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JSL Syntax Reference > JSL Functions > Character Pattern Functions
Publication date: 11/10/2021

Character Pattern Functions

See Pattern Matching in the Scripting Guide for more detailed information about constructing and using pattern matching expressions.

Pat Abort()

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that immediately stops the pattern match. The matcher does not back up and retry any alternatives. Conditional assignments are not made. Immediate assignments that were already made are kept.

Returns

0 when a match is stopped.

Argument

none

Pat Altern(pattern1, <pattern2, ...>)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches any one of the pattern arguments.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

One or more patterns.

Pat Any(string)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches a single character in the argument.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

pattern

A quoted string.

See Also

Regular Expressions in the Scripting Guide

Pat Arb()

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches an arbitrary quoted string. It initially matches the null quoted string. It then matches one additional character each time the pattern matcher backs into it.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

none

Example

p = "the beginning" + Pat Arb() >? stuffInTheMiddle + "the end";
Pat Match( "in the beginning of the story, and not near the end, there are three bears", p );
Show( stuffInTheMiddle );

stuffInTheMiddle = " of the story, and not near "

See Also

Regular Expressions in the Scripting Guide

Pat Arb No(pattern)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches zero or more copies of pattern.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

pattern

A quoted pattern to match against.

Example

adjectives = "large" | "medium" | "small" | "warm" | "cold" | "hot" | "sweet";
rc = Pat Match( "I would like a medium hot, sweet tea please",
               Pat Arbno( adjectives | Pat Any(", ") ) >> adj +
               ("tea" | "coffee" | "milk") );
Show( rc, adj );

rc = 1;

adj = " medium hot, sweet ";

Pat At(varName)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches the null quoted string and stores the current position in the source string into the specified JSL variable (varName). The assignment is immediate, and the variable can be used with expr() to affect the remainder of the match.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

varName

The name of a variable to store the result in.

Example

p = ":" + Pat At( listStart ) + Expr(
	If( listStart == 1,
		Pat Immediate( Pat Len( 3 ), early ),
		Pat Immediate( Pat Len( 2 ), late )
	)
);
early = "";
late = "";
Pat Match( ":123456789", p );
Show( early, late );
early = "";
late = "";
Pat Match( "   :123456789", p );
Show( early, late );

First this is produced:

early = "123"

late = ""

and later this:

early = ""

late = "12"

Pat Break(string)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches zero or more characters that are not in its argument; it stops or breaks on a character in its argument. It fails if a character in its argument is not found (in particular, it fails to match if it finds the end of the quoted source string without finding a break character).

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

string

A quoted string.

Pat Concat(pattern1, pattern2 <pattern3, ...>)

Pattern1 + Pattern2 + ...

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches each pattern argument in turn.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

Two or more quoted patterns.

Pat Conditional(pattern, varName)

Description

Saves the result of the quoted pattern match, if it succeeds, to a variable named as the second argument (varName) after the match is finished.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Arguments

pattern

A quoted pattern to match against.

varName

The name of a variable to store the result in.

Example

type = "undefined";
rc = Pat Match(
	"green apples",
	Pat Conditional( "red" | "green", type ) + " apples"
);
Show( rc, type );

rc = 1;

type = "green";

Pat Fail()

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that fails whenever the matcher attempts to move forward through it. The matcher backs up and tries different alternatives. If and when there are no alternatives left, the match fails and Pat Match returns 0.

Returns

0 when a match fails.

Argument

none

Pat Fence()

Description

Constructs a pattern that succeeds and matches the quoted null string when the matcher moves forward through it, but fails when the matcher tries to back up through it. It is a one-way trap door that can be used to optimize some matches.

Returns

1 when the match succeeds, 0 otherwise.

Argument

none

Pat Immediate(pattern, varName)

Description

Saves the result of the pattern match to a variable named as the second argument (varName) immediately.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Arguments

pattern

A quoted pattern to match against.

varName

The name of a variable to store the result in.

Example

type = "undefined";
rc = Pat Match(
	"green apples",
	("red" | "green") >> type + " pears"
);
Show( rc, type );

rc = 0

type = "green"

Even though the match failed, the immediate assignment was made.

Pat Len(int)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches n characters.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

int

An integer that specifies the number of characters.

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat Look Ahead(pattern, Boolean)

Description

A zero-width pattern match after the current position.

Arguments

pattern

The quoted pattern.

Boolean

0 (the default) indicates a match. 1 indicates a negative match or non-match.

Pat Look Behind(pattern, Boolean)

Description

A zero-width quoted pattern match before the current position.

Arguments

pattern

The quoted pattern.

Boolean

0 (the default) indicates a match. 1 indicates a negative match or non-match.

Pat Match(source text, pattern, <replacement string>, <"NULL">, <"ANCHOR">, <"MATCHCASE">, <"FULLSCAN">)

Description

Pat Match executes the quoted pattern against the source text. The pattern must be constructed first, either inline or by assigning it to a JSL variable elsewhere.

Returns

1 if the pattern is found, 0 otherwise.

Required Arguments

source text

A quoted string or quoted string variable that contains the text to be searched.

pattern

A quoted pattern or pattern variable that contains the text to be searched for.

Optional Arguments

replacement string

A quoted string that defines text to replace the pattern in the source text.

"NULL"

A placeholder for the third argument if ANCHOR, MATCHCASE, or FULLSCAN are necessary and there is no replacement text.

