instead of a string, @var{rep} can be a function. In that case, | |
1635 @code{replace-regexp-in-string} calls @var{rep} for each match, | |
1636 passing the text of the match as its sole argument. It collects the | |
1637 value @var{rep} returns and passes that to @code{replace-match} as the | |
1638 replacement string. The match-data at this point are the result | |
1639 of matching @var{regexp} against a substring of @var{string}. | |
1640 @end defun | |
1641 | |
1642 If you want to write a command along the lines of @code{query-replace}, | |
1643 you can use @code{perform-replace} to do the work. | |
1644 | |
1645 @defun perform-replace from-string replacements query-flag regexp-flag delimited-flag &optional repeat-count map start end | |
1646 This function is the guts of @code{query-replace} and related | |
1647 commands. It searches for occurrences of @var{from-string} in the | |
1648 text between positions @var{start} and @var{end} and replaces some or | |
1649 all of them. If @var{start} is @code{nil} (or omitted), point is used | |
1650 instead, and the end of the buffer's accessible portion is used for | |
1651 @var{end}. | |
1652 | |
1653 If @var{query-flag} is @code{nil}, it replaces all | |
1654 occurrences; otherwise, it asks the user what to do about each one. | |
1655 | |
1656 If @var{regexp-flag} is non-@code{nil}, then @var{from-string} is | |
1657 considered a regular expression; otherwise, it must match literally. If | |
1658 @var{delimited-flag} is non-@code{nil}, then only replacements | |
1659 surrounded by word boundaries are considered. | |
1660 | |
1661 The argument @var{replacements} specifies what to replace occurrences | |
1662 with. If it is a string, that string is used. It can also be a list of | |
1663 strings, to be used in cyclic order. | |
1664 | |
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1665 If @var{replacements} is a cons cell, @w{@code{(@var{function} |
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1666 . @var{data})}}, this means to call @var{function} after each match to |
84096 | 1667 get the replacement text. This function is called with two arguments: |
1668 @var{data}, and the number of replacements already made. | |
1669 | |
1670 If @var{repeat-count} is non-@code{nil}, it should be an integer. Then | |
1671 it specifies how many times to use each of the strings in the | |
1672 @var{replacements} list before advancing cyclically to the next one. | |
1673 | |
1674 If @var{from-string} contains upper-case letters, then | |
1675 @code{perform-replace} binds @code{case-fold-search} to @code{nil}, and | |
1676 it uses the @code{replacements} without altering the case of them. | |
1677 | |
1678 Normally, the keymap @code{query-replace-map} defines the possible | |
1679 user responses for queries. The argument @var{map}, if | |
1680 non-@code{nil}, specifies a keymap to use instead of | |
1681 @code{query-replace-map}. | |
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1682 |
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1683 This function uses one of two functions to search for the next |
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1684 occurrence of @var{from-string}. These functions are specified by the |
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1685 values of two variables: @code{replace-re-search-function} and |
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1686 @code{replace-search-function}. The former is called when the |
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1687 argument @var{regexp-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the latter when it is |
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1688 @code{nil}. |
84096 | 1689 @end defun |
1690 | |
1691 @defvar query-replace-map | |
1692 This variable holds a special keymap that defines the valid user | |
1693 responses for @code{perform-replace} and the commands that use it, as | |
1694 well as @code{y-or-n-p} and @code{map-y-or-n-p}. This map is unusual | |
1695 in two ways: | |
1696 | |
1697 @itemize @bullet | |
1698 @item | |
1699 The ``key bindings'' are not commands, just symbols that are meaningful | |
1700 to the functions that use this map. | |
1701 | |
1702 @item | |
1703 Prefix keys are not supported; each key binding must be for a | |
1704 single-event key sequence. This is because the functions don't use | |
1705 @code{read-key-sequence} to get the input; instead, they read a single | |
1706 event and look it up ``by hand.'' | |
1707 @end itemize | |
1708 @end defvar | |
1709 | |
1710 Here are the meaningful ``bindings'' for @code{query-replace-map}. | |
1711 Several of them are meaningful only for @code{query-replace} and | |
1712 friends. | |
1713 | |
1714 @table @code | |
1715 @item act | |
1716 Do take the action being considered---in other words, ``yes.'' | |
1717 | |
1718 @item skip | |
1719 Do not take action for this question---in other words, ``no.'' | |
1720 | |
1721 @item exit | |
1722 Answer this question ``no,'' and give up on the entire series of | |
1723 questions, assuming that the answers will be ``no.'' | |
1724 | |
1725 @item act-and-exit | |
1726 Answer this question ``yes,'' and give up on the entire series of | |
1727 questions, assuming that subsequent answers will be ``no.'' | |
1728 | |
1729 @item act-and-show | |
1730 Answer this question ``yes,'' but show the results---don't advance yet | |
1731 to the next question. | |
1732 | |
1733 @item automatic | |
1734 Answer this question and all subsequent questions in the series with | |
1735 ``yes,'' without further user interaction. | |
1736 | |
1737 @item backup | |
1738 Move back to the previous place that a question was asked about. | |
1739 | |
1740 @item edit | |
1741 Enter a recursive edit to deal with this question---instead of any | |
1742 other action that would normally be taken. | |
1743 | |
1744 @item delete-and-edit | |
1745 Delete the text being considered, then enter a recursive edit to replace | |
1746 it. | |
1747 | |
1748 @item recenter | |
