Return to the PCRE2 index page.
This page is part of the PCRE2 HTML documentation. It was generated
automatically from the original man page. If there is any nonsense in it,
please consult the man page, in case the conversion went wrong.
pcre2test [options] [input file [output file]]
pcre2test is a test program for the PCRE2 regular expression libraries,
but it can also be used for experimenting with regular expressions. This
document describes the features of the test program; for details of the regular
expressions themselves, see the
pcre2pattern
documentation. For details of the PCRE2 library function calls and their
options, see the
pcre2api
documentation.
The input for pcre2test is a sequence of regular expression patterns and subject strings to be matched. The output shows the result of each match attempt. Modifiers on the command line, the patterns, and the subject lines specify PCRE2 function options, control how the subject is processed, and what output is produced.
As the original fairly simple PCRE library evolved, it acquired many different features, and as a result, the original pcretest program ended up with a lot of options in a messy, arcane syntax, for testing all the features. The move to the new PCRE2 API provided an opportunity to re-implement the test program as pcre2test, with a cleaner modifier syntax. Nevertheless, there are still many obscure modifiers, some of which are specifically designed for use in conjunction with the test script and data files that are distributed as part of PCRE2. All the modifiers are documented here, some without much justification, but many of them are unlikely to be of use except when testing the libraries.
Different versions of the PCRE2 library can be built to support character strings that are encoded in 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit code units. One, two, or all three of these libraries may be simultaneously installed. The pcre2test program can be used to test all the libraries. However, its own input and output are always in 8-bit format. When testing the 16-bit or 32-bit libraries, patterns and subject strings are converted to 16- or 32-bit format before being passed to the library functions. Results are converted back to 8-bit code units for output.
In the rest of this document, the names of library functions and structures are given in generic form, for example, pcre_compile(). The actual names used in the libraries have a suffix _8, _16, or _32, as appropriate.
Input to pcre2test is processed line by line, either by calling the C library's fgets() function, or via the libreadline library (see below). In Unix-like environments, fgets() treats any bytes other than newline as data characters. However, in some Windows environments character 26 (hex 1A) causes an immediate end of file, and no further data is read. For maximum portability, therefore, it is safest to avoid non-printing characters in pcre2test input files.
-8 If the 8-bit library has been built, this option causes it to be used (this is the default). If the 8-bit library has not been built, this option causes an error.
-16 If the 16-bit library has been built, this option causes it to be used. If only the 16-bit library has been built, this is the default. If the 16-bit library has not been built, this option causes an error.
-32 If the 32-bit library has been built, this option causes it to be used. If only the 32-bit library has been built, this is the default. If the 32-bit library has not been built, this option causes an error.
-b Behave as if each pattern has the /fullbincode modifier; the full internal binary form of the pattern is output after compilation.
-C Output the version number of the PCRE2 library, and all available information about the optional features that are included, and then exit with zero exit code. All other options are ignored.
-C option Output information about a specific build-time option, then exit. This functionality is intended for use in scripts such as RunTest. The following options output the value and set the exit code as indicated:
ebcdic-nl the code for LF (= NL) in an EBCDIC environment:
0x15 or 0x25
0 if used in an ASCII environment
exit code is always 0
linksize the configured internal link size (2, 3, or 4)
exit code is set to the link size
newline the default newline setting:
CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY
exit code is always 0
bsr the default setting for what \R matches:
ANYCRLF or ANY
exit code is always 0
The following options output 1 for true or 0 for false, and set the exit code
to the same value:
ebcdic compiled for an EBCDIC environment jit just-in-time support is available pcre16 the 16-bit library was built pcre32 the 32-bit library was built pcre8 the 8-bit library was built unicode Unicode support is availableIf an unknown option is given, an error message is output; the exit code is 0.
-d Behave as if each pattern has the debug modifier; the internal form and information about the compiled pattern is output after compilation; -d is equivalent to -b -i.
-dfa Behave as if each subject line has the dfa modifier; matching is done using the pcre2_dfa_match() function instead of the default pcre2_match().
-help Output a brief summary these options and then exit.
