28 Regular expressions library [re]

28.1 General [re.general]

This Clause describes components that C++ programs may use to perform operations involving regular expression matching and searching.

The following subclauses describe a basic regular expression class template and its traits that can handle char-like template arguments, two specializations of this class template that handle sequences of char and wchar_t, a class template that holds the result of a regular expression match, a series of algorithms that allow a character sequence to be operated upon by a regular expression, and two iterator types for enumerating regular expression matches, as described in Table [tab:re.lib.summary].

Table 136 — Regular expressions library summary
Subclause Header(s)
[re.def] Definitions
[re.req] Requirements
[re.const] Constants
[re.badexp] Exception type
[re.traits] Traits
[re.regex] Regular expression template <regex>
[re.submatch] Submatches
[re.results] Match results
[re.alg] Algorithms
[re.iter] Iterators
[re.grammar] Grammar

28.2 Definitions [re.def]

The following definitions shall apply to this Clause:

28.2.1 collating element [defns.regex.collating.element]

a sequence of one or more characters within the current locale that collate as if they were a single character.

28.2.2 finite state machine [defns.regex.finite.state.machine]

an unspecified data structure that is used to represent a regular expression, and which permits efficient matches against the regular expression to be obtained.

28.2.3 format specifier [defns.regex.format.specifier]

a sequence of one or more characters that is to be replaced with some part of a regular expression match.

28.2.4 matched [defns.regex.matched]

a sequence of zero or more characters is matched by a regular expression when the characters in the sequence correspond to a sequence of characters defined by the pattern.

28.2.5 primary equivalence class [defns.regex.primary.equivalence.class]

a set of one or more characters which share the same primary sort key: that is the sort key weighting that depends only upon character shape, and not accents, case, or locale specific tailorings.

28.2.6 regular expression [defns.regex.regular.expression]

a pattern that selects specific strings from a set of character strings.

28.2.7 sub-expression [defns.regex.subexpression]

a subset of a regular expression that has been marked by parenthesis.

28.3 Requirements [re.req]

This subclause defines requirements on classes representing regular expression traits. [ Note: The class template regex_traits, defined in Clause [re.traits], satisfies these requirements.  — end note ]

The class template basic_regex, defined in Clause [re.regex], needs a set of related types and functions to complete the definition of its semantics. These types and functions are provided as a set of member typedefs and functions in the template parameter traits used by the basic_regex class template. This subclause defines the semantics guaranteed by these members.

To specialize class template basic_regex for a character container CharT and its related regular expression traits class Traits, use basic_regex<CharT, Traits>.

In Table [tab:re:RegexpTraits] X denotes a traits class defining types and functions for the character container type charT; u is an object of type X; v is an object of type const X; p is a value of type const charT*; I1 and I2 are Input Iterators; F1 and F2 are forward iterators; c is a value of type const charT; s is an object of type X::string_type; cs is an object of type const X::string_type; b is a value of type bool; I is a value of type int; cl is an object of type X::char_class_type, and loc is an object of type X::locale_type.

Table 137 — Regular expression traits class requirements
ExpressionReturn typeAssertion/note pre-/post-condition
X::char_type charT The character container type used in the implementation of class template basic_regex.
X::string_type std::basic_string<charT>
X::locale_type A copy constructible type A type that represents the locale used by the traits class.
X::char_class_type A bitmask type ([bitmask.types]). A bitmask type representing a particular character classification.
X::length(p) std::size_t Yields the smallest i such that p[i] == 0. Complexity is linear in i .
v.translate(c) X::char_type Returns a character such that for any character d that is to be considered equivalent to c then v.translate(c) == v.translate(d).
v.translate_nocase(c) X::char_type For all characters C that are to be considered equivalent to c when comparisons are to be performed without regard to case, then v.translate_nocase(c) == v.translate_nocase(C).
v.transform(F1, F2) X::string_type Returns a sort key for the character sequence designated by the iterator range [F1,F2) such that if the character sequence [G1,G2) sorts before the character sequence [H1,H2) then v.transform(G1, G2) < v.transform(H1, H2).
v.transform_primary(F1, F2) X::string_type Returns a sort key for the character sequence designated by the iterator range [F1,F2) such that if the character sequence [G1,G2) sorts before the character sequence [H1,H2) when character case is not considered then v.transform_primary(G1, G2) < v.transform_primary(H1, H2).
v.lookup_collatename(F1, F2) X::string_type Returns a sequence of characters that represents the collating element consisting of the character sequence designated by the iterator range [F1,F2). Returns an empty string if the character sequence is not a valid collating element.
v.lookup_classname(F1, F2, b) X::char_class_type Converts the character sequence designated by the iterator range [F1,F2) into a value of a bitmask type that can subsequently be passed to isctype. Values returned from lookup_classname can be bitwise or'ed together; the resulting value represents membership in either of the corresponding character classes. If b is true, the returned bitmask is suitable for matching characters without regard to their case. Returns 0 if the character sequence is not the name of a character class recognized by X. The value returned shall be independent of the case of the characters in the sequence.
v.isctype(c, cl) bool Returns true if character c is a member of one of the character classes designated by cl, false otherwise.
v.value(c, I) int Returns the value represented by the digit c in base I if the character c is a valid digit in base I; otherwise returns -1. [ Note: The value of I will only be 8, 10, or 16.  — end note ]
u.imbue(loc) X::locale_type Imbues u with the locale loc and returns the previous locale used by u if any.
v.getloc() X::locale_type Returns the current locale used by v, if any.

Note: Class template regex_traits satisfies the requirements for a regular expression traits class when it is specialized for char or wchar_t. This Class template is described in the header <regex>, and is described in Clause [re.traits].  — end note ]

28.4 Header <regex> synopsis [re.syn]

#include <initializer_list>

namespace std {

  // [re.const], regex constants:
  namespace regex_constants {
    enum error_type;
  } // namespace regex_constants

  // [re.badexp], class regex_error:
  class regex_error;

  // [re.traits], class template regex_traits:
  template <class charT> struct regex_traits;

  // [re.regex], class template basic_regex:
  template <class charT, class traits = regex_traits<charT> > class basic_regex;

  typedef basic_regex<char>    regex;
  typedef basic_regex<wchar_t> wregex;

  // [re.regex.swap], basic_regex swap:
  template <class charT, class traits>
    void swap(basic_regex<charT, traits>& e1, basic_regex<charT, traits>& e2);

  // [re.submatch], class template sub_match:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator> 
    class sub_match;

  typedef sub_match<const char*>             csub_match;
  typedef sub_match<const wchar_t*>          wcsub_match;
  typedef sub_match<string::const_iterator>  ssub_match;
  typedef sub_match<wstring::const_iterator> wssub_match;

