PCRE2TEST(1)                General Commands Manual               PCRE2TEST(1)



NAME
       pcre2test - a program for testing Perl-compatible regular expressions.

SYNOPSIS

       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  documenta-
       tion.  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. There are also command lines for
       setting defaults and controlling some special actions. The output shows
       the  result  of  each  match attempt. Modifiers on external or internal
       command lines, the patterns, and the subject lines specify PCRE2  func-
       tion  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.


PCRE2's 8-BIT, 16-BIT AND 32-BIT LIBRARIES

       Different versions of the PCRE2 library can be built to support charac-
       ter  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-bit 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 struc-
       tures  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 ENCODING

       Input  to  pcre2test is processed line by line, either by calling the C
       library's fgets() function, or via the  libreadline  library.  In  some
       Windows  environments  character 26 (hex 1A) causes an immediate end of
       file, and no further data is read, so this character should be  avoided
       unless you really want that action.

       The  input  is  processed using using C's string functions, so must not
       contain binary zeroes, even though in Unix-like  environments,  fgets()
       treats  any  bytes  other  than newline as data characters. An error is
       generated if a binary zero is encountered. Subject lines are  processed
       for  backslash  escapes,  which  makes  it possible to include any data
       value in strings that are passed to the library for matching. For  pat-
       terns,  there  is  a  facility  for specifying some or all of the 8-bit
       input characters as hexadecimal  pairs,  which  makes  it  possible  to
       include binary zeros.

   Input for the 16-bit and 32-bit libraries

       When testing the 16-bit or 32-bit libraries, there is a need to be able
       to generate character code points greater than 255 in the strings  that
       are  passed to the library. For subject lines, backslash escapes can be
       used. In addition, when the  utf  modifier  (see  "Setting  compilation
       options" below) is set, the pattern and any following subject lines are
       interpreted as UTF-8 strings and translated  to  UTF-16  or  UTF-32  as
       appropriate.

       For  non-UTF testing of wide characters, the utf8_input modifier can be
       used. This is mutually exclusive with  utf,  and  is  allowed  only  in
       16-bit  or  32-bit  mode.  It  causes the pattern and following subject
       lines to be treated as UTF-8 according to the original definition  (RFC
       2279), which allows for character values up to 0x7fffffff. Each charac-
       ter is placed in one 16-bit or 32-bit code unit (in  the  16-bit  case,
       values greater than 0xffff cause an error to occur).

       UTF-8  is  not  capable of encoding values greater than 0x7fffffff, but
       such values can be handled by the 32-bit  library.  When  testing  this
       library  in  non-UTF mode with utf8_input set, if any character is pre-
       ceded by the byte 0xff (which is an illegal byte in  UTF-8)  0x80000000
       is added to the character's value. This is the only way of passing such
       code points in a pattern string. For subject strings, using  an  escape
       sequence is preferable.


COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

       -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.

       -ac       Behave as if each pattern has the auto_callout modifier, that
                 is, insert automatic callouts into every pattern that is com-
                 piled.

       -b        Behave  as  if each pattern has the fullbincode modifier; the
                 full internal binary form of the pattern is output after com-
                 pilation.

       -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:

                   backslash-C  \C is supported (not locked out)
                   ebcdic       compiled for an EBCDIC environment
                   jit          just-in-time support is available
                   pcre2-16     the 16-bit library was built
                   pcre2-32     the 32-bit library was built
                   pcre2-8      the 8-bit library was built
                   unicode      Unicode support is available

                 If 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 inter-
                 nal 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().

       -error number[,number,...]
                 Call  pcre2_get_error_message() for each of the error numbers
                 in the comma-separated list, display the  resulting  messages
                 on  the  standard  output, then exit with zero exit code. The
                 numbers may be positive or negative. This  is  a  convenience
                 facility for PCRE2 maintainers.

       -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.

       -pattern 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  out-
                 put  the  resulting  times  per compile or match. When JIT is
                 used, separate times are given for the  initial  compile  and
                 the  JIT  compile.  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  out-
                 put.

       -version  Output the PCRE2 version number and then exit.


DESCRIPTION

       If  pcre2test  is given two filename arguments, it reads from the first
       and writes to the second. If the first name is "-", input is taken from
       the  standard  input. If pcre2test is given only one argument, it reads
       from that file and writes to stdout. Otherwise, it reads from stdin and
       writes to stdout.

       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 pat-
       tern. In between sets of test data, command lines that begin with # may
       appear. This file format, with some restrictions, can also be processed
       by the perltest.sh script that is distributed with PCRE2 as a means  of
       checking that the behaviour of PCRE2 and Perl is the same.

       When the input is a terminal, pcre2test prompts for each line of input,
       using "re>" to prompt for regular expression patterns, and  "data>"  to
       prompt  for subject lines. Command lines starting with # can be entered
       only in response to the "re>" prompt.

