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-This page is part of the PCRE HTML documentation. It was generated automatically
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-man page, in case the conversion went wrong.
-
-Just-in-time compiling is a heavyweight optimization that can greatly speed up
-pattern matching. However, it comes at the cost of extra processing before the
-match is performed. Therefore, it is of most benefit when the same pattern is
-going to be matched many times. This does not necessarily mean many calls of a
-matching function; if the pattern is not anchored, matching attempts may take
-place many times at various positions in the subject, even for a single call.
-Therefore, if the subject string is very long, it may still pay to use JIT for
-one-off matches.
-
-JIT support applies only to the traditional Perl-compatible matching function.
-It does not apply when the DFA matching function is being used. The code for
-this support was written by Zoltan Herczeg.
-
-JIT support is available for all of the 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit PCRE
-libraries. To keep this documentation simple, only the 8-bit interface is
-described in what follows. If you are using the 16-bit library, substitute the
-16-bit functions and 16-bit structures (for example, pcre16_jit_stack
-instead of pcre_jit_stack). If you are using the 32-bit library,
-substitute the 32-bit functions and 32-bit structures (for example,
-pcre32_jit_stack instead of pcre_jit_stack).
-
-JIT support is an optional feature of PCRE. The "configure" option --enable-jit
-(or equivalent CMake option) must be set when PCRE is built if you want to use
-JIT. The support is limited to the following hardware platforms:
-pcrejit man page
-
-
-
-
PCRE JUST-IN-TIME COMPILER SUPPORT
-
8-BIT, 16-BIT AND 32-BIT SUPPORT
-
AVAILABILITY OF JIT SUPPORT
-
- ARM v5, v7, and Thumb2
- Intel x86 32-bit and 64-bit
- MIPS 32-bit
- Power PC 32-bit and 64-bit
- SPARC 32-bit (experimental)
-
-If --enable-jit is set on an unsupported platform, compilation fails.
-
-A program that is linked with PCRE 8.20 or later can tell if JIT support is -available by calling pcre_config() with the PCRE_CONFIG_JIT option. The -result is 1 when JIT is available, and 0 otherwise. However, a simple program -does not need to check this in order to use JIT. The normal API is implemented -in a way that falls back to the interpretive code if JIT is not available. For -programs that need the best possible performance, there is also a "fast path" -API that is JIT-specific. -
--If your program may sometimes be linked with versions of PCRE that are older -than 8.20, but you want to use JIT when it is available, you can test the -values of PCRE_MAJOR and PCRE_MINOR, or the existence of a JIT macro such as -PCRE_CONFIG_JIT, for compile-time control of your code. Also beware that the -pcre_jit_exec() function was not available at all before 8.32, -and may not be available at all if PCRE isn't compiled with ---enable-jit. See the "JIT FAST PATH API" section below for details. -
--You have to do two things to make use of the JIT support in the simplest way: -
- (1) Call pcre_study() with the PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE option for - each compiled pattern, and pass the resulting pcre_extra block to - pcre_exec(). - - (2) Use pcre_free_study() to free the pcre_extra block when it is - no longer needed, instead of just freeing it yourself. This ensures that - any JIT data is also freed. --For a program that may be linked with pre-8.20 versions of PCRE, you can insert -
- #ifndef PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE - #define PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE 0 - #endif --so that no option is passed to pcre_study(), and then use something like -this to free the study data: -
- #ifdef PCRE_CONFIG_JIT - pcre_free_study(study_ptr); - #else - pcre_free(study_ptr); - #endif --PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE requests the JIT compiler to generate code for complete -matches. If you want to run partial matches using the PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD or -PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT options of pcre_exec(), you should set one or both of -the following options in addition to, or instead of, PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE -when you call pcre_study(): -
- PCRE_STUDY_JIT_PARTIAL_HARD_COMPILE - PCRE_STUDY_JIT_PARTIAL_SOFT_COMPILE --If using pcre_jit_exec() and supporting a pre-8.32 version of -PCRE, you can insert: -
- #if PCRE_MAJOR >= 8 && PCRE_MINOR >= 32 - pcre_jit_exec(...); - #else - pcre_exec(...) - #endif --but as described in the "JIT FAST PATH API" section below this assumes -version 8.32 and later are compiled with --enable-jit, which may -break. -
-In some circumstances you may need to call additional functions. These are -described in the section entitled -"Controlling the JIT stack" -below. -
