comparison man/search.texi @ 49984:632746dc04e4

(Regexps): Convert the main table into @table @asis.

49983:2a8850f484eb

  As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions @samp{f}
and @samp{o} to get the regular expression @samp{fo}, which matches only
the string @samp{fo}.  Still trivial.  To do something nontrivial, you
need to use one of the special characters.  Here is a list of them.

@table @kbd
@item .@: @r{(Period)}
is a special character that matches any single character except a newline.
Using concatenation, we can make regular expressions like @samp{a.b}, which
matches any three-character string that begins with @samp{a} and ends with
@samp{b}.@refill

@item *
is not a construct by itself; it is a postfix operator that means to
match the preceding regular expression repetitively as many times as
possible.  Thus, @samp{o*} matches any number of @samp{o}s (including no
@samp{o}s).

tries to match all three @samp{a}s; but the rest of the pattern is
@samp{ar} and there is only @samp{r} left to match, so this try fails.
The next alternative is for @samp{a*} to match only two @samp{a}s.
With this choice, the rest of the regexp matches successfully.@refill

@item +
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match
the preceding expression at least once.  So, for example, @samp{ca+r}
matches the strings @samp{car} and @samp{caaaar} but not the string
@samp{cr}, whereas @samp{ca*r} matches all three strings.

@item ?
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it can match the
preceding expression either once or not at all.  For example,
@samp{ca?r} matches @samp{car} or @samp{cr}; nothing else.

@item *?, +?, ??
@cindex non-greedy regexp matching
are non-greedy variants of the operators above.  The normal operators
@samp{*}, @samp{+}, @samp{?} are @dfn{greedy} in that they match as
much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can still match.  With
a following @samp{?}, they are non-greedy: they will match as little

possible starting point for match is always the one chosen.  Thus, if
you search for @samp{a.*?$} against the text @samp{abbab} followed by
a newline, it matches the whole string.  Since it @emph{can} match
starting at the first @samp{a}, it does.

@item \@{@var{n}\@}
is a postfix operator that specifies repetition @var{n} times---that
is, the preceding regular expression must match exactly @var{n} times
in a row.  For example, @samp{x\@{4\@}} matches the string @samp{xxxx}
and nothing else.

@item \@{@var{n},@var{m}\@}
is a postfix operator that specifies repetition between @var{n} and
@var{m} times---that is, the preceding regular expression must match
at least @var{n} times, but no more than @var{m} times.  If @var{m} is
omitted, then there is no upper limit, but the preceding regular
expression must match at least @var{n} times.@* @samp{\@{0,1\@}} is
equivalent to @samp{?}. @* @samp{\@{0,\@}} is equivalent to
@samp{*}. @* @samp{\@{1,\@}} is equivalent to @samp{+}.

@item [ @dots{} ]
is a @dfn{character set}, which begins with @samp{[} and is terminated
by @samp{]}.  In the simplest case, the characters between the two
brackets are what this set can match.

Thus, @samp{[ad]} matches either one @samp{a} or one @samp{d}, and

When you use a range in case-insensitive search, you should write both
ends of the range in upper case, or both in lower case, or both should
be non-letters.  The behavior of a mixed-case range such as @samp{A-z}
is somewhat ill-defined, and it may change in future Emacs versions.

@item [^ @dots{} ]
@samp{[^} begins a @dfn{complemented character set}, which matches any
character except the ones specified.  Thus, @samp{[^a-z0-9A-Z]} matches
all characters @emph{except} ASCII letters and digits.

@samp{^} is not special in a character set unless it is the first

A complemented character set can match a newline, unless newline is
mentioned as one of the characters not to match.  This is in contrast to
the handling of regexps in programs such as @code{grep}.

@item ^
is a special character that matches the empty string, but only at the
beginning of a line in the text being matched.  Otherwise it fails to
match anything.  Thus, @samp{^foo} matches a @samp{foo} that occurs at
the beginning of a line.

@item $
is similar to @samp{^} but matches only at the end of a line.  Thus,
@samp{x+$} matches a string of one @samp{x} or more at the end of a line.

@item \
has two functions: it quotes the special characters (including
@samp{\}), and it introduces additional special constructs.