-i Behave as if each pattern has the /info modifier; information about the compiled pattern is given after compilation.
-jit Behave as if each pattern line has the jit modifier; after successful compilation, each pattern is passed to the just-in-time compiler, if available.
\fB-pattern\fB modifier-list Behave as if each pattern line contains the given modifiers.
-q Do not output the version number of pcre2test at the start of execution.
-S size On Unix-like systems, set the size of the run-time stack to size megabytes.
-subject modifier-list Behave as if each subject line contains the given modifiers.
-t Run each compile and match many times with a timer, and output the resulting times per compile or match. You can control the number of iterations that are used for timing by following -t with a number (as a separate item on the command line). For example, "-t 1000" iterates 1000 times. The default is to iterate 500,000 times.
-tm This is like -t except that it times only the matching phase, not the compile phase.
-T -TM These behave like -t and -tm, but in addition, at the end of a run, the total times for all compiles and matches are output.
-version Output the PCRE2 version number and then exit.
If pcre2test is given two filename arguments, it reads from the first and writes to the second. If it is given only one filename argument, it reads from that file and writes to stdout. Otherwise, it reads from stdin and writes to stdout, and prompts for each line of input, using "re>" to prompt for regular expression patterns, and "data>" to prompt for subject lines.
When pcre2test is built, a configuration option can specify that it should be linked with the libreadline or libedit library. When this is done, if the input is from a terminal, it is read using the readline() function. This provides line-editing and history facilities. The output from the -help option states whether or not readline() will be used.
The program handles any number of tests, each of which consists of a set of input lines. Each set starts with a regular expression pattern, followed by any number of subject lines to be matched against that pattern. In between sets of test data, command lines that begin with a hash (#) character may appear. This file format, with some restrictions, can also be processed by the perltest.pl script that is distributed with PCRE2 as a means of checking that the behaviour of PCRE2 and Perl is the same.
Each subject line is matched separately and independently. If you want to do multi-line matches, you have to use the \n escape sequence (or \r or \r\n, etc., depending on the newline setting) in a single line of input to encode the newline sequences. There is no limit on the length of subject lines; the input buffer is automatically extended if it is too small. There is a replication feature that makes it possible to generate long subject lines without having to supply them explicitly.
An empty line or the end of the file signals the end of the subject lines for a test, at which point a new pattern or command line is expected if there is still input to be read.
In between sets of test data, a line that begins with a hash (#) character is interpreted as a command line. If the first character is followed by white space or an exclamation mark, the line is treated as a comment, and ignored. Otherwise, the following commands are recognized:
#forbid_utfSubsequent patterns automatically have the PCRE2_NEVER_UTF and PCRE2_NEVER_UCP options set, which locks out the use of UTF and Unicode property features. This is a trigger guard that is used in test files to ensure that UTF/Unicode tests are not accidentally added to files that are used when UTF support is not included in the library. This effect can also be obtained by the use of #pattern; the difference is that #forbid_utf cannot be unset, and the automatic options are not displayed in pattern information, to avoid cluttering up test output.
#pattern <modifier-list>This command sets a default modifier list that applies to all subsequent patterns. Modifiers on a pattern can change these settings.
#perltestThe appearance of this line causes all subsequent modifier settings to be checked for compatibility with the perltest.pl script, which is used to confirm that Perl gives the same results as PCRE2. Also, apart from comment lines, none of the other command lines are permitted, because they and many of the modifiers are specific to pcre2test, and should not be used in test files that are also processed by perltest.pl. The \fP#perltest\fB command helps detect tests that are accidentally put in the wrong file.
#subject <modifier-list>This command sets a default modifier list that applies to all subsequent subject lines. Modifiers on a subject line can change these settings.
Modifier lists are used with both pattern and subject lines. Items in a list are separated by commas and optional white space. Some modifiers may be given for both patterns and subject lines, whereas others are valid for one or the other only. Each modifier has a long name, for example "anchored", and some of them must be followed by an equals sign and a value, for example, "offset=12". Modifiers that do not take values may be preceded by a minus sign to turn off a previous default setting.