       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  are  replication features that makes it possible to
       generate long repetitive pattern or 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.


COMMAND LINES

       In  between sets of test data, a line that begins with # 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_utf

       Subsequent  patterns  automatically  have   the   PCRE2_NEVER_UTF   and
       PCRE2_NEVER_UCP  options  set, which locks out the use of the PCRE2_UTF
       and PCRE2_UCP options and the use of (*UTF) and (*UCP) at the start  of
       patterns.  This  command  also  forces an error if a subsequent pattern
       contains any occurrences of \P, \p, or \X, which  are  still  supported
       when  PCRE2_UTF  is not set, but which require Unicode property support
       to be included in the library.

       This is a trigger guard that is used in test files to ensure  that  UTF
       or  Unicode property tests are not accidentally added to files that are
       used when Unicode support is  not  included  in  the  library.  Setting
       PCRE2_NEVER_UTF  and  PCRE2_NEVER_UCP as a default 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 informa-
       tion, to avoid cluttering up test output.

         #load <filename>

       This command is used to load a set of precompiled patterns from a file,
       as  described  in  the  section entitled "Saving and restoring compiled
       patterns" below.

         #newline_default [<newline-list>]

       When PCRE2 is built, a default newline  convention  can  be  specified.
       This  determines which characters and/or character pairs are recognized
       as indicating a newline in a pattern or subject string. The default can
       be  overridden when a pattern is compiled. The standard test files con-
       tain tests of various newline conventions,  but  the  majority  of  the
       tests  expect  a  single  linefeed  to  be  recognized  as a newline by
       default. Without special action the tests would fail when PCRE2 is com-
       piled with either CR or CRLF as the default newline.

       The #newline_default command specifies a list of newline types that are
       acceptable as the default. The types must be one of CR, LF, CRLF,  ANY-
       CRLF, or ANY (in upper or lower case), for example:

         #newline_default LF Any anyCRLF

       If the default newline is in the list, this command has no effect. Oth-
       erwise, except when testing the POSIX  API,  a  newline  modifier  that
       specifies  the  first  newline  convention in the list (LF in the above
       example) is added to any pattern that does not already have  a  newline
       modifier. If the newline list is empty, the feature is turned off. This
       command is present in a number of the standard test input files.

       When the POSIX API is being tested there is  no  way  to  override  the
       default  newline  convention,  though it is possible to set the newline
       convention from within the pattern. A warning is  given  if  the  posix
       modifier is used when #newline_default would set a default for the non-
       POSIX API.

         #pattern <modifier-list>

       This command sets a default modifier list that applies  to  all  subse-
       quent patterns. Modifiers on a pattern can change these settings.

         #perltest

       The  appearance of this line causes all subsequent modifier settings to
       be checked for compatibility with the perltest.sh 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.sh.  The
       #perltest  command  helps detect tests that are accidentally put in the
       wrong file.

         #pop [<modifiers>]
         #popcopy [<modifiers>]

       These commands are used to manipulate the stack of  compiled  patterns,
       as  described  in  the  section entitled "Saving and restoring compiled
       patterns" below.

         #save <filename>

       This command is used to save a set of compiled patterns to a  file,  as
       described  in  the section entitled "Saving and restoring compiled pat-
       terns" below.

         #subject <modifier-list>

       This command sets a default modifier list that applies  to  all  subse-
       quent  subject lines. Modifiers on a subject line can change these set-
       tings.


MODIFIER SYNTAX

       Modifier lists are used with both pattern and subject lines. Items in a
       list are separated by commas followed by optional white space. Trailing
       whitespace in a modifier list is ignored. Some modifiers may  be  given
       for  both patterns and subject lines, whereas others are valid only for
       one  or  the  other.  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". Values cannot  contain  comma  charac-
       ters,  but may contain spaces. Modifiers that do not take values may be
       preceded by a minus sign to turn off a previous setting.

       A few of the more common modifiers can also be specified as single let-
       ters,  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=3

       This 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.


PATTERN SYNTAX

       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 delim-
       iter 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  fol-
       lowed 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  regu-
       lar expression.

       A pattern can be followed by a modifier list (details below).


SUBJECT LINE SYNTAX

       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 hexa-
       decimal digits inside the braces; invalid  values  provoke  error  mes-
       sages.

       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 marks the end of the subject
       string and the start of a modifier list. For example:

         abc\=notbol,notempty

       If the subject string is empty and \= is followed  by  whitespace,  the
       line  is  treated  as a comment line, and is not used for matching. For
       example:

         \= This is a comment.
         abc\= This is an invalid modifier list.

       A 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.


PATTERN MODIFIERS

       There  are  several types of modifier that can appear in pattern lines.
       Except where noted below, they may also be used in #pattern commands. A
       pattern's  modifier  list can add to or override default modifiers that
       were set by a previous #pattern command.

