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match_results

Synopsis
#include <boost/regex.hpp>

Regular expressions are different from many simple pattern-matching algorithms in that as well as finding an overall match they can also produce sub-expression matches: each sub-expression being delimited in the pattern by a pair of parenthesis (...). There has to be some method for reporting sub-expression matches back to the user: this is achieved this by defining a class match_results that acts as an indexed collection of sub-expression matches, each sub-expression match being contained in an object of type sub_match.

Template class match_results denotes a collection of character sequences representing the result of a regular expression match. Objects of type match_results are passed to the algorithms regex_match and regex_search, and are returned by the iterator regex_iterator. Storage for the collection is allocated and freed as necessary by the member functions of class match_results.

The template class match_results conforms to the requirements of a Sequence, as specified in (lib.sequence.reqmts), except that only operations defined for const-qualified Sequences are supported.

Class template match_results is most commonly used as one of the typedefs cmatch, wcmatch, smatch, or wsmatch:

template <class BidirectionalIterator,
         class Allocator = std::allocator<sub_match<BidirectionalIterator> >
class match_results;

typedef match_results<const char*>              cmatch;
typedef match_results<const wchar_t*>           wcmatch;
typedef match_results<string::const_iterator>   smatch;
typedef match_results<wstring::const_iterator>  wsmatch;

template <class BidirectionalIterator,
         class Allocator = std::allocator<sub_match<BidirectionalIterator> >
class match_results
{
public:
   typedef          sub_match<BidirectionalIterator>                        value_type;
   typedef          const value_type&                                       const_reference;
   typedef          const_reference                                         reference;
   typedef          implementation defined                                  const_iterator;
   typedef          const_iterator                                          iterator;
   typedef typename iterator_traits<BidirectionalIterator>::difference_type difference_type;
   typedef typename Allocator::size_type                                    size_type;
   typedef          Allocator                                               allocator_type;
   typedef typename iterator_traits<BidirectionalIterator>::value_type      char_type;
   typedef          basic_string<char_type>                                 string_type;

   // construct/copy/destroy:
   explicit match_results(const Allocator& a = Allocator());
   match_results(const match_results& m);
   match_results& operator=(const match_results& m);
   ~match_results();

   // size:
   size_type size() const;
   size_type max_size() const;
   bool empty() const;
   // element access:
   difference_type length(int sub = 0) const;
   difference_type length(const char_type* sub) const;
   template <class charT>
   difference_type length(const charT* sub) const;
   template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
   difference_type length(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& sub) const;
   difference_type position(unsigned int sub = 0) const;
   difference_type position(const char_type* sub) const;
   template <class charT>
   difference_type position(const charT* sub) const;
   template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
   difference_type position(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& sub) const;
   string_type str(int sub = 0) const;
   string_type str(const char_type* sub)const;
   template <class Traits, class A>
   string_type str(const std::basic_string<char_type, Traits, A>& sub)const;
   template <class charT>
   string_type str(const charT* sub)const;
   template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
   string_type str(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& sub)const;
   const_reference operator[](int n) const;
   const_reference operator[](const char_type* n) const;
   template <class Traits, class A>
   const_reference operator[](const std::basic_string<char_type, Traits, A>& n) const;
   template <class charT>
   const_reference operator[](const charT* n) const;
   template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
   const_reference operator[](const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& n) const;

   const_reference prefix() const;

   const_reference suffix() const;
   const_iterator begin() const;
   const_iterator end() const;
   // format:
   template <class OutputIterator, class Formatter>
   OutputIterator format(OutputIterator out,
                        Formatter fmt,
                        match_flag_type flags = format_default) const;
   template <class Formatter>
   string_type format(Formatter fmt,
                     match_flag_type flags = format_default) const;

   allocator_type get_allocator() const;
   void swap(match_results& that);

#ifdef BOOST_REGEX_MATCH_EXTRA
   typedef typename value_type::capture_sequence_type capture_sequence_type;
   const capture_sequence_type& captures(std::size_t i)const;
#endif

};

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
bool operator == (const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
                  const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);
template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
bool operator != (const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
                  const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);

template <class charT, class traits, class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
basic_ostream<charT, traits>&
   operator << (basic_ostream<charT, traits>& os,
               const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m);

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
void swap(match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
         match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);
Description

In all match_results constructors, a copy of the Allocator argument is used for any memory allocation performed by the constructor or member functions during the lifetime of the object.

match_results(const Allocator& a = Allocator());

Effects: Constructs an object of class match_results. The postconditions of this function are indicated in the table:

Element

Value

empty()

true

size()

0

str()

basic_string<charT>()

match_results(const match_results& m);

Effects: Constructs an object of class match_results, as a copy of m.

match_results& operator=(const match_results& m);

Effects: Assigns m to *this. The postconditions of this function are indicated in the table:

Element

Value

empty()

m.empty().

size()

m.size().

str(n)

m.str(n) for all integers n < m.size().

prefix()

m.prefix().

suffix()

m.suffix().