A few of the more common modifiers can also be specified as single letters, for example "i" for "caseless". In documentation, following the Perl convention, these are written with a slash ("the /i modifier") for clarity. Abbreviated modifiers must all be concatenated in the first item of a modifier list. If the first item is not recognized as a long modifier name, it is interpreted as a sequence of these abbreviations. For example:
/abc/ig,newline=cr,jit=3This is a pattern line whose modifier list starts with two one-letter modifiers (/i and /g). The lower-case abbreviated modifiers are the same as used in Perl.
A pattern line must start with one of the following characters (common symbols, excluding pattern meta-characters):
/ ! " ' ` - = _ : ; , % & @ ~This is interpreted as the pattern's delimiter. A regular expression may be continued over several input lines, in which case the newline characters are included within it. It is possible to include the delimiter within the pattern by escaping it with a backslash, for example
/abc\/def/If you do this, the escape and the delimiter form part of the pattern, but since the delimiters are all non-alphanumeric, this does not affect its interpretation. If the terminating delimiter is immediately followed by a backslash, for example,
/abc/\then a backslash is added to the end of the pattern. This is done to provide a way of testing the error condition that arises if a pattern finishes with a backslash, because
/abc\/is interpreted as the first line of a pattern that starts with "abc/", causing pcre2test to read the next line as a continuation of the regular expression.
A pattern can be followed by a modifier list (details below).
Before each subject line is passed to pcre2_match() or pcre2_dfa_match(), leading and trailing white space is removed, and the line is scanned for backslash escapes. The following provide a means of encoding non-printing characters in a visible way:
\a alarm (BEL, \x07)
\b backspace (\x08)
\e escape (\x27)
\f form feed (\x0c)
\n newline (\x0a)
\r carriage return (\x0d)
\t tab (\x09)
\v vertical tab (\x0b)
\nnn octal character (up to 3 octal digits); always
a byte unless > 255 in UTF-8 or 16-bit or 32-bit mode
\o{dd...} octal character (any number of octal digits}
\xhh hexadecimal byte (up to 2 hex digits)
\x{hh...} hexadecimal character (any number of hex digits)
The use of \x{hh...} is not dependent on the use of the utf modifier on
the pattern. It is recognized always. There may be any number of hexadecimal
digits inside the braces; invalid values provoke error messages.
Note that \xhh specifies one byte rather than one character in UTF-8 mode; this makes it possible to construct invalid UTF-8 sequences for testing purposes. On the other hand, \x{hh} is interpreted as a UTF-8 character in UTF-8 mode, generating more than one byte if the value is greater than 127. When testing the 8-bit library not in UTF-8 mode, \x{hh} generates one byte for values less than 256, and causes an error for greater values.
In UTF-16 mode, all 4-digit \x{hhhh} values are accepted. This makes it possible to construct invalid UTF-16 sequences for testing purposes.
In UTF-32 mode, all 4- to 8-digit \x{...} values are accepted. This makes it possible to construct invalid UTF-32 sequences for testing purposes.
There is a special backslash sequence that specifies replication of one or more characters:
\[<characters>]{<count>}
This makes it possible to test long strings without having to provide them as
part of the file. For example:
\[abc]{4}
is converted to "abcabcabcabc". This feature does not support nesting. To
include a closing square bracket in the characters, code it as \x5D.
A backslash followed by an equals sign marke the end of the subject string and the start of a modifier list. For example:
abc\=notbol,notemptyA backslash followed by any other non-alphanumeric character just escapes that character. A backslash followed by anything else causes an error. However, if the very last character in the line is a backslash (and there is no modifier list), it is ignored. This gives a way of passing an empty line as data, since a real empty line terminates the data input.
There are three types of modifier that can appear in pattern lines, two of which may also be used in a #pattern command. A pattern's modifier list can add to or override default modifiers that were set by a previous #pattern command.