--If JIT support is not available, PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE etc. are ignored, and -no JIT data is created. Otherwise, the compiled pattern is passed to the JIT -compiler, which turns it into machine code that executes much faster than the -normal interpretive code. When pcre_exec() is passed a pcre_extra -block containing a pointer to JIT code of the appropriate mode (normal or -hard/soft partial), it obeys that code instead of running the interpreter. The -result is identical, but the compiled JIT code runs much faster. -
--There are some pcre_exec() options that are not supported for JIT -execution. There are also some pattern items that JIT cannot handle. Details -are given below. In both cases, execution automatically falls back to the -interpretive code. If you want to know whether JIT was actually used for a -particular match, you should arrange for a JIT callback function to be set up -as described in the section entitled -"Controlling the JIT stack" -below, even if you do not need to supply a non-default JIT stack. Such a -callback function is called whenever JIT code is about to be obeyed. If the -execution options are not right for JIT execution, the callback function is not -obeyed. -
--If the JIT compiler finds an unsupported item, no JIT data is generated. You -can find out if JIT execution is available after studying a pattern by calling -pcre_fullinfo() with the PCRE_INFO_JIT option. A result of 1 means that -JIT compilation was successful. A result of 0 means that JIT support is not -available, or the pattern was not studied with PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE etc., or -the JIT compiler was not able to handle the pattern. -
--Once a pattern has been studied, with or without JIT, it can be used as many -times as you like for matching different subject strings. -
--The only pcre_exec() options that are supported for JIT execution are -PCRE_NO_UTF8_CHECK, PCRE_NO_UTF16_CHECK, PCRE_NO_UTF32_CHECK, PCRE_NOTBOL, -PCRE_NOTEOL, PCRE_NOTEMPTY, PCRE_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART, PCRE_PARTIAL_HARD, and -PCRE_PARTIAL_SOFT. -
--The only unsupported pattern items are \C (match a single data unit) when -running in a UTF mode, and a callout immediately before an assertion condition -in a conditional group. -
--When a pattern is matched using JIT execution, the return values are the same -as those given by the interpretive pcre_exec() code, with the addition of -one new error code: PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT. This means that the memory used -for the JIT stack was insufficient. See -"Controlling the JIT stack" -below for a discussion of JIT stack usage. For compatibility with the -interpretive pcre_exec() code, no more than two-thirds of the -ovector argument is used for passing back captured substrings. -
--The error code PCRE_ERROR_MATCHLIMIT is returned by the JIT code if searching a -very large pattern tree goes on for too long, as it is in the same circumstance -when JIT is not used, but the details of exactly what is counted are not the -same. The PCRE_ERROR_RECURSIONLIMIT error code is never returned by JIT -execution. -
--The code that is generated by the JIT compiler is architecture-specific, and is -also position dependent. For those reasons it cannot be saved (in a file or -database) and restored later like the bytecode and other data of a compiled -pattern. Saving and restoring compiled patterns is not something many people -do. More detail about this facility is given in the -pcreprecompile -documentation. It should be possible to run pcre_study() on a saved and -restored pattern, and thereby recreate the JIT data, but because JIT -compilation uses significant resources, it is probably not worth doing this; -you might as well recompile the original pattern. -
--When the compiled JIT code runs, it needs a block of memory to use as a stack. -By default, it uses 32K on the machine stack. However, some large or -complicated patterns need more than this. The error PCRE_ERROR_JIT_STACKLIMIT -is given when there is not enough stack. Three functions are provided for -managing blocks of memory for use as JIT stacks. There is further discussion -about the use of JIT stacks in the section entitled -"JIT stack FAQ" -below. -
--The pcre_jit_stack_alloc() function creates a JIT stack. Its arguments -are a starting size and a maximum size, and it returns a pointer to an opaque -structure of type pcre_jit_stack, or NULL if there is an error. The -pcre_jit_stack_free() function can be used to free a stack that is no -longer needed. (For the technically minded: the address space is allocated by -mmap or VirtualAlloc.) -
--JIT uses far less memory for recursion than the interpretive code, -and a maximum stack size of 512K to 1M should be more than enough for any -pattern. -
