comparison lispref/searching.texi @ 90813:e6fdae9180d4

Merge from emacs--devo--0 Patches applied: * emacs--devo--0 (patch 698-710) - Update from CVS - Merge from gnus--rel--5.10 * gnus--rel--5.10 (patch 216) - Update from CVS Revision: [e-mail]/emacs--unicode--0--patch-196

90812:6137cc8ddf90

first 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.

@strong{Warning:} Nested repetition operators take a long time,
or even forever, if they
lead to ambiguous matching.  For example, trying to match the regular
expression @samp{\(x+y*\)*a} against the string
@samp{xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxz} could take hours before it
ultimately fails.  Emacs must try each way of grouping the 35
@samp{x}s before concluding that none of them can work.  Even worse,
@samp{\(x*\)*} can match the null string in infinitely many ways, so
it causes an infinite loop.  To avoid these problems, check nested
repetitions carefully, to make sure that they do not cause combinatorial
explosions in backtracking.

@item @samp{+}
@cindex @samp{+} in regexp
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match
the preceding expression at least once.  So, for example, @samp{ca+r}

90813:e6fdae9180d4

first 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.

@strong{Warning:} Nested repetition operators can run for an
indefinitely long time, if they lead to ambiguous matching.  For
example, trying to match the regular expression @samp{\(x+y*\)*a}
against the string @samp{xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxz} could
take hours before it ultimately fails.  Emacs must try each way of
grouping the @samp{x}s before concluding that none of them can work.
Even worse, @samp{\(x*\)*} can match the null string in infinitely
many ways, so it causes an infinite loop.  To avoid these problems,
check nested repetitions carefully, to make sure that they do not
cause combinatorial explosions in backtracking.

@item @samp{+}
@cindex @samp{+} in regexp
is a postfix operator, similar to @samp{*} except that it must match
the preceding expression at least once.  So, for example, @samp{ca+r}