The following modifiers set options for pcre2_compile(). The most common ones have single-letter abbreviations. See pcreapi for a description of their effects.
allow_empty_class set PCRE2_ALLOW_EMPTY_CLASS
alt_bsux set PCRE2_ALT_BSUX
anchored set PCRE2_ANCHORED
auto_callout set PCRE2_AUTO_CALLOUT
/i caseless set PCRE2_CASELESS
dollar_endonly set PCRE2_DOLLAR_ENDONLY
/s dotall set PCRE2_DOTALL
dupnames set PCRE2_DUPNAMES
/x extended set PCRE2_EXTENDED
firstline set PCRE2_FIRSTLINE
match_unset_backref set PCRE2_MATCH_UNSET_BACKREF
/m multiline set PCRE2_MULTILINE
never_ucp set PCRE2_NEVER_UCP
never_utf set PCRE2_NEVER_UTF
no_auto_capture set PCRE2_NO_AUTO_CAPTURE
no_auto_possess set PCRE2_NO_AUTO_POSSESS
no_start_optimize set PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
no_utf_check set PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
ucp set PCRE2_UCP
ungreedy set PCRE2_UNGREEDY
utf set PCRE2_UTF
As well as turning on the PCRE2_UTF option, the utf modifier causes all
non-printing characters in output strings to be printed using the \x{hh...}
notation. Otherwise, those less than 0x100 are output in hex without the curly
brackets.
The following modifiers affect the compilation process or request information about the pattern:
bsr=[anycrlf|unicode] specify \R handling
/B bincode show binary code without lengths
debug same as info,fullbincode
fullbincode show binary code with lengths
/I info show info about compiled pattern
hex pattern is coded in hexadecimal
jit[=<number>] use JIT
locale=<name> use this locale
memory show memory used
newline=<type> set newline type
parens_nest_limit=<n> set maximum parentheses depth
perlcompat lock out non-Perl modifiers
posix use the POSIX API
stackguard=<number> test the stackguard feature
tables=[0|1|2] select internal tables
use_length use the pattern's length
The effects of these modifiers are described in the following sections.
FIXME: Give more examples.
The bsr modifier specifies what \R in a pattern should match. If it is set to "anycrlf", \R matches CR, LF, or CRLF only. If it is set to "unicode", \R matches any Unicode newline sequence. The default is specified when PCRE2 is built, with the default default being Unicode.
The newline modifier specifies which characters are to be interpreted as newlines, both in the pattern and (by default) in subject lines. The type must be one of CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY.
Both the \R and newline settings can be changed at match time, but if this is done, JIT matching is disabled.
The debug modifier is a shorthand for info,fullbincode, requesting all available information.
The bincode modifier causes a representation of the compiled code to be output after compilation. This information does not contain length and offset values, which ensures that the same output is generated for different internal link sizes and different code unit widths. By using bincode, the same regression tests can be used in different environments.
The fullbincode modifier, by contrast, does include length and offset values. This is used in a few special tests and is also useful for one-off tests.
The info modifier requests information about the compiled pattern (whether it is anchored, has a fixed first character, and so on). The information is obtained from the pcre2_pattern_info() function.
The hex modifier specifies that the characters of the pattern are to be interpreted as pairs of hexadecimal digits. White space is permitted between pairs. For example:
/ab 32 59/hexThis feature is provided as a way of creating patterns that contain binary zero characters. When hex is set, it implies use_length.
By default, pcre2test passes patterns as zero-terminated strings to pcre2_compile(), giving the length as -1. If use_length is set, the length of the pattern is passed. This is implied if hex is set.
The /jit modifier may optionally be followed by a number in the range 0 to 7:
0 disable JIT 1 normal match only 2 soft partial match only 3 normal match and soft partial match 4 hard partial match only 6 soft and hard partial match 7 all three modesIf no number is given, 7 is assumed. If JIT compilation is successful, the compiled JIT code will automatically be used when pcre2_match() is run, except when incompatible run-time options are specified. For more details, see the pcre2jit documentation. See also the jitstack modifier below for a way of setting the size of the JIT stack.
If the jitverify modifier is specified, the text "(JIT)" is added to the first output line after a match or non match when JIT-compiled code was actually used. This modifier can also be set on a subject line.