  // [re.submatch.op], sub_match non-member operators:
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter>
    bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);


  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator==(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator!=(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator<(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator>(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator>=(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator<=(
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs,
      const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator==(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator!=(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator<(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator>(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator>=(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);
  template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> 
    bool operator<=(
      const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs,
      const basic_string<
        typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator==(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator!=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                   const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                   const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 

  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                   typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                   typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs); 

  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator==(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator!=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                   const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                   const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, 
                    const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs); 

  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                   typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                   typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 
  template <class BiIter> 
    bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, 
                    typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs); 

  template <class charT, class ST, class BiIter>
    basic_ostream<charT, ST>&
    operator<<(basic_ostream<charT, ST>& os, const sub_match<BiIter>& m);

  // [re.results], class template match_results:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator,
            class Allocator = 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;

  // match_results comparisons
  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);

  // [re.results.swap], match_results swap:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator>
    void swap(match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m1,
              match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m2);

  // [re.alg.match], function template regex_match:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator,
      class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_match(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                     match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m,
                     const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                     regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                       regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, class charT, class traits>
  bool regex_match(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                   const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                   regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                     regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class charT, class Allocator, class traits>
    bool regex_match(const charT* str, match_results<const charT*, Allocator>& m,
                     const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                     regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                       regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class ST, class SA, class Allocator, class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_match(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                     match_results<
                       typename basic_string<charT, ST, SA>::const_iterator, 
                       Allocator>& m, 
                     const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, 
                     regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                       regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_match(const charT* str,
                     const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                     regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                       regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class ST, class SA, class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_match(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                     const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                     regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                       regex_constants::match_default);

  // [re.alg.search], function template regex_search:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator,
      class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_search(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                      match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_search(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class charT, class Allocator, class traits>
    bool regex_search(const charT* str,
                      match_results<const charT*, Allocator>& m,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_search(const charT* str,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class ST, class SA, class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_search(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class ST, class SA, class Allocator, class charT, class traits>
    bool regex_search(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                      match_results<
                        typename basic_string<charT, ST, SA>::const_iterator, 
                        Allocator>& m,
                      const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                      regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                        regex_constants::match_default);

  // [re.alg.replace], function template regex_replace:
  template <class OutputIterator, class BidirectionalIterator,
      class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA>
    OutputIterator 
    regex_replace(OutputIterator out,
                  BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class OutputIterator, class BidirectionalIterator,
      class traits, class charT>
    OutputIterator
    regex_replace(OutputIterator out,
                  BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const charT* fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA,
      class FST, class FSA>
    basic_string<charT, ST, SA>
    regex_replace(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const basic_string<charT, FST, FSA>& fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA>
    basic_string<charT, ST, SA>
    regex_replace(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const charT* fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA>
    basic_string<charT>
    regex_replace(const charT* s,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);
  template <class traits, class charT>
    basic_string<charT>
    regex_replace(const charT* s,
                  const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e,
                  const charT* fmt,
                  regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                    regex_constants::match_default);

  // [re.regiter], class template regex_iterator:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, 
            class charT = typename iterator_traits<
              BidirectionalIterator>::value_type,
            class traits = regex_traits<charT> >
    class regex_iterator;

  typedef regex_iterator<const char*>             cregex_iterator;
  typedef regex_iterator<const wchar_t*>          wcregex_iterator;
  typedef regex_iterator<string::const_iterator>  sregex_iterator;
  typedef regex_iterator<wstring::const_iterator> wsregex_iterator;

  // [re.tokiter], class template regex_token_iterator:
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, 
            class charT = typename iterator_traits<
              BidirectionalIterator>::value_type,
            class traits = regex_traits<charT> >
    class regex_token_iterator;

  typedef regex_token_iterator<const char*>             cregex_token_iterator;
  typedef regex_token_iterator<const wchar_t*>          wcregex_token_iterator;
  typedef regex_token_iterator<string::const_iterator>  sregex_token_iterator;
  typedef regex_token_iterator<wstring::const_iterator> wsregex_token_iterator;
}

28.5 Namespace std::regex_constants [re.const]

The namespace std::regex_constants holds symbolic constants used by the regular expression library. This namespace provides three types, syntax_option_type, match_flag_type, and error_type, along with several constants of these types.

28.5.1 Bitmask type syntax_option_type [re.synopt]

namespace std {
  namespace regex_constants {
    typedef T1 syntax_option_type;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type icase = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type nosubs = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type optimize = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type collate = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type ECMAScript = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type basic = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type extended = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type awk = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type grep = unspecified;
    static constexpr syntax_option_type egrep = unspecified;
  }
}

The type syntax_option_type is an implementation-defined bitmask type ([bitmask.types]). Setting its elements has the effects listed in table [tab:re:syntaxoption]. A valid value of type syntax_option_type shall have exactly one of the elements ECMAScript, basic, extended, awk, grep, egrep, set.

Table 138syntax_option_type effects
ElementEffect(s) if set
icase Specifies that matching of regular expressions against a character container sequence shall be performed without regard to case.
nosubs Specifies that when a regular expression is matched against a character container sequence, no sub-expression matches shall be stored in the supplied match_results structure.
optimize Specifies that the regular expression engine should pay more attention to the speed with which regular expressions are matched, and less to the speed with which regular expression objects are constructed. Otherwise it has no detectable effect on the program output.
collate Specifies that character ranges of the form "[a-b]" shall be locale sensitive.
ECMAScript Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by ECMAScript in ECMA-262, as modified in [re.grammar].
basic Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by basic regular expressions in POSIX, Base Definitions and Headers, Section 9, Regular Expressions.
extended Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by extended regular expressions in POSIX, Base Definitions and Headers, Section 9, Regular Expressions.
awk Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by the utility awk in POSIX.
grep Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by the utility grep in POSIX.
egrep Specifies that the grammar recognized by the regular expression engine shall be that used by the utility grep when given the -E option in POSIX.

28.5.2 Bitmask type regex_constants::match_flag_type [re.matchflag]

namespace std {
  namespace regex_constants{
    typedef T2 match_flag_type;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_default = 0
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_not_bol = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_not_eol = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_not_bow = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_not_eow = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_any = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_not_null = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_continuous = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type match_prev_avail = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type format_default = 0;
    static constexpr match_flag_type format_sed = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type format_no_copy = unspecified;
    static constexpr match_flag_type format_first_only = unspecified;
  }
}

The type regex_constants::match_flag_type is an implementation-defined bitmask type ([bitmask.types]). Matching a regular expression against a sequence of characters [first,last) proceeds according to the rules of the grammar specified for the regular expression object, modified according to the effects listed in Table [tab:re:matchflag] for any bitmask elements set.

