1PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE(3) Library Functions Manual PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE(3)
2
6 PCRE2 - Perl-compatible regular expressions (revised API)
7
9 #include <pcre2.h>
11 int pcre2_substitute(const pcre2_code *code, PCRE2_SPTR subject,
13 PCRE2_SIZE length, PCRE2_SIZE startoffset,
14 uint32_t options, pcre2_match_data *match_data,
15 pcre2_match_context *mcontext, PCRE2_SPTR replacement,
16 PCRE2_SIZE rlength, PCRE2_UCHAR *outputbuffer,
17 PCRE2_SIZE *outlengthptr);
18
20 This function matches a compiled regular expression against a given
22 subject string, using a matching algorithm that is similar to Perl's.
23 It then makes a copy of the subject, substituting a replacement string
24 for what was matched. Its arguments are:
25 code Points to the compiled pattern
27 subject Points to the subject string
28 length Length of the subject string
29 startoffset Offset in the subject at which to start matching
30 options Option bits
31 match_data Points to a match data block, or is NULL
32 mcontext Points to a match context, or is NULL
33 replacement Points to the replacement string
34 rlength Length of the replacement string
35 outputbuffer Points to the output buffer
36 outlengthptr Points to the length of the output buffer
37 A match data block is needed only if you want to inspect the data from
39 the final match that is returned in that block or if PCRE2_SUBSTI‐
40 TUTE_MATCHED is set. A match context is needed only if you want to:
41 Set up a callout function
43 Set a matching offset limit
44 Change the backtracking match limit
45 Change the backtracking depth limit
46 Set custom memory management in the match context
47 The length, startoffset and rlength values are code units, not charac‐
49 ters, as is the contents of the variable pointed at by outlengthptr.
50 This variable must contain the length of the output buffer when the
51 function is called. If the function is successful, the value is changed
52 to the length of the new string, excluding the trailing zero that is
53 automatically added.
54 The subject and replacement lengths can be given as PCRE2_ZERO_TERMI‐
56 NATED for zero-terminated strings. The options are:
57 PCRE2_ANCHORED Match only at the first position
59 PCRE2_ENDANCHORED Pattern can match only at end of subject
60 PCRE2_NOTBOL Subject is not the beginning of a line
61 PCRE2_NOTEOL Subject is not the end of a line
62 PCRE2_NOTEMPTY An empty string is not a valid match
63 PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART An empty string at the start of the
64 subject is not a valid match
65 PCRE2_NO_JIT Do not use JIT matching
66 PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK Do not check the subject or replacement
67 for UTF validity (only relevant if
68 PCRE2_UTF was set at compile time)
69 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED Do extended replacement processing
70 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL Replace all occurrences in the subject
71 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL The replacement string is literal
72 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED Use pre-existing match data for 1st match
73 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH If overflow, compute needed length
74 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_REPLACEMENT_ONLY Return only replacement string(s)
75 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET Treat unknown group as unset
76 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY Simple unset insert = empty string
77 If PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL is set, PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED,
79 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET, and PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY are
80 ignored.
81 If PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is set, match_data must be non-zero; its
83 contents must be the result of a call to pcre2_match() using the same
84 pattern and subject.
85 The function returns the number of substitutions, which may be zero if
87 there are no matches. The result may be greater than one only when
88 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set. In the event of an error, a negative
89 error code is returned.
90 There is a complete description of the PCRE2 native API in the pcre2api
92 page and a description of the POSIX API in the pcre2posix page.
93PCRE2 10.35 22 January 2020 PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE(3)