Because @samp{\} quotes special characters, @samp{\$} is a regular
expression that matches only @samp{$}, and @samp{\[} is a regular

49984:632746dc04e4

  As a simple example, we can concatenate the regular expressions @samp{f}
and @samp{o} to get the regular expression @samp{fo}, which matches only
the string @samp{fo}.  Still trivial.  To do something nontrivial, you
need to use one of the special characters.  Here is a list of them.

@table @asis
@item @kbd{.}@: @r{(Period)}
is a special character that matches any single character except a newline.
Using concatenation, we can make regular expressions like @samp{a.b}, which
matches any three-character string that begins with @samp{a} and ends with
@samp{b}.@refill

@item @kbd{*}
is not a construct by itself; it is a postfix operator that means to
match the preceding regular expression repetitively as many times as
possible.  Thus, @samp{o*} matches any number of @samp{o}s (including no
@samp{o}s).

tries to match all three @samp{a}s; but the rest of the pattern is
@samp{ar} and there is only @samp{r} left to match, so this try fails.
The next alternative is for @samp{a*} to match only two @samp{a}s.
With this choice, the rest of the regexp matches successfully.@refill

@item @kbd{+}
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match
the preceding expression at least once.  So, for example, @samp{ca+r}
matches the strings @samp{car} and @samp{caaaar} but not the string
@samp{cr}, whereas @samp{ca*r} matches all three strings.

@item @kbd{?}
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it can match the
preceding expression either once or not at all.  For example,
@samp{ca?r} matches @samp{car} or @samp{cr}; nothing else.

@item @kbd{*?}, @kbd{+?}, @kbd{??}
@cindex non-greedy regexp matching
are non-greedy variants of the operators above.  The normal operators
@samp{*}, @samp{+}, @samp{?} are @dfn{greedy} in that they match as
much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can still match.  With
a following @samp{?}, they are non-greedy: they will match as little

possible starting point for match is always the one chosen.  Thus, if
you search for @samp{a.*?$} against the text @samp{abbab} followed by
a newline, it matches the whole string.  Since it @emph{can} match
starting at the first @samp{a}, it does.

@item @kbd{\@{@var{n}\@}}
is a postfix operator that specifies repetition @var{n} times---that
is, the preceding regular expression must match exactly @var{n} times
in a row.  For example, @samp{x\@{4\@}} matches the string @samp{xxxx}
and nothing else.

@item @kbd{\@{@var{n},@var{m}\@}}
is a postfix operator that specifies repetition between @var{n} and
@var{m} times---that is, the preceding regular expression must match
at least @var{n} times, but no more than @var{m} times.  If @var{m} is
omitted, then there is no upper limit, but the preceding regular
expression must match at least @var{n} times.@* @samp{\@{0,1\@}} is
equivalent to @samp{?}. @* @samp{\@{0,\@}} is equivalent to
@samp{*}. @* @samp{\@{1,\@}} is equivalent to @samp{+}.

@item @kbd{[ @dots{} ]}
is a @dfn{character set}, which begins with @samp{[} and is terminated
by @samp{]}.  In the simplest case, the characters between the two
brackets are what this set can match.

Thus, @samp{[ad]} matches either one @samp{a} or one @samp{d}, and

When you use a range in case-insensitive search, you should write both
ends of the range in upper case, or both in lower case, or both should
be non-letters.  The behavior of a mixed-case range such as @samp{A-z}
is somewhat ill-defined, and it may change in future Emacs versions.

@item @kbd{[^ @dots{} ]}
@samp{[^} begins a @dfn{complemented character set}, which matches any
character except the ones specified.  Thus, @samp{[^a-z0-9A-Z]} matches
all characters @emph{except} ASCII letters and digits.

@samp{^} is not special in a character set unless it is the first

A complemented character set can match a newline, unless newline is
mentioned as one of the characters not to match.  This is in contrast to
the handling of regexps in programs such as @code{grep}.

@item @kbd{^}
is a special character that matches the empty string, but only at the
beginning of a line in the text being matched.  Otherwise it fails to
match anything.  Thus, @samp{^foo} matches a @samp{foo} that occurs at
the beginning of a line.

@item @kbd{$}
is similar to @samp{^} but matches only at the end of a line.  Thus,
@samp{x+$} matches a string of one @samp{x} or more at the end of a line.

@item @kbd{\}
has two functions: it quotes the special characters (including
@samp{\}), and it introduces additional special constructs.

Because @samp{\} quotes special characters, @samp{\$} is a regular
expression that matches only @samp{$}, and @samp{\[} is a regular