"ANCHOR"

Starts the pattern match at the beginning of the quoted string. The following match fails because the pattern, “cream”, is not found at the beginning of the string:

Pat Match( "coffee with cream and sugar", "cream", NULL, ANCHOR );

"MATCHCASE"

Optional command to consider capitalization in the match. By default, Pat Match() is case insensitive.

"FULLSCAN"

Optional command to force Pat Match to try all alternatives, which uses more memory as the match expands. By default, Pat Match() does not use FULLSCAN, and makes some assumptions that allow the recursion to stop and the match to succeed.

See Also

Pattern Matching in the Scripting Guide

Pat Not Any(string)

Description

Constructs a pattern that matches a single character that is not in the argument.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

string

A quoted string.

See Also

Troubleshooting Patterns in the Scripting Guide

Pat Pos(int)

Description

Constructs patterns that match the quoted null string if the current position is int from the left end of the string, and fail otherwise.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

int

An integer that specifies the position in a quoted string.

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat R Pos(int)

Description

Constructs patterns that match the quoted null string if the current position is int from the right end of the string, and fails otherwise.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

int

An integer that specifies the position in a quoted string.

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat R Tab(int)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches up to position n from the end of the quoted string. It can match 0 or more characters. It fails if it would have to move backwards or beyond the end of the string.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

int

An integer that specifies a position in a quoted string.

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat Regex(string)

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches the regular expression in the quoted string argument.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

string

A quoted string.

See Also

Patterns and Case in the Scripting Guide

Pat Rem()

Description

Constructs a quoted pattern that matches the remainder of the quoted string. It is equivalent to Pat R Tab(0).

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

none

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat Repeat(pattern, minimum, maximum, <"GREEDY"|"RELUCTANT">)

Description

Matches the quoted pattern between minimum and maximum times.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Required Arguments

pattern

A pattern to match against.

minimum

An integer that must be smaller than maximum.

maximum

An integer that must be greater than minimum.

Optional Argument

"GREEDY"|"RELUCTANT"

If GREEDY is specified, it tries the maximum first and works back to the minimum. If RELUCTANT is specified, it tries the minimum first and works up to the maximum.

Notes

Pat Arbno(p) is the same as Pat Repeat(p, 0, infinity, RELUCTANT)

Pat Repeat(p) is the same as Pat Repeat(p, 1, infinity, GREEDY)

Pat Repeat(p, n) is the same as Pat Repeat(p, n, infinity, GREEDY)

Pat Repeat(p, n, m) is the same as Pat Repeat(p, n, m, GREEDY)

See Also

Patterns and Case in the Scripting Guide

Pat Span(string)

Description

Constructs a pattern that matches one or more (not zero) occurrences of characters in its argument. It is greedy; it always matches the longest possible quoted string. It fails rather than matching zero characters.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

string

A quoted string.

See Also

Pattern Matching in the Scripting Guide

Pat String(string)

Description

Constructs a pattern that matches its quoted string argument.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

string

A quoted string.

Pat Succeed()

Description

Constructs a pattern that always succeeds, even when the matcher backs into it. It matches the quoted null string.

Returns

1 when the match succeeds.

Argument

none

Pat Tab(int)

Description

Constructs a pattern that matches forward to position int in the quoted source string. It can match 0 or more characters. It fails if it would have to move backwards or beyond the end of the string.

Returns

A pattern.

Argument

int

An integer that specifies a position in a quoted string.

See Also

Parsing Strings in Fixed Fields in the Scripting Guide

Pat Test(expr)

Description

Constructs a pattern that succeeds and matches the quoted null string if expr is not zero and fails otherwise.

Returns

A quoted pattern.

Argument

expr

An expression.

Notes

Usually the argument is wrapped with expr() because the test needs to be made on the current value of variables set by Pat Immediate, Pat Conditional, and Pat At. Without expr, the test is based on values that were known when the pattern was constructed, which means the test always succeeds or always fails at pattern execution time, which is probably not what you want.

Example

nCats = 0;
whichCat = 3;
string = "catch a catnapping cat in a catsup factory";
rc = Pat Match(
	string,
	"cat" + Pat Test(
		Expr(
			nCats = nCats + 1;
			nCats == whichCat;
		)
	),
	"dog"
);
Show( rc, string, nCats );

rc = 1

string = "catch a catnapping dog in a catsup factory"

nCats = 3

Regex Match(source, pattern, <replacement string>|<"MATCHCASE">, <"NULL">)

Description

Executes the pattern match in quoted pattern against the quoted source string.

Returns

A pattern.

Required Arguments

source

A quoted string.

pattern

A quoted pattern.

Optional Arguments

replacement string

The quoted string that specifies the text to replace the source with.

"MATCHCASE"

The search is case insensitive unless you specify MATCHCASE.

"NULL"

Indicates that the expression contains MATCHCASE but you don’t want to specify a replacement.

Examples

Regex Match(
	"person=Fred id=77 friend= favorite=tea", // source
	"(\w+)=(\S*) (\w+)=(\S*) (\w+)=(\S*) (\w+)=(\S*)" // pattern
);

{"person=Fred id=77 friend= favorite=tea", "person", "Fred", "id", "77", "friend", "", "favorite", "tea"}

 
// case-insensitive, no replacement
Regex Match( "beliEve", "([aeiou])(.*?)(\1)" );

{"eliE", "e", "li", "E"}

// case-sensitive, no replacement
Regex Match( "beliEve", "([aeiou])(.*?)(\1)", NULL, MATCHCASE );

{"eliEve", "e", "liEv", "e"}

See Also

Regex Match in the Scripting Guide

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