regex(1F)




NAME

     regex - match patterns against a string


SYNOPSIS

     regex [-e] [ -v "string"] [ pattern  template]  ...  pattern
     [template]


DESCRIPTION

     The regex command takes a string from  the  standard  input,
     and  a list of pattern / template pairs, and runs regex() to
     compare the string against each pattern  until  there  is  a
     match.   When a match occurs, regex writes the corresponding
     template to the standard output and returns TRUE.  The  last
     (or  only)  pattern does not need a template. If that is the
     pattern that matches the string, the function simply returns
     TRUE. If no match is found, regex returns FALSE.

     The argument pattern is a regular  expression  of  the  form
     described  in  regex().  In  most  cases,  pattern should be
     enclosed in single quotes to turn off  special  meanings  of
     characters. Note that only the final pattern in the list may
     lack a template.

     The argument template may contain the  strings  $m0  through
     $m9,  which will be expanded to the part of pattern enclosed
     in ( ... )$0 through ( ...   )$9  constructs  (see  examples
     below).  Note that if you use this feature, you must be sure
     to enclose template in single quotes so that FMLI  does  not
     expand  $m0  through  $m9  at parse time. This feature gives
     regex much of the power of  cut(1), paste(1),  and  grep(1),
     and  some of the capabilities of sed(1). If there is no tem-
     plate, the default is $m0$m1$m2$m3$m4$m5$m6$m7$m8$m9.


OPTIONS

     The following options are supported:

     -e    Evaluates the corresponding template  and  writes  the
           result to the standard output.

     -v "string"
           Uses string instead of the  standard  input  to  match
           against patterns.


EXAMPLES

     Example 1: Cutting letters out of a string

     To cut the 4th through 8th letters out  of  a  string  (this
     example will output strin and return TRUE):

     `regex -v "my string is nice" '^.{3}(.{5})$0' '$m0'`

     Example 2: Validating input in a form

     In a form, to validate input to field 5 as an integer:

     valid=`regex -v "$F5" '^[0-9]+$'`

     Example 3: Translating an environment variable in a form

     In a form, to translate an environment variable  which  con-
     tains  one of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to the letters a, b,
     c, d, e:

     value=`regex -v "$VAR1" 1 a 2 b 3 c 4 d 5 e '.*' 'Error'`

     Note the use of the pattern '.*' to mean "anything else".

     Example 4: Using backquoted expressions

     In the example below, all three lines  constitute  a  single
     backquoted  expression. This expression, by itself, could be
     put in a menu definition file. Since backquoted  expressions
     are   expanded  as  they  are  parsed,  and  output  from  a
     backquoted expression (the cat  command,  in  this  example)
     becomes  part  of  the  definition  file  being parsed, this
     expression would read /etc/passwd and make a dynamic menu of
     all the login ids on the system.

     `cat /etc/passwd | regex '^([^:]*)$0.*$' '
     name=$m0
     action=`message "$m0 is a user"`'`


DIAGNOSTICS

     If none of the patterns match, regex returns  FALSE,  other-
     wise TRUE.


NOTES

     Patterns and templates must  often  be  enclosed  in  single
     quotes to turn off the special meanings of characters. Espe-
     cially if you use the $m0 through $m9 variables in the  tem-
     plate,  since FMLI will expand the variables (usually to "")
     before regex even sees them.

     Single characters in character classes (inside [])  must  be
     listed  before  character ranges, otherwise they will not be
     recognized. For example, [a-zA-Z_/]  will  not  find  under-
     scores (_) or slashes (/), but [_/a-zA-Z] will.

     The regular expressions accepted by regcmp  differ  slightly
     from  other  utilities  (that is, sed, grep, awk, ed, and so
     forth).

     regex with the -e option forces subsequent  commands  to  be
     ignored.  In  other words, if a backquoted statement appears
     as follows:

          `regex -e ...; command1; command2`

     command1 and command2  would  never  be  executed.  However,
     dividing the expression into two:

          `regex -e ...``command1; command2`

     would yield the desired result.


ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO

     awk(1),  cut(1),  grep(1),  paste(1),  sed(1),   regcmp(3C),
     attributes(5)


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