Table 139regex_constants::match_flag_type effects when obtaining a match against a character container sequence [first,last).
ElementEffect(s) if set
match_not_bol The first character in the sequence [first,last) shall be treated as though it is not at the beginning of a line, so the character ^ in the regular expression shall not match [first,first).
match_not_eol The last character in the sequence [first,last) shall be treated as though it is not at the end of a line, so the character "$" in the regular expression shall not match [last,last).
match_not_bow The expression "\b" shall not match the sub-sequence [first,first).
match_not_eow The expression "\b" shall not match the sub-sequence [last,last).
match_any If more than one match is possible then any match is an acceptable result.
match_not_null The expression shall not match an empty sequence.
match_continuous The expression shall only match a sub-sequence that begins at first.
match_prev_avail --first is a valid iterator position. When this flag is set the flags match_not_bol and match_not_bow shall be ignored by the regular expression algorithms [re.alg] and iterators [re.iter].
format_default When a regular expression match is to be replaced by a new string, the new string shall be constructed using the rules used by the ECMAScript replace function in ECMA-262, part 15.5.4.11 String.prototype.replace. In addition, during search and replace operations all non-overlapping occurrences of the regular expression shall be located and replaced, and sections of the input that did not match the expression shall be copied unchanged to the output string.
format_sed When a regular expression match is to be replaced by a new string, the new string shall be constructed using the rules used by the sed utility in POSIX.
format_no_copy During a search and replace operation, sections of the character container sequence being searched that do not match the regular expression shall not be copied to the output string.
format_first_only When specified during a search and replace operation, only the first occurrence of the regular expression shall be replaced.

28.5.3 Implementation-defined error_type [re.err]

namespace std {
  namespace regex_constants {
    typedef T3 error_type;
    static constexpr error_type error_collate = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_ctype = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_escape = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_backref = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_brack = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_paren = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_brace = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_badbrace = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_range = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_space = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_badrepeat = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_complexity = unspecified;
    static constexpr error_type error_stack = unspecified;
  }
}

The type error_type is an implementation-defined enumerated type ([enumerated.types]). Values of type error_type represent the error conditions described in Table [tab:re:errortype]:

Table 140error_type values in the C locale
ValueError condition
error_collate The expression contained an invalid collating element name.
error_ctype The expression contained an invalid character class name.
error_escape The expression contained an invalid escaped character, or a trailing escape.
error_backref The expression contained an invalid back reference.
error_brack The expression contained mismatched [ and ].
error_paren The expression contained mismatched ( and ).
error_brace The expression contained mismatched { and }
error_badbrace The expression contained an invalid range in a {} expression.
error_range The expression contained an invalid character range, such as [b-a] in most encodings.
error_space There was insufficient memory to convert the expression into a finite state machine.
error_badrepeat One of *?+{ was not preceded by a valid regular expression.
error_complexity The complexity of an attempted match against a regular expression exceeded a pre-set level.
error_stack There was insufficient memory to determine whether the regular expression could match the specified character sequence.

28.6 Class regex_error [re.badexp]

class regex_error : public std::runtime_error {
  public:
    explicit regex_error(regex_constants::error_type ecode);
    regex_constants::error_type code() const;
}; 

The class regex_error defines the type of objects thrown as exceptions to report errors from the regular expression library.

regex_error(regex_constants::error_type ecode);

Effects: Constructs an object of class regex_error.

Postcondition:: ecode == code()

regex_constants::error_type code() const;

Returns: The error code that was passed to the constructor.

28.7 Class template regex_traits [re.traits]

namespace std {
  template <class charT>
  struct regex_traits {
  public:
     typedef charT                        char_type;
     typedef std::basic_string<char_type> string_type;
     typedef std::locale                  locale_type;
     typedef  bitmask_type                 char_class_type;

     regex_traits();
     static std::size_t length(const char_type* p);
     charT translate(charT c) const;
     charT translate_nocase(charT c) const;
     template <class ForwardIterator>
       string_type transform(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;
     template <class ForwardIterator>
       string_type transform_primary(
         ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;
     template <class ForwardIterator>
       string_type lookup_collatename(
         ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;
     template <class ForwardIterator>
       char_class_type lookup_classname(
         ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last, bool icase = false) const;
     bool isctype(charT c, char_class_type f) const;
     int value(charT ch, int radix) const;
     locale_type imbue(locale_type l);
     locale_type getloc()const;
  };
}

The specializations regex_traits<char> and regex_traits<wchar_t> shall be valid and shall satisfy the requirements for a regular expression traits class ([re.req]).

typedef bitmask_type char_class_type;

The type char_class_type is used to represent a character classification and is capable of holding an implementation specific set returned by lookup_classname.

static std::size_t length(const char_type* p);

Returns: char_traits<charT>::length(p);

charT translate(charT c) const;

Returns: (c).

charT translate_nocase(charT c) const;

Returns: use_facet<ctype<charT> >(getloc()).tolower(c).

template <class ForwardIterator> string_type transform(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;

Effects:

string_type str(first, last);
return use_facet<collate<charT> >(
  getloc()).transform(&*str.begin(), &*str.begin() + str.length());

template <class ForwardIterator> string_type transform_primary(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;

Effects: if typeid(use_facet<collate<charT> >) == typeid(collate_byname<charT>) and the form of the sort key returned by collate_byname<charT> :: transform(first, last) is known and can be converted into a primary sort key then returns that key, otherwise returns an empty string.

template <class ForwardIterator> string_type lookup_collatename(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last) const;

Returns: a sequence of one or more characters that represents the collating element consisting of the character sequence designated by the iterator range [first,last). Returns an empty string if the character sequence is not a valid collating element.

template <class ForwardIterator> char_class_type lookup_classname( ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last, bool icase = false) const;

Returns: an unspecified value that represents the character classification named by the character sequence designated by the iterator range [first,last). If the parameter icase is true then the returned mask identifies the character classification without regard to the case of the characters being matched, otherwise it does honor the case of the characters being matched.336 The value returned shall be independent of the case of the characters in the character sequence. If the name is not recognized then returns a value that compares equal to 0.

Remarks: For regex_traits<char>, at least the names "d", "w", "s", "alnum", "alpha", "blank", "cntrl", "digit", "graph", "lower", "print", "punct", "space", "upper" and "xdigit" shall be recognized. For regex_traits<wchar_t>, at least the names L"d", L"w", L"s", L"alnum", L"alpha", L"blank", L"cntrl", L"digit", L"graph", L"lower", L"print", L"punct", L"space", L"upper" and L"xdigit" shall be recognized.

bool isctype(charT c, char_class_type f) const;

Effects: Determines if the character c is a member of the character classification represented by f.

