# pcre2_match man page

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SYNOPSIS

#include <pcre2.h>

int pcre2_match(const pcre2_code *code, PCRE2_SPTR subject, PCRE2_SIZE length, PCRE2_SIZE startoffset, uint32_t options, pcre2_match_data *match_data, pcre2_match_context *mcontext);

DESCRIPTION

This function matches a compiled regular expression against a given subject string, using a matching algorithm that is similar to Perl's. It returns offsets to captured substrings. Its arguments are:

      code         Points to the compiled pattern
      subject      Points to the subject string
      length       Length of the subject string
      startoffset  Offset in the subject at which to start matching
      options      Option bits
      match_data   Points to a match data block, for results
      mcontext     Points to a match context, or is NULL

A match context is needed only if you want to:

      Set up a callout function
      Change the limit for calling the internal function match()
      Change the limit for calling match() recursively
      Set custom memory management when the heap is used for recursion

The length and startoffset values are code units, not characters. The options are:

      PCRE2_ANCHORED          Match only at the first position
      PCRE2_NOTBOL            Subject string is not the beginning of a line
      PCRE2_NOTEOL            Subject string is not the end of a line
      PCRE2_NOTEMPTY          An empty string is not a valid match
      PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART  An empty string at the start of the subject
                               is not a valid match
      PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK      Do not check the subject for UTF
                               validity (only relevant if PCRE2_UTF
                               was set at compile time)
      PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT      Return PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL for a partial
                                match if no full matches are found
      PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD      Return PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL for a partial match
                               if that is found before a full match

For details of partial matching, see the pcre2partial page. There is a complete description of the PCRE2 native API in the pcre2api page and a description of the POSIX API in the pcre2posix page.

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