   Setting compilation options

       The following modifiers set options for pcre2_compile(). The most  com-
       mon  ones have single-letter abbreviations. See pcre2api for a descrip-
       tion of their effects.

             allow_empty_class         set PCRE2_ALLOW_EMPTY_CLASS
             alt_bsux                  set PCRE2_ALT_BSUX
             alt_circumflex            set PCRE2_ALT_CIRCUMFLEX
             alt_verbnames             set PCRE2_ALT_VERBNAMES
             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_backslash_c         set PCRE2_NEVER_BACKSLASH_C
             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_dotstar_anchor         set PCRE2_NO_DOTSTAR_ANCHOR
             no_start_optimize         set PCRE2_NO_START_OPTIMIZE
             no_utf_check              set PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK
             ucp                       set PCRE2_UCP
             ungreedy                  set PCRE2_UNGREEDY
             use_offset_limit          set PCRE2_USE_OFFSET_LIMIT
             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. Setting utf in 16-bit or 32-bit mode also
       causes pattern and subject  strings  to  be  translated  to  UTF-16  or
       UTF-32, respectively, before being passed to library functions.

   Setting compilation controls

       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
             callout_info              show callout information
             debug                     same as info,fullbincode
             fullbincode               show binary code with lengths
         /I  info                      show info about compiled pattern
             hex                       unquoted characters are hexadecimal
             jit[=<number>]            use JIT
             jitfast                   use JIT fast path
             jitverify                 verify JIT use
             locale=<name>             use this locale
             max_pattern_length=<n>    set the maximum pattern length
             memory                    show memory used
             newline=<type>            set newline type
             null_context              compile with a NULL context
             parens_nest_limit=<n>     set maximum parentheses depth
             posix                     use the POSIX API
             posix_nosub               use the POSIX API with REG_NOSUB
             push                      push compiled pattern onto the stack
             pushcopy                  push a copy onto the stack
             stackguard=<number>       test the stackguard feature
             tables=[0|1|2]            select internal tables
             use_length                do not zero-terminate the pattern
             utf8_input                treat input as UTF-8

       The effects of these modifiers are described in the following sections.

   Newline and \R handling

       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 in subject lines. The type must be
       one of CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY (in upper or lower case).

   Information about a pattern

       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 dif-
       ferent  internal  link  sizes  and different code unit widths. By using
       bincode, the same regression tests can be used  in  different  environ-
       ments.

       The  fullbincode  modifier, by contrast, does include length and offset
       values. This is used in a few special tests that run only for  specific
       code unit widths and link sizes, 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. Here
       are some typical examples:

           re> /(?i)(^a|^b)/m,info
         Capturing subpattern count = 1
         Compile options: multiline
         Overall options: caseless multiline
         First code unit at start or follows newline
         Subject length lower bound = 1

           re> /(?i)abc/info
         Capturing subpattern count = 0
         Compile options: <none>
         Overall options: caseless
         First code unit = 'a' (caseless)
         Last code unit = 'c' (caseless)
         Subject length lower bound = 3

       "Compile options" are those specified by modifiers;  "overall  options"
       have  added options that are taken or deduced from the pattern. If both
       sets of options are the same, just a single "options" line  is  output;
       if  there  are  no  options,  the line is omitted. "First code unit" is
       where any match must start; if there is more than one they  are  listed
       as  "starting  code  units".  "Last code unit" is the last literal code
       unit that must be present in any match. This  is  not  necessarily  the
       last  character.  These lines are omitted if no starting or ending code
       units are recorded.

       The callout_info modifier requests information about all  the  callouts
       in the pattern. A list of them is output at the end of any other infor-
       mation that is requested. For each callout, either its number or string
       is given, followed by the item that follows it in the pattern.

   Passing a NULL context

       Normally,  pcre2test  passes a context block to pcre2_compile(). If the
       null_context modifier is set, however, NULL  is  passed.  This  is  for
       testing  that  pcre2_compile()  behaves correctly in this case (it uses
       default values).

   Specifying the pattern's length

       By default, patterns are passed to the compiling functions as zero-ter-
       minated  strings.  When  using the POSIX wrapper API, there is no other
       option. However, when using PCRE2's native API, patterns can be  passed
       by  length  instead  of  being zero-terminated. The use_length modifier
       causes this to happen.  Using a length happens  automatically  (whether
       or  not  use_length is set) when hex is set, because patterns specified
       in hexadecimal may contain binary zeros.