Returns: Converts f into a value m of type std::ctype_base::mask in an unspecified manner, and returns true if use_facet<ctype<charT> >(getloc()).is(m, c) is true. Otherwise returns true if f bitwise or'ed with the result of calling lookup_classname with an iterator pair that designates the character sequence "w" is not equal to 0 and c == '_', or if f bitwise or'ed with the result of calling lookup_classname with an iterator pair that designates the character sequence "blank" is not equal to 0 and c is one of an implementation-defined subset of the characters for which isspace(c, getloc()) returns true, otherwise returns false.

int value(charT ch, int radix) const;

Requires: The value of radix shall be 8, 10, or 16.

Returns: the value represented by the digit ch in base radix if the character ch is a valid digit in base radix; otherwise returns -1.

locale_type imbue(locale_type loc);

Effects: Imbues this with a copy of the locale loc. [ Note: Calling imbue with a different locale than the one currently in use invalidates all cached data held by *this.  — end note ]

Returns: if no locale has been previously imbued then a copy of the global locale in effect at the time of construction of *this, otherwise a copy of the last argument passed to imbue.

Postcondition: getloc() == loc.

locale_type getloc()const;

Returns: if no locale has been imbued then a copy of the global locale in effect at the time of construction of *this, otherwise a copy of the last argument passed to imbue.

For example, if the parameter icase is true then [[:lower:]] is the same as [[:alpha:]].

28.8 Class template basic_regex [re.regex]

For a char-like type charT, specializations of class template basic_regex represent regular expressions constructed from character sequences of charT characters. In the rest of [re.regex], charT denotes a given char-like type. Storage for a regular expression is allocated and freed as necessary by the member functions of class basic_regex.

Objects of type specialization of basic_regex are responsible for converting the sequence of charT objects to an internal representation. It is not specified what form this representation takes, nor how it is accessed by algorithms that operate on regular expressions. [ Note: Implementations will typically declare some function templates as friends of basic_regex to achieve this  — end note ]

The functions described in this Clause report errors by throwing exceptions of type regex_error.

namespace std {
  template <class charT,
            class traits = regex_traits<charT> >
  class basic_regex {
  public:
    // types:
    typedef          charT                                value_type;
    typedef          traits                               traits_type;
    typedef typename traits::string_type                  string_type;
    typedef          regex_constants::syntax_option_type  flag_type;
    typedef typename traits::locale_type                  locale_type;

    // [re.regex.const], constants:
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      icase = regex_constants::icase;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      nosubs = regex_constants::nosubs;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      optimize = regex_constants::optimize;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      collate = regex_constants::collate;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      ECMAScript = regex_constants::ECMAScript;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      basic = regex_constants::basic;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      extended = regex_constants::extended;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      awk = regex_constants::awk;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      grep = regex_constants::grep;
    static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
      egrep = regex_constants::egrep;

    // [re.regex.construct], construct/copy/destroy:
    basic_regex();
    explicit basic_regex(const charT* p,
      flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    basic_regex(const charT* p, size_t len, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    basic_regex(const basic_regex&);
    basic_regex(basic_regex&&) noexcept;
    template <class ST, class SA>
      explicit basic_regex(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& p, 
                           flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    template <class ForwardIterator>
      basic_regex(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last, 
                  flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    basic_regex(initializer_list<charT>,
      flag_type = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

    ~basic_regex();

    basic_regex& operator=(const basic_regex&);
    basic_regex& operator=(basic_regex&&) noexcept;
    basic_regex& operator=(const charT* ptr);
    basic_regex& operator=(initializer_list<charT> il);
    template <class ST, class SA>
      basic_regex& operator=(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& p);

    // [re.regex.assign], assign:
    basic_regex& assign(const basic_regex& that);
    basic_regex& assign(basic_regex&& that) noexcept;
    basic_regex& assign(const charT* ptr,
      flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    basic_regex& assign(const charT* p, size_t len, flag_type f);
    template <class string_traits, class A>
      basic_regex& assign(const basic_string<charT, string_traits, A>& s,
                          flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    template <class InputIterator>
      basic_regex& assign(InputIterator first, InputIterator last,
                          flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);
    basic_regex& assign(initializer_list<charT>,
                        flag_type = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

    // [re.regex.operations], const operations:
    unsigned mark_count() const;
    flag_type flags() const;

    // [re.regex.locale], locale:
    locale_type imbue(locale_type loc);
    locale_type getloc() const;

    // [re.regex.swap], swap:
    void swap(basic_regex&);
  }; 
}

28.8.1 basic_regex constants [re.regex.const]

static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  icase = regex_constants::icase;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  nosubs = regex_constants::nosubs;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  optimize = regex_constants::optimize;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  collate = regex_constants::collate;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  ECMAScript = regex_constants::ECMAScript;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  basic = regex_constants::basic;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  extended = regex_constants::extended;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  awk = regex_constants::awk;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  grep = regex_constants::grep;
static constexpr regex_constants::syntax_option_type
  egrep = regex_constants::egrep;

The static constant members are provided as synonyms for the constants declared in namespace regex_constants.

28.8.2 basic_regex constructors [re.regex.construct]

basic_regex();

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex that does not match any character sequence.

basic_regex(const charT* p, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Requires: p shall not be a null pointer.

Throws: regex_error if p is not a valid regular expression.

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex; the object's internal finite state machine is constructed from the regular expression contained in the array of charT of length char_traits<charT>::length(p) whose first element is designated by p, and interpreted according to the flags f.

Postconditions: flags() returns f. mark_count() returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the expression.

basic_regex(const charT* p, size_t len, flag_type f);

Requires: p shall not be a null pointer.

Throws: regex_error if p is not a valid regular expression.

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex; the object's internal finite state machine is constructed from the regular expression contained in the sequence of characters [p,p+len), and interpreted according the flags specified in f.

Postconditions: flags() returns f. mark_count() returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the expression.

basic_regex(const basic_regex& e);

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex as a copy of the object e.

Postconditions: flags() and mark_count() return e.flags() and e.mark_count(), respectively.

basic_regex(basic_regex&& e) noexcept;

Effects: Move constructs an object of class basic_regex from e.

Postconditions: flags() and mark_count() return the values that e.flags() and e.mark_count(), respectively, had before construction. e is in a valid state with unspecified value.

template <class ST, class SA> basic_regex(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Throws: regex_error if s is not a valid regular expression.

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex; the object's internal finite state machine is constructed from the regular expression contained in the string s, and interpreted according to the flags specified in f.

Postconditions: flags() returns f. mark_count() returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the expression.

template <class ForwardIterator> basic_regex(ForwardIterator first, ForwardIterator last, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Throws: regex_error if the sequence [first,last) is not a valid regular expression.