The /locale modifier must specify the name of a locale, for example:
/pattern/locale=fr_FRThe given locale is set, pcre2_maketables() is called to build a set of character tables for the locale, and this is then passed to pcre2_compile() when compiling the regular expression. The same tables are used when matching the following subject lines. The /locale modifier applies only to the pattern on which it appears, but can be given in a #pattern command if a default is needed. Setting a locale and alternate character tables are mutually exclusive.
The /memory modifier causes the size in bytes of the memory block used to hold the compiled pattern to be output. This does not include the size of the pcre2_code block; it is just the actual compiled data. If the pattern is subsequently passed to the JIT compiler, the size of the JIT compiled code is also output.
The parens_nest_limit modifier sets a limit on the depth of nested parentheses in a pattern. Breaching the limit causes a compilation error.
The /posix modifier causes pcre2test to call PCRE2 via the POSIX wrapper API rather than its native API. This supports only the 8-bit library. When the POSIX API is being used, the following pattern modifiers set options for the regcomp() function:
caseless REG_ICASE multiline REG_NEWLINE no_auto_capture REG_NOSUB dotall REG_DOTALL ) ungreedy REG_UNGREEDY ) These options are not part of ucp REG_UCP ) the POSIX standard utf REG_UTF8 )The aftertext and allaftertext subject modifiers work as described below. All other modifiers cause an error.
The /stackguard modifier is used to test the use of pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard(), a function that is provided to enable stack availability to be checked during compilation (see the pcre2api documentation for details). If the number specified by the modifier is greater than zero, pcre2_set_compile_recursion_guard() is called to set up callback from pcre2_compile() to a local function. The argument it is passed is the current nesting parenthesis depth; if this is greater than the value given by the modifier, non-zero is returned, causing the compilation to be aborted.
The /tables modifier must be followed by a single digit. It causes a specific set of built-in character tables to be passed to pcre2_compile(). This is used in the PCRE2 tests to check behaviour with different character tables. The digit specifies the tables as follows:
0 do not pass any special character tables
1 the default ASCII tables, as distributed in
pcre2_chartables.c.dist
2 a set of tables defining ISO 8859 characters
In table 2, some characters whose codes are greater than 128 are identified as
letters, digits, spaces, etc. Setting alternate character tables and a locale
are mutually exclusive.
The following modifiers are really subject modifiers, and are described below. However, they may be included in a pattern's modifier list, in which case they are applied to every subject line that is processed with that pattern. They do not affect the compilation process.
aftertext show text after match
allaftertext show text after captures
allcaptures show all captures
allusedtext show all consulted text
/g global global matching
jitverify verify JIT usage
mark show mark values
These modifiers may not appear in a #pattern command. If you want them as
defaults, set them in a #subject command.
The modifiers that can appear in subject lines and the #subject command are of two types.
The following modifiers set options for pcre2_match() or pcre2_dfa_match(). See pcreapi for a description of their effects.
anchored set PCRE2_ANCHORED
dfa_restart set PCRE2_DFA_RESTART
dfa_shortest set PCRE2_DFA_SHORTEST
no_start_optimize set PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
no_utf_check set PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
notbol set PCRE2_NOTBOL
notempty set PCRE2_NOTEMPTY
notempty_atstart set PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART
noteol set PCRE2_NOTEOL
partial_hard (or ph) set PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD
partial_soft (or ps) set PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT
The partial matching modifiers are provided with abbreviations because they
appear frequently in tests.
If the /posix modifier was present on the pattern, causing the POSIX wrapper API to be used, the only option-setting modifiers that have any effect are notbol, notempty, and noteol, causing REG_NOTBOL, REG_NOTEMPTY, and REG_NOTEOL, respectively, to be passed to regexec(). Any other modifiers cause an error.
