1.132.4 Send methods

regex ->compile: optimise=[bool]

Compile regex<->pattern to a compiled representation in _-compiled_. Normally invoked automatically by regex->search when needed.

If the argument is @on, the pattern is compiled optimised, increasing compilation time, but reducing search time.

regex ->file_pattern: file_pattern=char_array

If file_pattern represents a common (Unix csh) file-pattern, translate it into a regular expression representing the same pattern and associate this using regex->pattern.

The following constructs are mapped:

?		.
*		.*
[...]	[...]
{a,b}	\(a\|b\)

The pattern is closed with a’$’sign.

regex ->for_all: in=char_array|text_buffer|fragment, action=code, from=[int], to=[int]

Run code on each match of this regular expression in the specified text. Forwards the following arguments:

@arg1	The regex object
@arg2	The object searched in

After each successful regex->search, the argument code object is executed. The next regex->search is started at regex<-register_end. If the regex matched an empty string and the string is still empty after executing the code object, the search is restarted at regex<-register_end + 1 to avoid a loop.

When from and to are specified, the for_all is ran only in the specified range.

The code executed may invoke regex->register_value, regex->replace, etc. to modify the text. The following code replaces all foo in bar in string S:

?- send(regex(foo), for_all, S,
                message(@arg1, replace, @arg2, bar)).

See also char_array<-split.

regex ->ignore_case: bool

Ignore case differences during regex->search when @on.

regex ->initialise: pattern=[char_array], case_sensitive=[bool], syntax=[{basic,extended,advanced}]

Create a regular expression from a pattern string. The regular expression will be regex->compile’d on the first call to regex->match or regex->search. After creation the pattern may be changed using regex->pattern.

If the case_sensitive argument is @off, searching and matching is caried out ignoring case. See also regex->ignore_case.

regex ->match: in=char_array|text_buffer|fragment, start=[int], end=[int]

Inherits description from: regex<-match

regex ->pattern: char_array

Inherits description from: regex-pattern

regex ->replace: in=object, value=char_array

Replace last match which char_array.

regex ->register_value: in=object, value=char_array, register=[0..9]

Replace the indicated register in the object. All register indices stored in the regular expression are updated accordingly.

regex->replace is equivalent to regex->register_value: Object, Value, but in addition to this method expands the special construct’\digit’with the text of the corresponding register value.

regex ->search: in=char_array|text_buffer|fragment, start=[int], end=[int]

Search for the expression in a char_array (name or string) or a text_buffer. The two integers specify the range to search in as [start, end). This method succeeds if a match is found and fails otherwise. After a successful search, regex<-register_start, regex<-register_end and regex<-register_value may be used to get information on the location of the match.

If end is smaller than start, the search is executed backwards. The regex<-search variant returns the regex<-register_start.

See also regex->pattern, regex->match and regex<-match.

See also

- regex<-register_start
- regex<-register_value
- regex<-register_end