--The pcre_assign_jit_stack() function specifies which stack JIT code -should use. Its arguments are as follows: -
- pcre_extra *extra - pcre_jit_callback callback - void *data --The extra argument must be the result of studying a pattern with -PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE etc. There are three cases for the values of the other -two options: -
- (1) If callback is NULL and data is NULL, an internal 32K block - on the machine stack is used. - - (2) If callback is NULL and data is not NULL, data must be - a valid JIT stack, the result of calling pcre_jit_stack_alloc(). - - (3) If callback is not NULL, it must point to a function that is - called with data as an argument at the start of matching, in - order to set up a JIT stack. If the return from the callback - function is NULL, the internal 32K stack is used; otherwise the - return value must be a valid JIT stack, the result of calling - pcre_jit_stack_alloc(). --A callback function is obeyed whenever JIT code is about to be run; it is not -obeyed when pcre_exec() is called with options that are incompatible for -JIT execution. A callback function can therefore be used to determine whether a -match operation was executed by JIT or by the interpreter. - -
-You may safely use the same JIT stack for more than one pattern (either by -assigning directly or by callback), as long as the patterns are all matched -sequentially in the same thread. In a multithread application, if you do not -specify a JIT stack, or if you assign or pass back NULL from a callback, that -is thread-safe, because each thread has its own machine stack. However, if you -assign or pass back a non-NULL JIT stack, this must be a different stack for -each thread so that the application is thread-safe. -
--Strictly speaking, even more is allowed. You can assign the same non-NULL stack -to any number of patterns as long as they are not used for matching by multiple -threads at the same time. For example, you can assign the same stack to all -compiled patterns, and use a global mutex in the callback to wait until the -stack is available for use. However, this is an inefficient solution, and not -recommended. -
--This is a suggestion for how a multithreaded program that needs to set up -non-default JIT stacks might operate: -
- During thread initalization - thread_local_var = pcre_jit_stack_alloc(...) - - During thread exit - pcre_jit_stack_free(thread_local_var) - - Use a one-line callback function - return thread_local_var --All the functions described in this section do nothing if JIT is not available, -and pcre_assign_jit_stack() does nothing unless the extra argument -is non-NULL and points to a pcre_extra block that is the result of a -successful study with PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE etc. - -
-(1) Why do we need JIT stacks?
-
-
-PCRE (and JIT) is a recursive, depth-first engine, so it needs a stack where
-the local data of the current node is pushed before checking its child nodes.
-Allocating real machine stack on some platforms is difficult. For example, the
-stack chain needs to be updated every time if we extend the stack on PowerPC.
-Although it is possible, its updating time overhead decreases performance. So
-we do the recursion in memory.
-
-(2) Why don't we simply allocate blocks of memory with malloc()?
-
-
-Modern operating systems have a nice feature: they can reserve an address space
-instead of allocating memory. We can safely allocate memory pages inside this
-address space, so the stack could grow without moving memory data (this is
-important because of pointers). Thus we can allocate 1M address space, and use
-only a single memory page (usually 4K) if that is enough. However, we can still
-grow up to 1M anytime if needed.
-
-(3) Who "owns" a JIT stack?
-
-
-The owner of the stack is the user program, not the JIT studied pattern or
-anything else. The user program must ensure that if a stack is used by
-pcre_exec(), (that is, it is assigned to the pattern currently running),
-that stack must not be used by any other threads (to avoid overwriting the same
-memory area). The best practice for multithreaded programs is to allocate a
-stack for each thread, and return this stack through the JIT callback function.
-
-(4) When should a JIT stack be freed?
-
-
-You can free a JIT stack at any time, as long as it will not be used by
-pcre_exec() again. When you assign the stack to a pattern, only a pointer
-is set. There is no reference counting or any other magic. You can free the
-patterns and stacks in any order, anytime. Just do not call
-pcre_exec() with a pattern pointing to an already freed stack, as that
-will cause SEGFAULT. (Also, do not free a stack currently used by
-pcre_exec() in another thread). You can also replace the stack for a
-pattern at any time. You can even free the previous stack before assigning a
-replacement.
-
-(5) Should I allocate/free a stack every time before/after calling
-pcre_exec()?