The following modifiers affect the matching process or request additional information. Some of them may also be specified on a pattern line (see above), in which case they apply to every subject line that is matched against that pattern.
aftertext show text after match
allaftertext show text after captures
allcaptures show all captures
allusedtext show all consulted text
altglobal alternative global matching
bsr=[anycrlf|unicode] specify \R handling
callout_capture show captures at callout time
callout_data=<n> set a value to pass via callouts
callout_fail=<n>[:<m>] control callout failure
callout_none do not supply a callout function
copy=<number or name> copy captured substring
dfa use pcre2_dfa_match()
find_limits find match and recursion limits
get=<number or name> extract captured substring
getall extract all captured substrings
/g global global matching
jitstack=<n> set size of JIT stack
jitverify verify JIT usage
mark show mark values
match_limit=>n> set a match limit
memory show memory usage
newline=<type> set newline type
offset=<n> set starting offset
ovector=<n> set size of output vector
recursion_limit=<n> set a recursion limit
The effects of these modifiers are described in the following sections.
FIXME: Give more examples.
These modifiers set the newline and \R processing conventions for the subject line, overriding any values that were set at compile time (as described above). JIT matching is disabled if these settings are changed at match time.
The aftertext modifier requests that as well as outputting the substring that matched the entire pattern, pcre2test should in addition output the remainder of the subject string. This is useful for tests where the subject contains multiple copies of the same substring. The allaftertext modifier requests the same action for captured substrings as well as the main matched substring. In each case the remainder is output on the following line with a plus character following the capture number.
The allusedtext modifier requests that all the text that was consulted during a successful pattern match be shown. This affects the output if there is a lookbehind at the start of a match, or a lookahead at the end, or if \K is used in the pattern. Characters that precede or follow the start and end of the actual match are indicated in the output by '<' or '>' characters underneath them. Here is an example:
/(?<=pqr)abc(?=xyz)/
123pqrabcxyz456\=allusedtext
0: pqrabcxyz
<<< >>>
This shows that the matched string is "abc", with the preceding and following
strings "pqr" and "xyz" also consulted during the match.
The allcaptures modifier requests that the values of all potential captured parentheses be output after a match. By default, only those up to the highest one actually used in the match are output (corresponding to the return code from pcre2_match()). Groups that did not take part in the match are output as "<unset>".
A callout function is supplied when pcre2test calls the library matching functions, unless callout_none is specified. If callout_capture is set, the current captured groups are output when a callout occurs.
The callout_fail modifier can be given one or two numbers. If there is only one number, 1 is returned instead of 0 when a callout of that number is reached. If two numbers are given, 1 is returned when callout <n> is reached for the <m>th time.
The callout_data modifier can be given an unsigned or a negative number. Any value other than zero is used as a return from pcre2test's callout function.
The copy and get modifiers can be used to test the pcre2_substring_copy_xxx() and pcre2_substring_get_xxx() functions. They can be given more than once, and each can specify a group name or number, for example:
abcd\=copy=1,copy=3,get=G1If the #subject command is used to set default copy and get lists, these can be unset by specifying a negative number for numbered groups and an empty name for named groups.
The getall modifier tests pcre2_substring_list_get(), which extracts all captured substrings.
If the subject line is successfully matched, the substrings extracted by the convenience functions are output with C, G, or L after the string number instead of a colon. This is in addition to the normal full list. The string length (that is, the return from the extraction function) is given in parentheses after each substring.
Searching for all possible matches within a subject can be requested by the global or /altglobal modifier. After finding a match, the matching function is called again to search the remainder of the subject. The difference between global and altglobal is that the former uses the start_offset argument to pcre2_match() or pcre2_dfa_match() to start searching at a new point within the entire string (which is what Perl does), whereas the latter passes over a shortened substring. This makes a difference to the matching process if the pattern begins with a lookbehind assertion (including \b or \B).
If an empty string is matched, the next match is done with the PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART and PCRE2_ANCHORED flags set, in order to search for another, non-empty, match at the same point in the subject. If this match fails, the start offset is advanced, and the normal match is retried. This imitates the way Perl handles such cases when using the /g modifier or the split() function. Normally, the start offset is advanced by one character, but if the newline convention recognizes CRLF as a newline, and the current character is CR followed by LF, an advance of two is used.