   Specifying pattern characters in hexadecimal

       The hex modifier specifies that the characters of the  pattern,  except
       for  substrings  enclosed  in single or double quotes, are to be inter-
       preted as pairs of hexadecimal digits. This feature is  provided  as  a
       way of creating patterns that contain binary zeros and other non-print-
       ing characters. White space is permitted between pairs of  digits.  For
       example, this pattern contains three characters:

         /ab 32 59/hex

       Parts  of  such  a  pattern are taken literally if quoted. This pattern
       contains nine characters, only two of which are specified in  hexadeci-
       mal:

         /ab "literal" 32/hex

       Either  single or double quotes may be used. There is no way of includ-
       ing the delimiter within a substring. The hex and expand modifiers  are
       mutually exclusive.

       The  POSIX  API  cannot  be used with patterns specified in hexadecimal
       because they may contain binary zeros, which conflicts with regcomp()'s
       requirement  for  a  zero-terminated  string.  Such patterns are always
       passed to pcre2_compile() as a string with a length, not as zero-termi-
       nated.

   Specifying wide characters in 16-bit and 32-bit modes

       In 16-bit and 32-bit modes, all input is automatically treated as UTF-8
       and translated to UTF-16 or UTF-32 when the utf modifier  is  set.  For
       testing the 16-bit and 32-bit libraries in non-UTF mode, the utf8_input
       modifier can be used. It is mutually exclusive with  utf.  Input  lines
       are interpreted as UTF-8 as a means of specifying wide characters. More
       details are given in "Input encoding" above.

   Generating long repetitive patterns

       Some tests use long patterns that are very repetitive. Instead of  cre-
       ating  a very long input line for such a pattern, you can use a special
       repetition feature, similar to the  one  described  for  subject  lines
       above.  If  the  expand  modifier is present on a pattern, parts of the
       pattern that have the form

         \[<characters>]{<count>}

       are expanded before the pattern is passed to pcre2_compile(). For exam-
       ple, \[AB]{6000} is expanded to "ABAB..." 6000 times. This construction
       cannot be nested. An initial "\[" sequence is recognized only  if  "]{"
       followed  by  decimal  digits and "}" is found later in the pattern. If
       not, the characters remain in the pattern unaltered. The expand and hex
       modifiers are mutually exclusive.

       If  part  of an expanded pattern looks like an expansion, but is really
       part of the actual pattern, unwanted expansion can be avoided by giving
       two values in the quantifier. For example, \[AB]{6000,6000} is not rec-
       ognized as an expansion item.

       If the info modifier is set on an expanded pattern, the result  of  the
       expansion is included in the information that is output.

   JIT compilation

       Just-in-time  (JIT)  compiling  is  a heavyweight optimization that can
       greatly speed up pattern matching. See the pcre2jit  documentation  for
       details.  JIT  compiling  happens, optionally, after a pattern has been
       successfully compiled into an internal form. The JIT compiler  converts
       this to optimized machine code. It needs to know whether the match-time
       options PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD and PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT are going to be used,
       because  different  code  is generated for the different cases. See the
       partial modifier in "Subject Modifiers" below for details of how  these
       options are specified for each match attempt.

       JIT  compilation  is  requested by the /jit pattern modifier, which may
       optionally be followed by an equals sign and a number in the range 0 to
       7.   The  three bits that make up the number specify which of the three
       JIT operating modes are to be compiled:

         1  compile JIT code for non-partial matching
         2  compile JIT code for soft partial matching
         4  compile JIT code for hard partial matching

       The possible values for the jit modifier are therefore:

         0  disable JIT
         1  normal matching only
         2  soft partial matching only
         3  normal and soft partial matching
         4  hard partial matching only
         6  soft and hard partial matching only
         7  all three modes

       If no number is given, 7 is  assumed.  The  phrase  "partial  matching"
       means a call to pcre2_match() with either the PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT or the
       PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD option set. Note that such a call may return a  com-
       plete match; the options enable the possibility of a partial match, but
       do not require it. Note also that if you request JIT  compilation  only
       for  partial  matching (for example, /jit=2) but do not set the partial
       modifier on a subject line, that match will not use  JIT  code  because
       none was compiled for non-partial matching.

       If  JIT compilation is successful, the compiled JIT code will automati-
       cally be used when an appropriate type of 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  jitfast  modifier is specified, matching is done using the JIT
       "fast path" interface, pcre2_jit_match(), which skips some of the  san-
       ity  checks that are done by pcre2_match(), and of course does not work
       when JIT is not supported. If jitfast is specified without  jit,  jit=7
       is assumed.

       If  the jitverify modifier is specified, information about the compiled
       pattern shows whether JIT compilation was or  was  not  successful.  If
       jitverify  is  specified without jit, jit=7 is assumed. If JIT compila-
       tion is successful when jitverify is set, the text "(JIT)" is added  to
       the first output line after a match or non match when JIT-compiled code
       was actually used in the match.

   Setting a locale

       The locale modifier must specify the name of a locale, for example:

         /pattern/locale=fr_FR

       The 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_com-
       pile() 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 charac-
       ter tables are mutually exclusive.