1749 Redisplay and center the window, then ask the same question again. | |
1750 | |
1751 @item quit | |
1752 Perform a quit right away. Only @code{y-or-n-p} and related functions | |
1753 use this answer. | |
1754 | |
1755 @item help | |
1756 Display some help, then ask again. | |
1757 @end table | |
1758 | |
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1759 @defvar multi-query-replace-map |
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1760 This variable holds a keymap that extends @code{query-replace-map} by |
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1761 providing additional keybindings that are useful in multi-buffer |
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1762 replacements. |
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1763 @end defvar |
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1764 |
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1765 @defvar replace-search-function |
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1766 This variable specifies a function that @code{perform-replace} calls |
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1767 to search for the next string to replace. Its default value is |
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1768 @code{search-forward}. Any other value should name a function of 3 |
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1769 arguments: the first 3 arguments of @code{search-forward} |
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1770 (@pxref{String Search}). |
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1771 @end defvar |
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1772 |
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1773 @defvar replace-re-search-function |
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1774 This variable specifies a function that @code{perform-replace} calls |
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1775 to search for the next regexp to replace. Its default value is |
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1776 @code{re-search-forward}. Any other value should name a function of 3 |
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1777 arguments: the first 3 arguments of @code{re-search-forward} |
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1778 (@pxref{Regexp Search}). |
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1779 @end defvar |
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1780 |
84096 | 1781 @node Standard Regexps |
1782 @section Standard Regular Expressions Used in Editing | |
1783 @cindex regexps used standardly in editing | |
1784 @cindex standard regexps used in editing | |
1785 | |
1786 This section describes some variables that hold regular expressions | |
1787 used for certain purposes in editing: | |
1788 | |
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1789 @defopt page-delimiter |
84096 | 1790 This is the regular expression describing line-beginnings that separate |
1791 pages. The default value is @code{"^\014"} (i.e., @code{"^^L"} or | |
1792 @code{"^\C-l"}); this matches a line that starts with a formfeed | |
1793 character. | |
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1794 @end defopt |
84096 | 1795 |
1796 The following two regular expressions should @emph{not} assume the | |
1797 match always starts at the beginning of a line; they should not use | |
1798 @samp{^} to anchor the match. Most often, the paragraph commands do | |
1799 check for a match only at the beginning of a line, which means that | |
1800 @samp{^} would be superfluous. When there is a nonzero left margin, | |
1801 they accept matches that start after the left margin. In that case, a | |
1802 @samp{^} would be incorrect. However, a @samp{^} is harmless in modes | |
1803 where a left margin is never used. | |
1804 | |
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1805 @defopt paragraph-separate |
84096 | 1806 This is the regular expression for recognizing the beginning of a line |
1807 that separates paragraphs. (If you change this, you may have to | |
1808 change @code{paragraph-start} also.) The default value is | |
1809 @w{@code{"[@ \t\f]*$"}}, which matches a line that consists entirely of | |
1810 spaces, tabs, and form feeds (after its left margin). | |
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1811 @end defopt |
84096 | 1812 |
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1813 @defopt paragraph-start |
84096 | 1814 This is the regular expression for recognizing the beginning of a line |
1815 that starts @emph{or} separates paragraphs. The default value is | |
1816 @w{@code{"\f\\|[ \t]*$"}}, which matches a line containing only | |
1817 whitespace or starting with a form feed (after its left margin). | |
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1818 @end defopt |
84096 | 1819 |
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1820 @defopt sentence-end |
84096 | 1821 If non-@code{nil}, the value should be a regular expression describing |
1822 the end of a sentence, including the whitespace following the | |
1823 sentence. (All paragraph boundaries also end sentences, regardless.) | |
1824 | |
1825 If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then the function | |
1826 @code{sentence-end} has to construct the regexp. That is why you | |
1827 should always call the function @code{sentence-end} to obtain the | |
1828 regexp to be used to recognize the end of a sentence. | |
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1829 @end defopt |
84096 | 1830 |
1831 @defun sentence-end | |
1832 This function returns the value of the variable @code{sentence-end}, | |
1833 if non-@code{nil}. Otherwise it returns a default value based on the | |
1834 values of the variables @code{sentence-end-double-space} | |
1835 (@pxref{Definition of sentence-end-double-space}), | |
1836 @code{sentence-end-without-period} and | |
1837 @code{sentence-end-without-space}. | |
1838 @end defun | |
1839 | |
1840 @ignore | |
1841 arch-tag: c2573ca2-18aa-4839-93b8-924043ef831f | |
1842 @end ignore |