REGEX(3C)               COMMAND REFERENCE               REGEX(3C)



NAME
     re_comp, re_exec - regular expression handler

SYNOPSIS
     char *recomp(s)
     char *s;

     reexec(s)
     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 0 if the string s was compiled successfully;
     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 regular 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 nulls.  The regular expressions recognized are described
     in the manual entry for ed(1), given the above difference.

DIAGNOSTICS
     Reexec returns -1 for an internal error.

     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 \)

CAVEATS
     The string is considered to match the regular expression if
     a portion of the string matches.  Therefore, if the entire
     string must match, it must be enclosed by an caret (^) and
     $.

SEE ALSO
     ed(1), ex(1), egrep(1), fgrep(1), grep(1).



Printed 10/17/86                                                1

%%index%%
na:72,81;
sy:153,359;
de:512,1375;
di:1887,646;
ca:2533,258;
se:2791,145;
%%index%%000000000107