   Showing pattern memory

       The memory modifier causes the size in bytes of the memory 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  pat-
       tern  is  subsequently  passed to the JIT compiler, the size of the JIT
       compiled code is also output. Here is an example:

           re> /a(b)c/jit,memory
         Memory allocation (code space): 21
         Memory allocation (JIT code): 1910


   Limiting nested parentheses

       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 default for the library is set when  PCRE2  is  built,  but
       pcre2test  sets  its  own default of 220, which is required for running
       the standard test suite.

   Limiting the pattern length

       The max_pattern_length modifier sets a limit, in  code  units,  to  the
       length of pattern that pcre2_compile() will accept. Breaching the limit
       causes a compilation  error.  The  default  is  the  largest  number  a
       PCRE2_SIZE variable can hold (essentially unlimited).

   Using the POSIX wrapper API

       The  /posix and posix_nosub modifiers cause pcre2test to call PCRE2 via
       the POSIX wrapper API rather than its native API. When  posix_nosub  is
       used,  the  POSIX  option  REG_NOSUB  is passed to regcomp(). The POSIX
       wrapper supports only the 8-bit library. Note that it  does  not  imply
       POSIX matching semantics; for more detail see the pcre2posix documenta-
       tion. The following pattern modifiers set  options  for  the  regcomp()
       function:

         caseless           REG_ICASE
         multiline          REG_NEWLINE
         dotall             REG_DOTALL     )
         ungreedy           REG_UNGREEDY   ) These options are not part of
         ucp                REG_UCP        )   the POSIX standard
         utf                REG_UTF8       )

       The  regerror_buffsize  modifier  specifies a size for the error buffer
       that is passed to regerror() in the event of a compilation  error.  For
       example:

         /abc/posix,regerror_buffsize=20

       This  provides  a means of testing the behaviour of regerror() when the
       buffer is too small for the error message. If  this  modifier  has  not
       been set, a large buffer is used.

       The  aftertext  and  allaftertext  subject  modifiers work as described
       below. All other modifiers are either ignored, with a warning  message,
       or cause an error.

   Testing the stack guard feature

       The  stackguard  modifier  is  used  to  test the use of pcre2_set_com-
       pile_recursion_guard(), a function that is  provided  to  enable  stack
       availability  to  be checked during compilation (see the pcre2api docu-
       mentation 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
       receives  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.

   Using alternative character tables

       The  value  specified for the tables modifier must be one of the digits
       0, 1, or 2. 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 be-
       haviour 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 iden-
       tified as letters, digits, spaces,  etc.  Setting  alternate  character
       tables and a locale are mutually exclusive.

   Setting certain match controls

       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 may not appear in #pattern commands. These mod-
       ifiers 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
             mark                       show mark values
             replace=<string>           specify a replacement string
             startchar                  show starting character when relevant
             substitute_extended        use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED
             substitute_overflow_length use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH
             substitute_unknown_unset   use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET
             substitute_unset_empty     use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY

       These  modifiers may not appear in a #pattern command. If you want them
       as defaults, set them in a #subject command.

   Saving a compiled pattern

       When a pattern with the push modifier is successfully compiled,  it  is
       pushed  onto  a  stack  of compiled patterns, and pcre2test expects the
       next line to contain a new pattern (or a command) instead of a  subject
       line. This facility is used when saving compiled patterns to a file, as
       described in the section entitled "Saving and restoring  compiled  pat-
       terns"  below.  If pushcopy is used instead of push, a copy of the com-
       piled pattern is stacked, leaving the original  as  current,  ready  to
       match  the  following  input  lines. This provides a way of testing the
       pcre2_code_copy() function.   The  push  and  pushcopy   modifiers  are
       incompatible  with  compilation  modifiers  such  as global that act at
       match time. Any that are specified are ignored (for the stacked  copy),
       with a warning message, except for replace, which causes an error. Note
       that jitverify, which is allowed, does not carry through to any  subse-
       quent matching that uses a stacked pattern.


SUBJECT MODIFIERS

       The modifiers that can appear in subject lines and the #subject command
       are of two types.

   Setting match options

       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_jit                    set PCRE2_NO_JIT
             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().
       The other modifiers are ignored, with a warning message.