Effects: Constructs an object of class basic_regex; the object's internal finite state machine is constructed from the regular expression contained in the sequence of characters [first,last), and interpreted according to the flags specified in f.

Postconditions: flags() returns f. mark_count() returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the expression.

basic_regex(initializer_list<charT> il, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Effects: Same as basic_regex(il.begin(), il.end(), f).

28.8.3 basic_regex assign [re.regex.assign]

basic_regex& operator=(const basic_regex& e);

Effects: returns assign(e).

basic_regex& operator=(basic_regex&& e) noexcept;

Effects: returns assign(std::move(e)).

basic_regex& operator=(const charT* ptr);

Requires: ptr shall not be a null pointer.

Effects: returns assign(ptr).

basic_regex& operator=(initializer_list<charT> il);

Effects: returns assign(il.begin(), il.end()).

template <class ST, class SA> basic_regex& operator=(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& p);

Effects: returns assign(p).

basic_regex& assign(const basic_regex& that);

Effects: copies that into *this and returns *this.

Postconditions: flags() and mark_count() return that.flags() and that.mark_count(), respectively.

basic_regex& assign(basic_regex&& that) noexcept;

Effects: move assigns from that into *this and returns *this.

Postconditions: flags() and mark_count() return the values that that.flags() and that.mark_count(), respectively, had before assignment. that is in a valid state with unspecified value.

basic_regex& assign(const charT* ptr, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Returns: assign(string_type(ptr), f).

basic_regex& assign(const charT* ptr, size_t len, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Returns: assign(string_type(ptr, len), f).

template <class string_traits, class A> basic_regex& assign(const basic_string<charT, string_traits, A>& s, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Throws: regex_error if s is not a valid regular expression.

Returns: *this.

Effects: Assigns the regular expression contained in the string s, interpreted according the flags specified in f. If an exception is thrown, *this is unchanged.

Postconditions: If no exception is thrown, flags() returns f and mark_count() returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the expression.

template <class InputIterator> basic_regex& assign(InputIterator first, InputIterator last, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Requires: The type InputIterator shall satisfy the requirements for an Input Iterator ([input.iterators]).

Returns: assign(string_type(first, last), f).

basic_regex& assign(initializer_list<charT> il, flag_type f = regex_constants::ECMAScript);

Effects: Same as assign(il.begin(), il.end(), f).

Returns: *this.

28.8.4 basic_regex constant operations [re.regex.operations]

unsigned mark_count() const;

Effects: Returns the number of marked sub-expressions within the regular expression.

flag_type flags() const;

Effects: Returns a copy of the regular expression syntax flags that were passed to the object's constructor or to the last call to assign.

28.8.5 basic_regex locale [re.regex.locale]

locale_type imbue(locale_type loc);

Effects: Returns the result of traits_inst.imbue(loc) where traits_inst is a (default initialized) instance of the template type argument traits stored within the object. After a call to imbue the basic_regex object does not match any character sequence.

locale_type getloc() const;

Effects: Returns the result of traits_inst.getloc() where traits_inst is a (default initialized) instance of the template parameter traits stored within the object.

28.8.6 basic_regex swap [re.regex.swap]

void swap(basic_regex& e);

Effects: Swaps the contents of the two regular expressions.

Postcondition: *this contains the regular expression that was in e, e contains the regular expression that was in *this.

Complexity: constant time.

28.8.7 basic_regex non-member functions [re.regex.nonmemb]

28.8.7.1 basic_regex non-member swap [re.regex.nmswap]

template <class charT, class traits> void swap(basic_regex<charT, traits>& lhs, basic_regex<charT, traits>& rhs);

Effects: Calls lhs.swap(rhs).

28.9 Class template sub_match [re.submatch]

Class template sub_match denotes the sequence of characters matched by a particular marked sub-expression.

namespace std {
  template <class BidirectionalIterator>
  class sub_match : public std::pair<BidirectionalIterator, BidirectionalIterator> {
  public:
     typedef typename iterator_traits<BidirectionalIterator>::
       value_type                                               value_type;
     typedef typename iterator_traits<BidirectionalIterator>::
       difference_type                                          difference_type;
     typedef BidirectionalIterator                              iterator;
     typedef basic_string<value_type>                           string_type;

     bool matched;

     constexpr sub_match();

     difference_type length() const;
     operator string_type() const;
     string_type str() const;

     int compare(const sub_match& s) const;
     int compare(const string_type& s) const;
     int compare(const value_type* s) const;
  }; 
}

28.9.1 sub_match members [re.submatch.members]

constexpr sub_match();

Effects: Value-initializes the pair base class subobject and the member matched.

difference_type length() const;

Returns: (matched ? distance(first, second) : 0).

operator string_type() const;

Returns: matched ? string_type(first, second) : string_type().

string_type str() const;

Returns: matched ? string_type(first, second) : string_type().

int compare(const sub_match& s) const;

Returns: str().compare(s.str()).

int compare(const string_type& s) const;

Returns: str().compare(s).

int compare(const value_type* s) const;

Returns: str().compare(s).

28.9.2 sub_match non-member operators [re.submatch.op]

template <class BiIter> bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) == 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) != 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) < 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) <= 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) >= 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) > 0.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator==( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(lhs.c_str()) == 0.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator!=( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator<( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(lhs.c_str()) > 0.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator>( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator>=( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator<=( const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs.c_str()) == 0.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs.c_str()) < 0.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter, class ST, class SA> bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, const basic_string< typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type, ST, SA>& rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator==(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(lhs) == 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator!=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(lhs) > 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) == 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(rhs) < 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const* rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator==(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(typename sub_match<BiIter>::string_type(1, lhs)) == 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator!=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs.compare(typename sub_match<BiIter>::string_type(1, lhs)) > 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<=(typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& lhs, const sub_match<BiIter>& rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator==(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(typename sub_match<BiIter>::string_type(1, rhs)) == 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator!=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs == rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: lhs.compare(typename sub_match<BiIter>::string_type(1, rhs)) < 0.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: rhs < lhs.

template <class BiIter> bool operator>=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: !(lhs < rhs).

template <class BiIter> bool operator<=(const sub_match<BiIter>& lhs, typename iterator_traits<BiIter>::value_type const& rhs);

Returns: !(rhs < lhs).

template <class charT, class ST, class BiIter> basic_ostream<charT, ST>& operator<<(basic_ostream<charT, ST>& os, const sub_match<BiIter>& m);

Returns: (os << m.str()).

28.10 Class template match_results [re.results]

Class template match_results denotes a collection of character sequences representing the result of a regular expression match. Storage for the collection is allocated and freed as necessary by the member functions of class template match_results.

The class template match_results shall satisfy the requirements of an allocator-aware container and of a sequence container, as specified in [sequence.reqmts], except that only operations defined for const-qualified sequence containers are supported.