The jitstack modifier provides a way of setting the maximum stack size that is used by the just-in-time optimization code. It is ignored if JIT optimization is not being used. Providing a stack that is larger than the default 32K is necessary only for very complicated patterns.
The match_limit and recursion_limit modifiers set the appropriate limits in the match context. These values are ignored when the find_limits modifier is specified.
If the find_limits modifier is present, pcre2test calls pcre2_match() several times, setting different values in the match context via pcre2_set_match_limit() and pcre2_set_recursion_limit() until it finds the minimum values for each parameter that allow pcre2_match() to complete without error.
The match_limit number is a measure of the amount of backtracking that takes place, and learning the minimum value can be instructive. For most simple matches, the number is quite small, but for patterns with very large numbers of matching possibilities, it can become large very quickly with increasing length of subject string. The match_limit_recursion number is a measure of how much stack (or, if PCRE2 is compiled with NO_RECURSE, how much heap) memory is needed to complete the match attempt.
The mark modifier causes the names from backtracking control verbs that are returned from calls to pcre2_match() to be displayed. If a mark is returned for a match, non-match, or partial match, pcre2test shows it. For a match, it is on a line by itself, tagged with "MK:". Otherwise, it is added to the non-match message.
The memory modifier causes pcre2test to log all memory allocation and freeing calls that occur during a match operation.
The offset modifier sets an offset in the subject string at which matching starts. Its value is a number of code units, not characters.
The ovector modifier applies only to the subject line in which it appears, though of course it can also be used to set a default in a #subject command. It specifies the number of pairs of offsets that are available for storing matching information. The default is 15.
By default, pcre2test uses the standard PCRE2 matching function, pcre2_match() to match each subject line. PCRE2 also supports an alternative matching function, pcre2_dfa_match(), which operates in a different way, and has some restrictions. The differences between the two functions are described in the pcre2matching documentation.
If the dfa modifier is set, the alternative matching function is used. This function finds all possible matches at a given point in the subject. If, however, the dfa_shortest modifier is set, processing stops after the first match is found. This is always the shortest possible match.
This section describes the output when the normal matching function, pcre2_match(), is being used.
When a match succeeds, pcre2test outputs the list of captured substrings, starting with number 0 for the string that matched the whole pattern. Otherwise, it outputs "No match" when the return is PCRE2_ERROR_NOMATCH, or "Partial match:" followed by the partially matching substring when the return is PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL. (Note that this is the entire substring that was inspected during the partial match; it may include characters before the actual match start if a lookbehind assertion, \K, \b, or \B was involved.)
For any other return, pcre2test outputs the PCRE2 negative error number and a short descriptive phrase. If the error is a failed UTF string check, the offset of the start of the failing character and the reason code are also output. Here is an example of an interactive pcre2test run.
$ pcre2test
PCRE2 version 9.00 2014-05-10
re> /^abc(\d+)/
data> abc123
0: abc123
1: 123
data> xyz
No match
Unset capturing substrings that are not followed by one that is set are not
returned by pcre2_match(), and are not shown by pcre2test. In the
following example, there are two capturing substrings, but when the first data
line is matched, the second, unset substring is not shown. An "internal" unset
substring is shown as "<unset>", as for the second data line.
re> /(a)|(b)/
data> a
0: a
1: a
data> b
0: b
1: <unset>
2: b
If the strings contain any non-printing characters, they are output as \xhh
escapes if the value is less than 256 and UTF mode is not set. Otherwise they
are output as \x{hh...} escapes. See below for the definition of non-printing
characters. If the /aftertext modifier is set, the output for substring
0 is followed by the the rest of the subject string, identified by "0+" like
this:
re> /cat/aftertext
data> cataract
0: cat
0+ aract
If global matching is requested, the results of successive matching attempts
are output in sequence, like this:
re> /\Bi(\w\w)/g
data> Mississippi
0: iss
1: ss
0: iss
1: ss
0: ipp
1: pp
"No match" is output only if the first match attempt fails. Here is an example
of a failure message (the offset 4 that is specified by \>4 is past the end of
the subject string):
re> /xyz/
data> xyz\=offset=4
Error -24 (bad offset value)
Note that whereas patterns can be continued over several lines (a plain ">" prompt is used for continuations), subject lines may not. However newlines can be included in a subject by means of the \n escape (or \r, \r\n, etc., depending on the newline sequence setting).
