comparison lispref/searching.texi @ 57403:5353c1a56ee3

(Regexp Example): Update description of how Emacs currently recognizes the end of a sentence. (Standard Regexps): Update definition of the variable `sentence-end'. Add definition of the function `sentence-end'.

57402:c50e857202e2

@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999
@c   Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@setfilename ../info/searching
@node Searching and Matching, Syntax Tables, Non-ASCII Characters, Top
@chapter Searching and Matching

@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Complex Regexp Example

  Here is a complicated regexp which was formerly used by Emacs to
recognize the end of a sentence together with any whitespace that
follows.  It was used as the variable @code{sentence-end}.  (Its value
nowadays contains alternatives for @samp{.}, @samp{?} and @samp{!} in
other character sets.)

  First, we show the regexp as a string in Lisp syntax to distinguish
spaces from tab characters.  The string constant begins and ends with a
double-quote.  @samp{\"} stands for a double-quote as part of the
string, @samp{\\} for a backslash as part of the string, @samp{\t} for a

@table @code
@item [.?!]
The first part of the pattern is a character alternative that matches
any one of three characters: period, question mark, and exclamation
mark.  The match must begin with one of these three characters.  (This
is the one point where the new value of @code{sentence-end} differs
from the old.  The new value also lists sentence ending
non-@acronym{ASCII} characters.)

@item []\"')@}]*
The second part of the pattern matches any closing braces and quotation
marks, zero or more of them, that may follow the period, question mark
or exclamation mark.  The @code{\"} is Lisp syntax for a double-quote in

@w{@code{"\f\\|[ \t]*$"}}, which matches a line containing only
whitespace or starting with a form feed (after its left margin).
@end defvar

@defvar sentence-end
This is the regular expression describing the end of a sentence.  (All
paragraph boundaries also end sentences, regardless.)  The (slightly
simplified) default value is:

@example
"[.?!][]\"')@}]*\\($\\| $\\|\t\\|@ @ \\)[ \t\n]*"
@end example

This means a period, question mark or exclamation mark (the actual
default value also lists their alternatives in other character sets),
followed optionally by closing parenthetical characters, followed by
tabs, spaces or new lines.

For a detailed explanation of this regular expression, see @ref{Regexp
Example}.
@end defvar

@ignore
   arch-tag: c2573ca2-18aa-4839-93b8-924043ef831f
@end ignore

57403:5353c1a56ee3

@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004
@c   Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@setfilename ../info/searching
@node Searching and Matching, Syntax Tables, Non-ASCII Characters, Top
@chapter Searching and Matching

@comment  node-name,  next,  previous,  up
@subsection Complex Regexp Example

  Here is a complicated regexp which was formerly used by Emacs to
recognize the end of a sentence together with any whitespace that
follows.  (Nowadays Emacs uses a similar but more complex default
regexp constructed by the function @code{sentence-end}.
@xref{Standard Regexps}.)

  First, we show the regexp as a string in Lisp syntax to distinguish
spaces from tab characters.  The string constant begins and ends with a
double-quote.  @samp{\"} stands for a double-quote as part of the
string, @samp{\\} for a backslash as part of the string, @samp{\t} for a

@table @code
@item [.?!]
The first part of the pattern is a character alternative that matches
any one of three characters: period, question mark, and exclamation
mark.  The match must begin with one of these three characters.  (This
is one point where the new default regexp used by Emacs differs from
the old.  The new value also allows some non-@acronym{ASCII}
characters that end a sentence without any following whitespace.)

@item []\"')@}]*
The second part of the pattern matches any closing braces and quotation
marks, zero or more of them, that may follow the period, question mark
or exclamation mark.  The @code{\"} is Lisp syntax for a double-quote in

@w{@code{"\f\\|[ \t]*$"}}, which matches a line containing only
whitespace or starting with a form feed (after its left margin).
@end defvar

@defvar sentence-end
If non-@code{nil}, the value should be a regular expression describing
the end of a sentence, including the whitespace following the
sentence.  (All paragraph boundaries also end sentences, regardless.)

If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then the function
@code{sentence-end} has to construct the regexp.  That is why you
should always call the function @code{sentence-end} to obtain the
regexp to be used to recognize the end of a sentence.
@end defvar

@defun sentence-end
This function returns the value of the variable @code{sentence-end},
if non-@code{nil}.  Otherwise it returns a default value based on the
values of the variables @code{sentence-end-double-space}
(@pxref{Definition of sentence-end-double-space}),
@code{sentence-end-without-period} and
@code{sentence-end-without-space}.
@end defun

@ignore
   arch-tag: c2573ca2-18aa-4839-93b8-924043ef831f
@end ignore