A default-constructed match_results object has no fully established result state. A match result is ready when, as a consequence of a completed regular expression match modifying such an object, its result state becomes fully established. The effects of calling most member functions from a match_results object that is not ready are undefined.

The sub_match object stored at index 0 represents sub-expression 0, i.e., the whole match. In this case the sub_match member matched is always true. The sub_match object stored at index n denotes what matched the marked sub-expression n within the matched expression. If the sub-expression n participated in a regular expression match then the sub_match member matched evaluates to true, and members first and second denote the range of characters [first,second) which formed that match. Otherwise matched is false, and members first and second point to the end of the sequence that was searched. [ Note: The sub_match objects representing different sub-expressions that did not participate in a regular expression match need not be distinct. — end note ]

namespace std {
  template <class BidirectionalIterator,
            class Allocator = 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_traits<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;

     // [re.results.const], construct/copy/destroy:
     explicit match_results(const Allocator& a = Allocator());
     match_results(const match_results& m);
     match_results(match_results&& m) noexcept;
     match_results& operator=(const match_results& m); 
     match_results& operator=(match_results&& m);
     ~match_results();

     // [re.results.state], state:
     bool ready() const;

     // [re.results.size], size:
     size_type size() const;
     size_type max_size() const;
     bool empty() const;

     // [re.results.acc], element access:
     difference_type length(size_type sub = 0) const;
     difference_type position(size_type sub = 0) const;
     string_type str(size_type sub = 0) const;
     const_reference operator[](size_type n) const;

     const_reference prefix() const;
     const_reference suffix() const;
     const_iterator begin() const;
     const_iterator end() const;
     const_iterator cbegin() const;
     const_iterator cend() const;

     // [re.results.form], format:
     template <class OutputIter>
      OutputIter
      format(OutputIter out,
             const char_type* fmt_first, const char_type* fmt_last,
             regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
              regex_constants::format_default) const;
     template <class OutputIter, class ST, class SA>
       OutputIter
       format(OutputIter out,
              const basic_string<char_type, ST, SA>& fmt,
              regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
                regex_constants::format_default) const;
     template <class ST, class SA>
      basic_string<char_type, ST, SA>
      format(const basic_string<char_type, ST, SA>& fmt,
             regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
               regex_constants::format_default) const;
     string_type
     format(const char_type* fmt,
            regex_constants::match_flag_type flags =
              regex_constants::format_default) const;

     // [re.results.all], allocator:
     allocator_type get_allocator() const;

     // [re.results.swap], swap:
     void swap(match_results& that);
  }; 
}

28.10.1 match_results constructors [re.results.const]

In all match_results constructors, a copy of the Allocator argument shall be 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.

Postconditions: ready() returns false. size() returns 0.

match_results(const match_results& m);

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

match_results(match_results&& m) noexcept;

Effects: Move-constructs an object of class match_results from m satisfying the same postconditions as Table [tab:re:results:assign]. Additionally, the stored Allocator value is move constructed from m.get_allocator().

Throws: Nothing if the allocator's move constructor throws nothing.

match_results& operator=(const match_results& m);

Effects: Assigns m to *this. The postconditions of this function are indicated in Table [tab:re:results:assign].

match_results& operator=(match_results&& m);

Effects: Move-assigns m to *this. The postconditions of this function are indicated in Table [tab:re:results:assign].

Table 141match_results assignment operator effects
ElementValue
ready() m.ready()
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()

28.10.2 match_results state [re.results.state]

bool ready() const;

Returns: true if *this has a fully established result state, otherwise false.

28.10.3 match_results size [re.results.size]

size_type size() const;

Returns: One plus the number of marked sub-expressions in the regular expression that was matched if *this represents the result of a successful match. Otherwise returns 0. [ Note: The state of a match_results object can be modified only by passing that object to regex_match or regex_search. Sections [re.alg.match] and [re.alg.search] specify the effects of those algorithms on their match_results arguments.  — end note ]

size_type max_size() const;

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

bool empty() const;

Returns: size() == 0.

28.10.4 match_results element access [re.results.acc]

difference_type length(size_type sub = 0) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Returns: (*this)[sub].length().

difference_type position(size_type sub = 0) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Returns: The distance from the start of the target sequence to (*this)[sub].first.

string_type str(size_type sub = 0) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Returns: string_type((*this)[sub]).

const_reference operator[](size_type n) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

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 >= size() then returns a sub_match object representing an unmatched sub-expression.

const_reference prefix() const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Returns: A reference to the sub_match object representing the character sequence from the start of the string being matched/searched to the start of the match found.

const_reference suffix() const;

Requires: ready() == true.

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/searched.

const_iterator begin() const; const_iterator cbegin() const;

Returns: A starting iterator that enumerates over all the sub-expressions stored in *this.

const_iterator end() const; const_iterator cend() const;

Returns: A terminating iterator that enumerates over all the sub-expressions stored in *this.

28.10.5 match_results formatting [re.results.form]

template <class OutputIter> OutputIter format(OutputIter out, const char_type* fmt_first, const char_type* fmt_last, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::format_default) const;

Requires: ready() == true and OutputIter shall satisfy the requirements for an Output Iterator ([output.iterators]).

Effects: Copies the character sequence [fmt_first,fmt_last) to OutputIter out. Replaces each format specifier or escape sequence in the copied range with either the character(s) it represents or the sequence of characters within *this to which it refers. The bitmasks specified in flags determine which format specifiers and escape sequences are recognized.

Returns: out.

template <class OutputIter, class ST, class SA> OutputIter format(OutputIter out, const basic_string<char_type, ST, SA>& fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::format_default) const;

Effects: Equivalent to return format(out, fmt.data(), fmt.data() + fmt.size(), flags).

template <class ST, class SA> basic_string<char_type, ST, SA> format(const basic_string<char_type, ST, SA>& fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::format_default) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Effects: Constructs an empty string result of type basic_string<char_type, ST, SA> and calls format(back_inserter(result), fmt, flags).

Returns: result.

string_type format(const char_type* fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::format_default) const;

Requires: ready() == true.

Effects: Constructs an empty string result of type string_type and calls format(back_inserter(result), fmt, fmt + char_traits<char_type>::length(fmt), flags).

Returns: result.

28.10.6 match_results allocator [re.results.all]

allocator_type get_allocator() const;

Returns: A copy of the Allocator that was passed to the object's constructor or, if that allocator has been replaced, a copy of the most recent replacement.

28.10.7 match_results swap [re.results.swap]

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.

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

Effects: m1.swap(m2).