   Setting match controls

       The following modifiers affect the matching process  or  request  addi-
       tional  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 (non-JIT only)
             altglobal                  alternative global matching
             callout_capture            show captures at callout time
             callout_data=<n>           set a value to pass via callouts
             callout_error=<n>[:<m>]    control callout error
             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
             mark                       show mark values
             match_limit=<n>            set a match limit
             memory                     show memory usage
             null_context               match with a NULL context
             offset=<n>                 set starting offset
             offset_limit=<n>           set offset limit
             ovector=<n>                set size of output vector
             recursion_limit=<n>        set a recursion limit
             replace=<string>           specify a replacement string
             startchar                  show startchar when relevant
             startoffset=<n>            same as offset=<n>
             substitute_extedded        use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED
             substitute_overflow_length use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH
             substitute_unknown_unset   use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET
             substitute_unset_empty     use PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY
             zero_terminate             pass the subject as zero-terminated

       The effects of these modifiers are described in the following sections.
       When matching via the POSIX wrapper API, the  aftertext,  allaftertext,
       and  ovector subject modifiers work as described below. All other modi-
       fiers are either ignored, with a warning message, or cause an error.

   Showing more text

       The aftertext modifier requests that as well as outputting the part  of
       the subject string 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  sub-
       strings as well as the main matched substring. In each case the remain-
       der 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 by the interpreter should  be  shown.
       This  feature  is not supported for JIT matching, and if requested with
       JIT it is ignored (with  a  warning  message).  Setting  this  modifier
       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 indi-
       cated in the output by '<' or '>' characters underneath them.  Here  is
       an example:

           re> /(?<=pqr)abc(?=xyz)/
         data> 123pqrabcxyz456\=allusedtext
          0: pqrabcxyz
             <<<   >>>

       This  shows  that  the  matched string is "abc", with the preceding and
       following strings "pqr" and "xyz"  having  been  consulted  during  the
       match (when processing the assertions).

       The  startchar  modifier  requests  that the starting character for the
       match be indicated, if it is different to  the  start  of  the  matched
       string. The only time when this occurs is when \K has been processed as
       part of the match. In this situation, the output for the matched string
       is  displayed  from  the  starting  character instead of from the match
       point, with circumflex characters under  the  earlier  characters.  For
       example:

           re> /abc\Kxyz/
         data> abcxyz\=startchar
          0: abcxyz
             ^^^

       Unlike  allusedtext, the startchar modifier can be used with JIT.  How-
       ever, these two modifiers are mutually exclusive.

   Showing the value of all capture groups

       The allcaptures modifier requests that the values of all potential cap-
       tured 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>". This modifier is  not  relevant  for
       DFA  matching  (which does no capturing); it is ignored, with a warning
       message, if present.

   Testing callouts

       A callout function is supplied when pcre2test calls the library  match-
       ing  functions, unless callout_none is specified. If callout_capture is
       set, the current captured groups are output when a callout occurs.  The
       default return from the callout function is zero, which allows matching
       to continue.

       The callout_fail modifier can be given one or two numbers. If there  is
       only  one number, 1 is returned instead of 0 (causing matching to back-
       track) when a callout  of  that  number  is  reached.  If  two  numbers
       (<n>:<m>)  are  given,  1  is  returned when callout <n> is reached and
       there have been at least <m> callouts. The  callout_error  modifier  is
       similar,  except  that  PCRE2_ERROR_CALLOUT  is  returned,  causing the
       entire matching process to be aborted. If both these modifiers are  set
       for the same callout number, callout_error takes precedence.

       Note  that  callouts  with string arguments are always given the number
       zero. See "Callouts" below for a description of the output when a call-
       out it taken.

       The  callout_data  modifier can be given an unsigned or a negative num-
       ber.  This is set as the "user data" that is  passed  to  the  matching
       function,  and  passed  back  when the callout function is invoked. Any
       value other than zero is used as  a  return  from  pcre2test's  callout
       function.

   Finding all matches in a string

       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 subject. This makes a
       difference to the matching process if the pattern begins with a lookbe-
       hind 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 characters occurs.

   Testing substring extraction functions

       The  copy  and  get  modifiers  can  be  used  to  test  the pcre2_sub-
       string_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=G1

       If the #subject command is used to set default copy and/or  get  lists,
       these  can  be unset by specifying a negative number to cancel all num-
       bered groups and an empty name to cancel all 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, followed by the
       name when the extraction was by name.

   Testing the substitution function

       If the replace modifier is  set,  the  pcre2_substitute()  function  is
       called  instead of one of the matching functions. Note that replacement
       strings cannot contain commas, because a comma signifies the end  of  a
       modifier. This is not thought to be an issue in a test program.

       Unlike  subject strings, pcre2test does not process replacement strings
       for escape sequences. In UTF mode, a replacement string is  checked  to
       see  if it is a valid UTF-8 string. If so, it is correctly converted to
       a UTF string of the appropriate code unit width. If it is not  a  valid
       UTF-8  string, the individual code units are copied directly. This pro-
       vides a means of passing an invalid UTF-8 string for testing purposes.