(*this)[n]

m[n] for all integers n < m.size().

length(n)

m.length(n) for all integers n < m.size().

position(n)

m.position(n) for all integers n < m.size().

size_type size()const;

Effects: Returns the number of sub_match elements stored in *this; that is the number of marked sub-expressions in the regular expression that was matched plus one.

size_type max_size()const;

Effects: Returns the maximum number of sub_match elements that can be stored in *this.

bool empty()const;

Effects: Returns size() == 0.

difference_type length(int sub = 0)const;
difference_type length(const char_type* sub)const;
template <class charT>
difference_type length(const charT* sub)const;
template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
difference_type length(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>&)const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns the length of sub-expression sub, that is to say: (*this)[sub].length().

The overloads that accept a string refer to a named sub-expression n. In the event that there is no such named sub-expression then returns zero.

The template overloads of this function, allow the string and/or character type to be different from the character type of the underlying sequence and/or regular expression: in this case the characters will be widened to the underlying character type of the original regular expression. A compiler error will occur if the argument passes a wider character type than the underlying sequence. These overloads allow a normal narrow character C string literal to be used as an argument, even when the underlying character type of the expression being matched may be something more exotic such as a Unicode character type.

difference_type position(unsigned int sub = 0)const;
difference_type position(const char_type* sub)const;
template <class charT>
difference_type position(const charT* sub)const;
template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
difference_type position(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>&)const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns the starting location of sub-expression sub, or -1 if sub was not matched. Note that if this represents a partial match , then position() will return the location of the partial match even though (*this)[0].matched is false.

The overloads that accept a string refer to a named sub-expression n. In the event that there is no such named sub-expression then returns -1.

The template overloads of this function, allow the string and/or character type to be different from the character type of the underlying sequence and/or regular expression: in this case the characters will be widened to the underlying character type of the original regular expression. A compiler error will occur if the argument passes a wider character type than the underlying sequence. These overloads allow a normal narrow character C string literal to be used as an argument, even when the underlying character type of the expression being matched may be something more exotic such as a Unicode character type.

string_type str(int sub = 0)const;
string_type str(const char_type* sub)const;
template <class Traits, class A>
string_type str(const std::basic_string<char_type, Traits, A>& sub)const;
template <class charT>
string_type str(const charT* sub)const;
template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
string_type str(const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& sub)const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns sub-expression sub as a string: string_type((*this)[sub]).

The overloads that accept a string, return the string that matched the named sub-expression n. In the event that there is no such named sub-expression then returns an empty string.

The template overloads of this function, allow the string and/or character type to be different from the character type of the underlying sequence and/or regular expression: in this case the characters will be widened to the underlying character type of the original regular expression. A compiler error will occur if the argument passes a wider character type than the underlying sequence. These overloads allow a normal narrow character C string literal to be used as an argument, even when the underlying character type of the expression being matched may be something more exotic such as a Unicode character type.

const_reference operator[](int n) const;
const_reference operator[](const char_type* n) const;
template <class Traits, class A>
const_reference operator[](const std::basic_string<char_type, Traits, A>& n) const;
template <class charT>
const_reference operator[](const charT* n) const;
template <class charT, class Traits, class A>
const_reference operator[](const std::basic_string<charT, Traits, A>& n) const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns a reference to the sub_match object representing the character sequence that matched marked sub-expression n. If n == 0 then returns a reference to a sub_match object representing the character sequence that matched the whole regular expression. If n is out of range, or if n is an unmatched sub-expression, then returns a sub_match object whose matched member is false.

The overloads that accept a string, return a reference to the sub_match object representing the character sequence that matched the named sub-expression n. In the event that there is no such named sub-expression then returns a sub_match object whose matched member is false.

The template overloads of this function, allow the string and/or character type to be different from the character type of the underlying sequence and/or regular expression: in this case the characters will be widened to the underlying character type of the original regular expression. A compiler error will occur if the argument passes a wider character type than the underlying sequence. These overloads allow a normal narrow character C string literal to be used as an argument, even when the underlying character type of the expression being matched may be something more exotic such as a Unicode character type.

const_reference prefix()const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns a reference to the sub_match object representing the character sequence from the start of the string being matched or searched, to the start of the match found.

const_reference suffix()const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: Returns a reference to the sub_match object representing the character sequence from the end of the match found to the end of the string being matched or searched.

const_iterator begin()const;

Effects: Returns a starting iterator that enumerates over all the marked sub-expression matches stored in *this.

const_iterator end()const;

Effects: Returns a terminating iterator that enumerates over all the marked sub-expression matches stored in *this.

template <class OutputIterator, class Formatter>
OutputIterator format(OutputIterator out,
                      Formatter fmt,
                      match_flag_type flags = format_default);

Requires: The type OutputIterator conforms to the Output Iterator requirements (C++ std 24.1.2).