28.10.8 match_results non-member functions [re.results.nonmember]

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

Returns: true if neither match result is ready, false if one match result is ready and the other is not. If both match results are ready, returns true only if:

  • m1.empty() && m2.empty(), or

  • !m1.empty() && !m2.empty(), and the following conditions are satisfied:

    • m1.prefix() == m2.prefix(),

    • m1.size() == m2.size() && equal(m1.begin(), m1.end(), m2.begin()), and

    • m1.suffix() == m2.suffix().

Note: The algorithm equal is defined in Clause [algorithms].  — end note ]

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

Returns: !(m1 == m2).

28.11 Regular expression algorithms [re.alg]

28.11.1 exceptions [re.except]

The algorithms described in this subclause may throw an exception of type regex_error. If such an exception e is thrown, e.code() shall return either regex_constants::error_complexity or regex_constants::error_stack.

28.11.2 regex_match [re.alg.match]

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_match(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Requires: The type BidirectionalIterator shall satisfy the requirements of a Bidirectional Iterator ([bidirectional.iterators]).

Effects: Determines whether there is a match between the regular expression e, and all of the character sequence [first,last). The parameter flags is used to control how the expression is matched against the character sequence. Returns true if such a match exists, false otherwise.

Postconditions: m.ready() == true in all cases. If the function returns false, then the effect on parameter m is unspecified except that m.size() returns 0 and m.empty() returns true. Otherwise the effects on parameter m are given in Table [tab:re:alg:match].

Table 142 — Effects of regex_match algorithm
ElementValue
m.size() 1 + e.mark_count()
m.empty() false
m.prefix().first first
m.prefix().second first
m.prefix().matched false
m.suffix().first last
m.suffix().second last
m.suffix().matched false
m[0].first first
m[0].second last
m[0].matched true if a full match was found.
m[n].first For all integers n < m.size(), the start of the sequence that matched sub-expression n. Alternatively, if sub-expression n did not participate in the match, then last.
m[n].second For all integers n < m.size(), the end of the sequence that matched sub-expression n. Alternatively, if sub-expression n did not participate in the match, then last.
m[n].matched For all integers n < m.size(), true if sub-expression n participated in the match, false otherwise.

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_match(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Behaves “as if” by constructing an instance of match_results<BidirectionalIterator> what, and then returning the result of regex_match(first, last, what, e, flags).

template <class charT, class Allocator, class traits> bool regex_match(const charT* str, match_results<const charT*, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_match(str, str + char_traits<charT>::length(str), m, e, flags).

template <class ST, class SA, class Allocator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_match(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, match_results< typename basic_string<charT, ST, SA>::const_iterator, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_match(s.begin(), s.end(), m, e, flags).

template <class charT, class traits> bool regex_match(const charT* str, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_match(str, str + char_traits<charT>::length(str), e, flags)

template <class ST, class SA, class charT, class traits> bool regex_match(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_match(s.begin(), s.end(), e, flags).

28.11.3 regex_search [re.alg.search]

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class Allocator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_search(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, match_results<BidirectionalIterator, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Requires: Type BidirectionalIterator shall satisfy the requirements of a Bidirectional Iterator ([bidirectional.iterators]).

Effects: Determines whether there is some sub-sequence within [first,last) that matches the regular expression e. The parameter flags is used to control how the expression is matched against the character sequence. Returns true if such a sequence exists, false otherwise.

Postconditions: m.ready() == true in all cases. If the function returns false, then the effect on parameter m is unspecified except that m.size() returns 0 and m.empty() returns true. Otherwise the effects on parameter m are given in Table [tab:re:alg:search].

Table 143 — Effects of regex_search algorithm
ElementValue
m.size() 1 + e.mark_count()
m.empty() false
m.prefix().first first
m.prefix().second m[0].first
m.prefix().matched m.prefix().first != m.prefix().second
m.suffix().first m[0].second
m.suffix().second last
m.suffix().matched m.suffix().first != m.suffix().second
m[0].first The start of the sequence of characters that matched the regular expression
m[0].second The end of the sequence of characters that matched the regular expression
m[0].matched true if a match was found, and false otherwise.
m[n].first For all integers n < m.size(), the start of the sequence that matched sub-expression n. Alternatively, if sub-expression n did not participate in the match, then last.
m[n].second For all integers n < m.size(), the end of the sequence that matched sub-expression n. Alternatively, if sub-expression n did not participate in the match, then last .
m[n].matched For all integers n < m.size(), true if sub-expression n participated in the match, false otherwise.

template <class charT, class Allocator, class traits> bool regex_search(const charT* str, match_results<const charT*, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: The result of regex_search(str, str + char_traits<charT>::length(str), m, e, flags).

template <class ST, class SA, class Allocator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_search(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, match_results< typename basic_string<charT, ST, SA>::const_iterator, Allocator>& m, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: The result of regex_search(s.begin(), s.end(), m, e, flags).

template <class BidirectionalIterator, class charT, class traits> bool regex_search(BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Behaves “as if” by constructing an object what of type match_results<BidirectionalIterator> and then returning the result of regex_search(first, last, what, e, flags).

template <class charT, class traits> bool regex_search(const charT* str, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_search(str, str + char_traits<charT>::length(str), e, flags)

template <class ST, class SA, class charT, class traits> bool regex_search(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Returns: regex_search(s.begin(), s.end(), e, flags).

28.11.4 regex_replace [re.alg.replace]

template <class OutputIterator, class BidirectionalIterator, class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA> OutputIterator regex_replace(OutputIterator out, BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default); template <class OutputIterator, class BidirectionalIterator, class traits, class charT> OutputIterator regex_replace(OutputIterator out, BidirectionalIterator first, BidirectionalIterator last, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const charT* fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Constructs a regex_iterator object i as if by regex_iterator<BidirectionalIterator, charT, traits> i(first, last, e, flags), and uses i to enumerate through all of the matches m of type match_results<BidirectionalIterator> that occur within the sequence [first,last). If no such matches are found and !(flags & regex_constants :: format_no_copy) then calls std::copy(first, last, out). If any matches are found then, for each such match, if !(flags & regex_constants::format_no_copy), calls std::copy(m.prefix().first, m.prefix().second, out), and then calls m.format(out, fmt, flags) for the first form of the function and m.format(out, fmt, fmt + char_traits<charT>::length(fmt), flags) for the second.

Finally, if such a match is found and !(flags & regex_constants :: format_no_copy), calls std::copy(last_m.suffix().first, last_m.suffix().second, out) where last_m is a copy of the last match found. If flags & regex_constants::format_first_only is non-zero then only the first match found is replaced.

Returns: out.

template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA, class FST, class FSA> basic_string<charT, ST, SA> regex_replace(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const basic_string<charT, FST, FSA>& fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default); template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA> basic_string<charT, ST, SA> regex_replace(const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const charT* fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Constructs an empty string result of type basic_string<charT, ST, SA> and calls regex_replace(back_inserter(result), s.begin(), s.end(), e, fmt, flags).