       The following modifiers set options (in additional to the normal  match
       options) for pcre2_substitute():

         global                      PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL
         substitute_extended         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED
         substitute_overflow_length  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH
         substitute_unknown_unset    PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET
         substitute_unset_empty      PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY


       After  a  successful  substitution, the modified string is output, pre-
       ceded by the number of replacements. This may be zero if there were  no
       matches. Here is a simple example of a substitution test:

         /abc/replace=xxx
             =abc=abc=
          1: =xxx=abc=
             =abc=abc=\=global
          2: =xxx=xxx=

       Subject  and replacement strings should be kept relatively short (fewer
       than 256 characters) for substitution tests, as fixed-size buffers  are
       used.  To  make it easy to test for buffer overflow, if the replacement
       string starts with a number in square brackets, that number  is  passed
       to  pcre2_substitute()  as  the  size  of  the  output buffer, with the
       replacement string starting at the next character. Here is  an  example
       that tests the edge case:

         /abc/
             123abc123\=replace=[10]XYZ
          1: 123XYZ123
             123abc123\=replace=[9]XYZ
         Failed: error -47: no more memory

       The    default    action    of    pcre2_substitute()   is   to   return
       PCRE2_ERROR_NOMEMORY when the output buffer is too small.  However,  if
       the  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH  option is set (by using the sub-
       stitute_overflow_length modifier), pcre2_substitute() continues  to  go
       through  the  motions of matching and substituting, in order to compute
       the size of buffer that is required. When this happens, pcre2test shows
       the required buffer length (which includes space for the trailing zero)
       as part of the error message. For example:

         /abc/substitute_overflow_length
             123abc123\=replace=[9]XYZ
         Failed: error -47: no more memory: 10 code units are needed

       A replacement string is ignored with POSIX and DFA matching. Specifying
       partial  matching  provokes  an  error return ("bad option value") from
       pcre2_substitute().

   Setting the JIT stack size

       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. The value is a number of kilobytes.
       Providing a stack that is larger than the default 32K is necessary only
       for very complicated patterns.

   Setting match and recursion limits

       The match_limit and recursion_limit modifiers set the appropriate  lim-
       its in the match context. These values are ignored when the find_limits
       modifier is specified.

   Finding minimum limits

       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 com-
       plete without error.

       If JIT is being used, only the match limit is relevant. If DFA matching
       is  being used, neither limit is relevant, and this modifier is ignored
       (with a warning message).

       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.

   Showing MARK names


       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.

   Showing memory usage

       The  memory  modifier causes pcre2test to log all memory allocation and
       freeing calls that occur during a match operation.

   Setting a starting offset

       The offset modifier sets an offset  in  the  subject  string  at  which
       matching starts. Its value is a number of code units, not characters.

   Setting an offset limit

       The  offset_limit  modifier  sets  a limit for unanchored matches. If a
       match cannot be found starting at or before this offset in the subject,
       a "no match" return is given. The data value is a number of code units,
       not characters. When this modifier is used, the use_offset_limit  modi-
       fier must have been set for the pattern; if not, an error is generated.

   Setting the size of the output vector

       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.

       A value of zero is useful when testing the POSIX API because it  causes
       regexec() to be called with a NULL capture vector. When not testing the
       POSIX API, a value of  zero  is  used  to  cause  pcre2_match_data_cre-
       ate_from_pattern()  to  be  called, in order to create a match block of
       exactly the right size for the pattern. (It is not possible to create a
       match  block  with  a zero-length ovector; there is always at least one
       pair of offsets.)

   Passing the subject as zero-terminated

       By default, the subject string is passed to a native API matching func-
       tion with its correct length. In order to test the facility for passing
       a zero-terminated string, the zero_terminate modifier is  provided.  It
       causes the length to be passed as PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED. (When matching
       via the POSIX interface, this modifier has no effect, as  there  is  no
       facility for passing a length.)

       When  testing  pcre2_substitute(), this modifier also has the effect of
       passing the replacement string as zero-terminated.

   Passing a NULL context

       Normally,  pcre2test  passes  a   context   block   to   pcre2_match(),
       pcre2_dfa_match() or pcre2_jit_match(). If the null_context modifier is
       set, however, NULL is passed. This is for  testing  that  the  matching
       functions behave correctly in this case (they use default values). This
       modifier cannot be used with the find_limits modifier or  when  testing
       the substitution function.


THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION

       By  default,  pcre2test  uses  the  standard  PCRE2  matching function,
       pcre2_match() to match each subject line. PCRE2 also supports an alter-
       native  matching  function, pcre2_dfa_match(), which operates in a dif-
       ferent 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  sub-
       ject.  If,  however, the dfa_shortest modifier is set, processing stops
       after the first match is found. This is always  the  shortest  possible
       match.


DEFAULT OUTPUT FROM pcre2test

       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  sub-
       strings,  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  code  unit offset of the start of the failing character is
       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 shown by pcre2test unless the allcaptures modifier is specified. 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 defi-
       nition 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  the
       offset modifier 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).