-
-
-No, because this is too costly in terms of resources. However, you could
-implement some clever idea which release the stack if it is not used in let's
-say two minutes. The JIT callback can help to achieve this without keeping a
-list of the currently JIT studied patterns.
-
-(6) OK, the stack is for long term memory allocation. But what happens if a
-pattern causes stack overflow with a stack of 1M? Is that 1M kept until the
-stack is freed?
-
-
-Especially on embedded sytems, it might be a good idea to release memory
-sometimes without freeing the stack. There is no API for this at the moment.
-Probably a function call which returns with the currently allocated memory for
-any stack and another which allows releasing memory (shrinking the stack) would
-be a good idea if someone needs this.
-
-(7) This is too much of a headache. Isn't there any better solution for JIT
-stack handling?
-
-
-No, thanks to Windows. If POSIX threads were used everywhere, we could throw
-out this complicated API.
-
-This is a single-threaded example that specifies a JIT stack without using a -callback. -
- int rc; - int ovector[30]; - pcre *re; - pcre_extra *extra; - pcre_jit_stack *jit_stack; - - re = pcre_compile(pattern, 0, &error, &erroffset, NULL); - /* Check for errors */ - extra = pcre_study(re, PCRE_STUDY_JIT_COMPILE, &error); - jit_stack = pcre_jit_stack_alloc(32*1024, 512*1024); - /* Check for error (NULL) */ - pcre_assign_jit_stack(extra, NULL, jit_stack); - rc = pcre_exec(re, extra, subject, length, 0, 0, ovector, 30); - /* Check results */ - pcre_free(re); - pcre_free_study(extra); - pcre_jit_stack_free(jit_stack); - -- -
-Because the API described above falls back to interpreted execution when JIT is -not available, it is convenient for programs that are written for general use -in many environments. However, calling JIT via pcre_exec() does have a -performance impact. Programs that are written for use where JIT is known to be -available, and which need the best possible performance, can instead use a -"fast path" API to call JIT execution directly instead of calling -pcre_exec() (obviously only for patterns that have been successfully -studied by JIT). -
--The fast path function is called pcre_jit_exec(), and it takes exactly -the same arguments as pcre_exec(), plus one additional argument that -must point to a JIT stack. The JIT stack arrangements described above do not -apply. The return values are the same as for pcre_exec(). -
--When you call pcre_exec(), as well as testing for invalid options, a -number of other sanity checks are performed on the arguments. For example, if -the subject pointer is NULL, or its length is negative, an immediate error is -given. Also, unless PCRE_NO_UTF[8|16|32] is set, a UTF subject string is tested -for validity. In the interests of speed, these checks do not happen on the JIT -fast path, and if invalid data is passed, the result is undefined. -
--Bypassing the sanity checks and the pcre_exec() wrapping can give -speedups of more than 10%. -
--Note that the pcre_jit_exec() function is not available in versions of -PCRE before 8.32 (released in November 2012). If you need to support versions -that old you must either use the slower pcre_exec(), or switch between -the two codepaths by checking the values of PCRE_MAJOR and PCRE_MINOR. -
--Due to an unfortunate implementation oversight, even in versions 8.32 -and later there will be no pcre_jit_exec() stub function defined -when PCRE is compiled with --disable-jit, which is the default, and -there's no way to detect whether PCRE was compiled with --enable-jit -via a macro. -
--If you need to support versions older than 8.32, or versions that may -not build with --enable-jit, you must either use the slower -pcre_exec(), or switch between the two codepaths by checking the -values of PCRE_MAJOR and PCRE_MINOR. -
--Switching between the two by checking the version assumes that all the -versions being targeted are built with --enable-jit. To also support -builds that may use --disable-jit either pcre_exec() must be -used, or a compile-time check for JIT via pcre_config() (which -assumes the runtime environment will be the same), or as the Git -project decided to do, simply assume that pcre_jit_exec() is -present in 8.32 or later unless a compile-time flag is provided, see -the "grep: un-break building with PCRE >= 8.32 without --enable-jit" -commit in git.git for an example of that. -
--pcreapi(3) -
-
-Philip Hazel (FAQ by Zoltan Herczeg)
-
-University Computing Service
-
-Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
-
-
-Last updated: 05 July 2017
-
-Copyright © 1997-2017 University of Cambridge.
-
-
-Return to the PCRE index page. -
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