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diff --git a/libs/Pcre16/docs/doc/pcreprecompile.3 b/libs/Pcre16/docs/doc/pcreprecompile.3 new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..40f257a98c --- /dev/null +++ b/libs/Pcre16/docs/doc/pcreprecompile.3 @@ -0,0 +1,155 @@ +.TH PCREPRECOMPILE 3 "12 November 2013" "PCRE 8.34" +.SH NAME +PCRE - Perl-compatible regular expressions +.SH "SAVING AND RE-USING PRECOMPILED PCRE PATTERNS" +.rs +.sp +If you are running an application that uses a large number of regular +expression patterns, it may be useful to store them in a precompiled form +instead of having to compile them every time the application is run. +If you are not using any private character tables (see the +.\" HREF +\fBpcre_maketables()\fP +.\" +documentation), this is relatively straightforward. If you are using private +tables, it is a little bit more complicated. However, if you are using the +just-in-time optimization feature, it is not possible to save and reload the +JIT data. +.P +If you save compiled patterns to a file, you can copy them to a different host +and run them there. If the two hosts have different endianness (byte order), +you should run the \fBpcre[16|32]_pattern_to_host_byte_order()\fP function on the +new host before trying to match the pattern. The matching functions return +PCRE_ERROR_BADENDIANNESS if they detect a pattern with the wrong endianness. +.P +Compiling regular expressions with one version of PCRE for use with a different +version is not guaranteed to work and may cause crashes, and saving and +restoring a compiled pattern loses any JIT optimization data. +. +. +.SH "SAVING A COMPILED PATTERN" +.rs +.sp +The value returned by \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP points to a single block of +memory that holds the compiled pattern and associated data. You can find the +length of this block in bytes by calling \fBpcre[16|32]_fullinfo()\fP with an +argument of PCRE_INFO_SIZE. You can then save the data in any appropriate +manner. Here is sample code for the 8-bit library that compiles a pattern and +writes it to a file. It assumes that the variable \fIfd\fP refers to a file +that is open for output: +.sp + int erroroffset, rc, size; + char *error; + pcre *re; +.sp + re = pcre_compile("my pattern", 0, &error, &erroroffset, NULL); + if (re == NULL) { ... handle errors ... } + rc = pcre_fullinfo(re, NULL, PCRE_INFO_SIZE, &size); + if (rc < 0) { ... handle errors ... } + rc = fwrite(re, 1, size, fd); + if (rc != size) { ... handle errors ... } +.sp +In this example, the bytes that comprise the compiled pattern are copied +exactly. Note that this is binary data that may contain any of the 256 possible +byte values. On systems that make a distinction between binary and non-binary +data, be sure that the file is opened for binary output. +.P +If you want to write more than one pattern to a file, you will have to devise a +way of separating them. For binary data, preceding each pattern with its length +is probably the most straightforward approach. Another possibility is to write +out the data in hexadecimal instead of binary, one pattern to a line. +.P +Saving compiled patterns in a file is only one possible way of storing them for +later use. They could equally well be saved in a database, or in the memory of +some daemon process that passes them via sockets to the processes that want +them. +.P +If the pattern has been studied, it is also possible to save the normal study +data in a similar way to the compiled pattern itself. However, if the +PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE was used, the just-in-time data that is created cannot +be saved because it is too dependent on the current environment. When studying +generates additional information, \fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP returns a pointer to a +\fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP data block. Its format is defined in the +.\" HTML <a href="pcreapi.html#extradata"> +.\" </a> +section on matching a pattern +.\" +in the +.\" HREF +\fBpcreapi\fP +.\" +documentation. The \fIstudy_data\fP field points to the binary study data, and +this is what you must save (not the \fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP block itself). The +length of the study data can be obtained by calling \fBpcre[16|32]_fullinfo()\fP +with an argument of PCRE_INFO_STUDYSIZE. Remember to check that +\fBpcre[16|32]_study()\fP did return a non-NULL value before trying to save the +study data. +. +. +.SH "RE-USING A PRECOMPILED PATTERN" +.rs +.sp +Re-using a precompiled pattern is straightforward. Having reloaded it into main +memory, called \fBpcre[16|32]_pattern_to_host_byte_order()\fP if necessary, you +pass its pointer to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or \fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP in +the usual way. +.P +However, if you passed a pointer to custom character tables when the pattern +was compiled (the \fItableptr\fP argument of \fBpcre[16|32]_compile()\fP), you +must now pass a similar pointer to \fBpcre[16|32]_exec()\fP or +\fBpcre[16|32]_dfa_exec()\fP, because the value saved with the compiled pattern +will obviously be nonsense. A field in a \fBpcre[16|32]_extra()\fP block is used +to pass this data, as described in the +.\" HTML <a href="pcreapi.html#extradata"> +.\" </a> +section on matching a pattern +.\" +in the +.\" HREF +\fBpcreapi\fP +.\" +documentation. +.P +\fBWarning:\fP The tables that \fBpcre_exec()\fP and \fBpcre_dfa_exec()\fP use +must be the same as those that were used when the pattern was compiled. If this +is not the case, the behaviour is undefined. +.P +If you did not provide custom character tables when the pattern was compiled, +the pointer in the compiled pattern is NULL, which causes the matching +functions to use PCRE's internal tables. Thus, you do not need to take any +special action at run time in this case. +.P +If you saved study data with the compiled pattern, you need to create your own +\fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP data block and set the \fIstudy_data\fP field to point +to the reloaded study data. You must also set the PCRE_EXTRA_STUDY_DATA bit in +the \fIflags\fP field to indicate that study data is present. Then pass the +\fBpcre[16|32]_extra\fP block to the matching function in the usual way. If the +pattern was studied for just-in-time optimization, that data cannot be saved, +and so is lost by a save/restore cycle. +. +. +.SH "COMPATIBILITY WITH DIFFERENT PCRE RELEASES" +.rs +.sp +In general, it is safest to recompile all saved patterns when you update to a +new PCRE release, though not all updates actually require this. +. +. +. +.SH AUTHOR +.rs +.sp +.nf +Philip Hazel +University Computing Service +Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. +.fi +. +. +.SH REVISION +.rs +.sp +.nf +Last updated: 12 November 2013 +Copyright (c) 1997-2013 University of Cambridge. +.fi |