OUTPUT FROM THE ALTERNATIVE MATCHING FUNCTION

       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 asser-
       tion, \b, or \B was involved. (\K is not supported for DFA matching.)

       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.


RESTARTING AFTER A PARTIAL MATCH

       When  the  alternative matching function has given the PCRE2_ERROR_PAR-
       TIAL 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.


CALLOUTS

       If the pattern contains any callout requests, pcre2test's callout func-
       tion is called during matching unless callout_none is specified.   This
       works with both matching functions.

       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 compli-
       cated regular expressions. For further information about callouts,  see
       the pcre2callout documentation.

       The  output for callouts with numerical arguments and those with string
       arguments is slightly different.

   Callouts with numerical arguments

       By default, the callout function displays the callout number, the start
       and  current positions in the subject 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, or if the current position precedes  the  start
       position, which can happen if the callout is in a lookbehind assertion.

       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 when-
       ever  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.

   Callouts with string arguments

       The output for a callout with a string argument is similar, except that
       instead of outputting a callout number before the position  indicators,
       the  callout  string  and  its  offset in the pattern string are output
       before the reflection of the subject string, and the subject string  is
       reflected for each callout. For example:

           re> /^ab(?C'first')cd(?C"second")ef/
         data> abcdefg
         Callout (7): 'first'
         --->abcdefg
             ^ ^         c
         Callout (20): "second"
         --->abcdefg
             ^   ^       e
          0: abcdef


NON-PRINTING CHARACTERS

       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.


SAVING AND RESTORING COMPILED PATTERNS

       It  is  possible  to  save  compiled patterns on disc or elsewhere, and
       reload them later, subject to a number of restrictions. JIT data cannot
       be  saved.  The host on which the patterns are reloaded must be running
       the same version of PCRE2, with the same code unit width, and must also
       have  the  same  endianness,  pointer width and PCRE2_SIZE type. Before
       compiled patterns can be saved they must be serialized, that  is,  con-
       verted  to a stream of bytes. A single byte stream may contain any num-
       ber of compiled patterns, but they must  all  use  the  same  character
       tables. A single copy of the tables is included in the byte stream (its
       size is 1088 bytes).

       The functions whose names begin  with  pcre2_serialize_  are  used  for
       serializing  and de-serializing. They are described in the pcre2serial-
       ize  documentation.  In  this  section  we  describe  the  features  of
       pcre2test that can be used to test these functions.

       When  a  pattern  with  push  modifier  is successfully compiled, it is
       pushed onto a stack of compiled patterns,  and  pcre2test  expects  the
       next  line  to  contain a new pattern (or command) instead of a subject
       line. By contrast, the pushcopy modifier causes a copy of the  compiled
       pattern  to  be  stacked,  leaving the original available for immediate
       matching. By using push and/or pushcopy, a number of  patterns  can  be
       compiled and retained. These modifiers are incompatible with posix, and
       control modifiers that act at match time are ignored (with  a  message)
       for  the  stacked patterns. The jitverify modifier applies only at com-
       pile time.

       The command

         #save <filename>

       causes all the stacked patterns to be serialized and the result written
       to  the named file. Afterwards, all the stacked patterns are freed. The
       command

         #load <filename>

       reads the data in the file, and then arranges for it to  be  de-serial-
       ized,  with the resulting compiled patterns added to the pattern stack.
       The pattern on the top of the stack can be retrieved by the  #pop  com-
       mand,  which  must  be  followed  by  lines  of subjects that are to be
       matched with the pattern, terminated as usual by an empty line  or  end
       of  file.  This  command  may be followed by a modifier list containing
       only control modifiers that act after a pattern has been  compiled.  In
       particular,  hex,  posix,  posix_nosub,  push,  and  pushcopy  are  not
       allowed, nor are any option-setting modifiers.  The JIT modifiers  are,
       however  permitted.  Here is an example that saves and reloads two pat-
       terns.

         /abc/push
         /xyz/push
         #save tempfile
         #load tempfile
         #pop info
         xyz

         #pop jit,bincode
         abc

       If jitverify is used with #pop, it does not  automatically  imply  jit,
       which is different behaviour from when it is used on a pattern.

       The  #popcopy  command is analagous to the pushcopy modifier in that it
       makes current a copy of the topmost stack pattern, leaving the original
       still on the stack.


SEE ALSO

       pcre2(3),  pcre2api(3),  pcre2callout(3),  pcre2jit,  pcre2matching(3),
       pcre2partial(d), pcre2pattern(3), pcre2serialize(3).


AUTHOR

       Philip Hazel
       University Computing Service
       Cambridge, England.


REVISION

       Last updated: 28 December 2016
       Copyright (c) 1997-2016 University of Cambridge.
