Boost C++ Libraries

...one of the most highly regarded and expertly designed C++ library projects in the world. Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu, C++ Coding Standards

This is the documentation for an old version of Boost. Click here to view this page for the latest version.
PrevUpHomeNext

Perl Format String Syntax

Perl-style format strings treat all characters as literals except '$' and '\' which start placeholder and escape sequences respectively.

Placeholder sequences specify that some part of what matched the regular expression should be sent to output as follows:

Placeholder

Meaning

$&

Outputs what matched the whole expression.

$`

Outputs the text between the end of the last match found (or the start of the text if no previous match was found), and the start of the current match.

$'

Outputs all the text following the end of the current match.

$$

Outputs a literal '$'

$n

Outputs what matched the n'th sub-expression.

Any $-placeholder sequence not listed above, results in '$' being treated as a literal.

An escape character followed by any character x, outputs that character unless x is one of the escape sequences shown below.

Escape

Meaning

\a

Outputs the bell character: '\a'.

\e

Outputs the ANSI escape character (code point 27).

\f

Outputs a form feed character: '\f'

\n

Outputs a newline character: '\n'.

\r

Outputs a carriage return character: '\r'.

\t

Outputs a tab character: '\t'.

\v

Outputs a vertical tab character: '\v'.

\xDD

Outputs the character whose hexadecimal code point is 0xDD

\x{DDDD}

Outputs the character whose hexadecimal code point is 0xDDDDD

\cX

Outputs the ANSI escape sequence "escape-X".

\D

If D is a decimal digit in the range 1-9, then outputs the text that matched sub-expression D.

\l

Causes the next character to be outputted, to be output in lower case.

\u

Causes the next character to be outputted, to be output in upper case.

\L

Causes all subsequent characters to be output in lower case, until a \E is found.

\U

Causes all subsequent characters to be output in upper case, until a \E is found.

\E

Terminates a \L or \U sequence.


PrevUpHomeNext