The type Formatter must be either a pointer to a null-terminated string of type char_type[], or be a container of char_type's (for example std::basic_string<char_type>) or be a unary, binary or ternary functor that computes the replacement string from a function call: either fmt(*this) which must return a container of char_type's to be used as the replacement text, or either fmt(*this, out) or fmt(*this, out, flags), both of which write the replacement text to *out, and then return the new OutputIterator position. Note that if the formatter is a functor, then it is passed by value: users that want to pass function objects with internal state might want to use Boost.Ref to wrap the object so that it's passed by reference.

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: If fmt is either a null-terminated string, or a container of char_type's, then copies the character sequence [fmt.begin(), fmt.end()) to OutputIterator out. For each format specifier or escape sequence in fmt, replace that sequence with either the character(s) it represents, or the sequence of characters within *this to which it refers. The bitmasks specified in flags determines what format specifiers or escape sequences are recognized, by default this is the format used by ECMA-262, ECMAScript Language Specification, Chapter 15 part 5.4.11 String.prototype.replace.

If fmt is a function object, then depending on the number of arguments the function object accepts, it will either:

In all cases the new position of the OutputIterator is returned.

See the format syntax guide for more information.

Returns: out.

template <class Formatter>
string_type format(Formatter fmt,
                   match_flag_type flags = format_default);

Requires The type Formatter must be either a pointer to a null-terminated string of type char_type[], or be a container of char_type's (for example std::basic_string<char_type>) or be a unary, binary or ternary functor that computes the replacement string from a function call: either fmt(*this) which must return a container of char_type's to be used as the replacement text, or either fmt(*this, out) or fmt(*this, out, flags), both of which write the replacement text to *out, and then return the new OutputIterator position.

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: If fmt is either a null-terminated string, or a container of char_type's, then copies the string fmt: For each format specifier or escape sequence in fmt, replace that sequence with either the character(s) it represents, or the sequence of characters within *this to which it refers. The bitmasks specified in flags determines what format specifiers or escape sequences are recognized, by default this is the format used by ECMA-262, ECMAScript Language Specification, Chapter 15 part 5.4.11 String.prototype.replace.

If fmt is a function object, then depending on the number of arguments the function object accepts, it will either:

See the format syntax guide for more information.

allocator_type get_allocator()const;

Effects: Returns a copy of the Allocator that was passed to the object's constructor.

void swap(match_results& that);

Effects: Swaps the contents of the two sequences.

Postcondition: *this contains the sequence of matched sub-expressions that were in that, that contains the sequence of matched sub-expressions that were in *this.

Complexity: constant time.

typedef typename value_type::capture_sequence_type capture_sequence_type;

Defines an implementation-specific type that satisfies the requirements of a standard library Sequence (21.1.1 including the optional Table 68 operations), whose value_type is a sub_match<BidirectionalIterator>. This type happens to be std::vector<sub_match<BidirectionalIterator> >, but you shouldn't actually rely on that.

const capture_sequence_type& captures(std::size_t i)const;

Requires: that the match_results object has been initialized as a result of a successful call to regex_search or regex_match or was returned from a regex_iterator, and that the underlying iterators have not been subsequently invalidated. Will raise a std::logic_error if the match_results object was not initialized.

Effects: returns a sequence containing all the captures obtained for sub-expression i.

Returns: (*this)[i].captures();

Preconditions: the library must be built and used with BOOST_REGEX_MATCH_EXTRA defined, and you must pass the flag match_extra to the regex matching functions ( regex_match, regex_search, regex_iterator or regex_token_iterator) in order for this member function to be defined and return useful information.

Rationale: Enabling this feature has several consequences:

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
bool operator == (const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
                  const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);

Effects: Compares the two sequences for equality.

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
bool operator != (const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
                  const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);

Effects: Compares the two sequences for inequality.

template <class charT, class traits, class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
basic_ostream<charT, traits>&
   operator << (basic_ostream<charT, traits>& os,
               const match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m);

Effects: Writes the contents of m to the stream os as if by calling os << m.str(); Returns os.

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
void swap(match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
         match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);

Effects: Swaps the contents of the two sequences.


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