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<title>pcre2_substitute specification</title>
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<h1>pcre2_substitute man page</h1>
<p>
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<p>
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<br>
<br><b>
SYNOPSIS
</b><br>
<P>
<b>#include <pcre2.h></b>
</P>
<P>
<b>int pcre2_substitute(const pcre2_code *<i>code</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>subject</i>,</b>
<b> PCRE2_SIZE <i>length</i>, PCRE2_SIZE <i>startoffset</i>,</b>
<b> uint32_t <i>options</i>, pcre2_match_data *<i>match_data</i>,</b>
<b> pcre2_match_context *<i>mcontext</i>, PCRE2_SPTR <i>replacement</i>,</b>
<b> PCRE2_SIZE <i>rlength</i>, PCRE2_UCHAR *<i>outputbuffer</i>,</b>
<b> PCRE2_SIZE *<i>outlengthptr</i>);</b>
</P>
<br><b>
DESCRIPTION
</b><br>
<P>
This function matches a compiled regular expression against a given subject
string, using a matching algorithm that is similar to Perl's. It then makes a
copy of the subject, substituting a replacement string for what was matched.
Its arguments are:
<pre>
<i>code</i> Points to the compiled pattern
<i>subject</i> Points to the subject string
<i>length</i> Length of the subject string
<i>startoffset</i> Offset in the subject at which to start matching
<i>options</i> Option bits
<i>match_data</i> Points to a match data block, or is NULL
<i>mcontext</i> Points to a match context, or is NULL
<i>replacement</i> Points to the replacement string
<i>rlength</i> Length of the replacement string
<i>outputbuffer</i> Points to the output buffer
<i>outlengthptr</i> Points to the length of the output buffer
</pre>
A match context is needed only if you want to:
<pre>
Set up a callout function
Change the limit for calling the internal function <i>match()</i>
Change the limit for calling <i>match()</i> recursively
Set custom memory management when the heap is used for recursion
</pre>
The <i>length</i>, <i>startoffset</i> and <i>rlength</i> values are code
units, not characters, as is the contents of the variable pointed at by
<i>outlengthptr</i>, which is updated to the actual length of the new string.
The options are:
<pre>
PCRE2_ANCHORED Match only at the first position
PCRE2_NOTBOL Subject is not the beginning of a line
PCRE2_NOTEOL Subject is not the end of a line
PCRE2_NOTEMPTY An empty string is not a valid match
PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART An empty string at the start of the
subject is not a valid match
PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK Do not check the subject or replacement
for UTF validity (only relevant if
PCRE2_UTF was set at compile time)
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED Do extended replacement processing
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL Replace all occurrences in the subject
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH If overflow, compute needed length
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET Treat unknown group as unset
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY Simple unset insert = empty string
</pre>
The function returns the number of substitutions, which may be zero if there
were no matches. The result can be greater than one only when
PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set. In the event of an error, a negative error code
is returned.
</P>
<P>
There is a complete description of the PCRE2 native API in the
<a href="pcre2api.html"><b>pcre2api</b></a>
page and a description of the POSIX API in the
<a href="pcre2posix.html"><b>pcre2posix</b></a>
page.
<p>
Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE2 index page</a>.
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