regex(3)                (BSD Compatibility Package)                regex(3)

NAME
     regex: recomp, reexec - regular expression handler

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/ucb/cc [flag ...] file ... -lucb

     #include <recomp.h>

     char *recomp(const char *s);

     int reexec(const char *s);

DESCRIPTION
     recomp compiles a string into an internal form suitable for pattern
     matching. reexec checks the argument string against the last string
     passed to recomp.

     recomp returns a NULL pointer if the string s was compiled success-
     fully; otherwise a string containing an error message is returned. If
     recomp is passed 0 or a NULL string, it returns without changing the
     currently compiled regular expression.

     reexec returns 1 if the string s matches the last compiled regular
     expression, 0 if the string s failed to match the last compiled regu-
     lar expression, and -1 if the compiled regular expression was invalid
     (indicating an internal error).

     The strings passed to both recomp and reexec may have trailing or
     embedded NEWLINE characters; they are terminated by NULL characters.
     The regular expressions recognized are described in the manual entry
     for ed(1), given the above difference.

RETURN VALUE
     reexec returns -1 for an internal error.

DIAGNOSTICS
     recomp returns one of the following strings if an error occurs:

     No previous regular expression
     Regular expression too long
     unmatched \(
     missing ]
     too many \(\) pairs
     unmatched \)

SEE ALSO
     ed(1), ex(1), grep(1), regcmp(1), regcomp(3C), regcmp(3G),
     regexpr(3G), expressions(5), regex(5), regexp(5).







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