When the alternative matching function, pcre2_dfa_match(), is used, the output consists of a list of all the matches that start at the first point in the subject where there is at least one match. For example:
re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/
data> yellow tangerine\=dfa
0: tangerine
1: tang
2: tan
(Using the normal matching function on this data finds only "tang".) The
longest matching string is always given first (and numbered zero). After a
PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL return, the output is "Partial match:", followed by the
partially matching substring. (Note that this is the entire substring that was
inspected during the partial match; it may include characters before the actual
match start if a lookbehind assertion, \K, \b, or \B was involved.)
If global matching is requested, the search for further matches resumes at the end of the longest match. For example:
re> /(tang|tangerine|tan)/g
data> yellow tangerine and tangy sultana\=dfa
0: tangerine
1: tang
2: tan
0: tang
1: tan
0: tan
The alternative matching function does not support substring capture, so the
modifiers that are concerned with captured substrings are not relevant.
When the alternative matching function has given the PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL return, indicating that the subject partially matched the pattern, you can restart the match with additional subject data by means of the dfa_restart modifier. For example:
re> /^\d?\d(jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec)\d\d$/
data> 23ja\=P,dfa
Partial match: 23ja
data> n05\=dfa,dfa_restart
0: n05
For further information about partial matching, see the
pcre2partial
documentation.
If the pattern contains any callout requests, pcre2test's callout function is called during matching. This works with both matching functions. By default, the called function displays the callout number, the start and current positions in the text at the callout time, and the next pattern item to be tested. For example:
--->pqrabcdef
0 ^ ^ \d
This output indicates that callout number 0 occurred for a match attempt
starting at the fourth character of the subject string, when the pointer was at
the seventh character, and when the next pattern item was \d. Just
one circumflex is output if the start and current positions are the same.
Callouts numbered 255 are assumed to be automatic callouts, inserted as a result of the /auto_callout pattern modifier. In this case, instead of showing the callout number, the offset in the pattern, preceded by a plus, is output. For example:
re> /\d?[A-E]\*/auto_callout
data> E*
--->E*
+0 ^ \d?
+3 ^ [A-E]
+8 ^^ \*
+10 ^ ^
0: E*
If a pattern contains (*MARK) items, an additional line is output whenever
a change of latest mark is passed to the callout function. For example:
re> /a(*MARK:X)bc/auto_callout
data> abc
--->abc
+0 ^ a
+1 ^^ (*MARK:X)
+10 ^^ b
Latest Mark: X
+11 ^ ^ c
+12 ^ ^
0: abc
The mark changes between matching "a" and "b", but stays the same for the rest
of the match, so nothing more is output. If, as a result of backtracking, the
mark reverts to being unset, the text "<unset>" is output.
The callout function in pcre2test returns zero (carry on matching) by default, but you can use a callout_fail modifier in a subject line (as described above) to change this and other parameters of the callout.
Inserting callouts can be helpful when using pcre2test to check complicated regular expressions. For further information about callouts, see the pcre2callout documentation.
When pcre2test is outputting text in the compiled version of a pattern, bytes other than 32-126 are always treated as non-printing characters and are therefore shown as hex escapes.
When pcre2test is outputting text that is a matched part of a subject string, it behaves in the same way, unless a different locale has been set for the pattern (using the /locale modifier). In this case, the isprint() function is used to distinguish printing and non-printing characters.
pcre2(3), pcre16(3), pcre32(3), pcre2api(3), pcre2callout(3), pcre2jit, pcre2matching(3), pcre2partial(d), pcre2pattern(3), pcre2precompile(3).
Philip Hazel
University Computing Service
Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Last updated: 19 August 2014
Copyright © 1997-2014 University of Cambridge.
Return to the PCRE2 index page.