Returns: result.

template <class traits, class charT, class ST, class SA> basic_string<charT> regex_replace(const charT* s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const basic_string<charT, ST, SA>& fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default); template <class traits, class charT> basic_string<charT> regex_replace(const charT* s, const basic_regex<charT, traits>& e, const charT* fmt, regex_constants::match_flag_type flags = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Constructs an empty string result of type basic_string<charT> and calls regex_replace( back_inserter(result), s, s + char_traits<charT>::length(s), e, fmt, flags).

Returns: result.

28.12 Regular expression iterators [re.iter]

28.12.1 Class template regex_iterator [re.regiter]

The class template regex_iterator is an iterator adaptor. It represents a new view of an existing iterator sequence, by enumerating all the occurrences of a regular expression within that sequence. A regex_iterator uses regex_search to find successive regular expression matches within the sequence from which it was constructed. After the iterator is constructed, and every time operator++ is used, the iterator finds and stores a value of match_results<BidirectionalIterator>. If the end of the sequence is reached (regex_search returns false), the iterator becomes equal to the end-of-sequence iterator value. The default constructor constructs an end-of-sequence iterator object, which is the only legitimate iterator to be used for the end condition. The result of operator* on an end-of-sequence iterator is not defined. For any other iterator value a const match_results<BidirectionalIterator>& is returned. The result of operator-> on an end-of-sequence iterator is not defined. For any other iterator value a const match_results<BidirectionalIterator>* is returned. It is impossible to store things into regex_iterators. Two end-of-sequence iterators are always equal. An end-of-sequence iterator is not equal to a non-end-of-sequence iterator. Two non-end-of-sequence iterators are equal when they are constructed from the same arguments.

namespace std {
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, 
            class charT = typename iterator_traits<
              BidirectionalIterator>::value_type,
              class traits = regex_traits<charT> >
  class regex_iterator {
  public:
     typedef basic_regex<charT, traits>           regex_type;
     typedef match_results<BidirectionalIterator> value_type;
     typedef std::ptrdiff_t                       difference_type;
     typedef const value_type*                    pointer;
     typedef const value_type&                    reference;
     typedef std::forward_iterator_tag            iterator_category;
   
     regex_iterator();
     regex_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, 
                    const regex_type& re, 
                    regex_constants::match_flag_type m =
                      regex_constants::match_default);
     regex_iterator(const regex_iterator&);
     regex_iterator& operator=(const regex_iterator&);
     bool operator==(const regex_iterator&) const;
     bool operator!=(const regex_iterator&) const;
     const value_type& operator*() const;
     const value_type* operator->() const;
     regex_iterator& operator++();
     regex_iterator operator++(int);
  private:
     // these members are shown for exposition only:
     BidirectionalIterator                begin;
     BidirectionalIterator                end;
     const regex_type*                    pregex;
     regex_constants::match_flag_type     flags;
     match_results<BidirectionalIterator> match;
  }; 
}

An object of type regex_iterator that is not an end-of-sequence iterator holds a zero-length match if match[0].matched == true and match[0].first == match[0].second. [ Note: For example, this can occur when the part of the regular expression that matched consists only of an assertion (such as '^', '$', '\b', '\B').  — end note ]

28.12.1.1 regex_iterator constructors [re.regiter.cnstr]

regex_iterator();

Effects: Constructs an end-of-sequence iterator.

regex_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, const regex_type& re, regex_constants::match_flag_type m = regex_constants::match_default);

Effects: Initializes begin and end to a and b, respectively, sets pregex to &re, sets flags to m, then calls regex_search(begin, end, match, *pregex, flags). If this call returns false the constructor sets *this to the end-of-sequence iterator.

28.12.1.2 regex_iterator comparisons [re.regiter.comp]

bool operator==(const regex_iterator& right) const;

Returns: true if *this and right are both end-of-sequence iterators or if the following conditions all hold:

  • begin == right.begin,

  • end == right.end,

  • pregex == right.pregex,

  • flags == right.flags, and

  • match[0] == right.match[0];

otherwise false.

bool operator!=(const regex_iterator& right) const;

Returns: !(*this == right).

28.12.1.3 regex_iterator dereference [re.regiter.deref]

const value_type& operator*() const;

Returns: match.

const value_type* operator->() const;

Returns: &match.

28.12.1.4 regex_iterator increment [re.regiter.incr]

regex_iterator& operator++();

Effects: Constructs a local variable start of type BidirectionalIterator and initializes it with the value of match[0].second.

If the iterator holds a zero-length match and start == end the operator sets *this to the end-of-sequence iterator and returns *this.

Otherwise, if the iterator holds a zero-length match the operator calls regex_search(start, end, match, *pregex, flags | regex_constants::match_not_null | regex_constants::match_
continuous). If the call returns true the operator returns *this. Otherwise the operator increments start and continues as if the most recent match was not a zero-length match.

If the most recent match was not a zero-length match, the operator sets flags to flags | regex_constants :: match_prev_avail and calls regex_search(start, end, match, *pregex, flags). If the call returns false the iterator sets *this to the end-of-sequence iterator. The iterator then returns *this.

In all cases in which the call to regex_search returns true, match.prefix().first shall be equal to the previous value of match[0].second, and for each index i in the half-open range [0, match.size()) for which match[i].matched is true, match[i].position() shall return distance(begin, match[i].first).

Note: This means that match[i].position() gives the offset from the beginning of the target sequence, which is often not the same as the offset from the sequence passed in the call to regex_search.  — end note ]

It is unspecified how the implementation makes these adjustments.

Note: This means that a compiler may call an implementation-specific search function, in which case a user-defined specialization of regex_search will not be called.  — end note ]

regex_iterator operator++(int);

Effects:

regex_iterator tmp = *this;
++(*this);
return tmp;

28.12.2 Class template regex_token_iterator [re.tokiter]

The class template regex_token_iterator is an iterator adaptor; that is to say it represents a new view of an existing iterator sequence, by enumerating all the occurrences of a regular expression within that sequence, and presenting one or more sub-expressions for each match found. Each position enumerated by the iterator is a sub_match class template instance that represents what matched a particular sub-expression within the regular expression.

When class regex_token_iterator is used to enumerate a single sub-expression with index -1 the iterator performs field splitting: that is to say it enumerates one sub-expression for each section of the character container sequence that does not match the regular expression specified.

After it is constructed, the iterator finds and stores a value regex_iterator<BidirectionalIterator> position and sets the internal count N to zero. It also maintains a sequence subs which contains a list of the sub-expressions which will be enumerated. Every time operator++ is used the count N is incremented; if N exceeds or equals subs.size(), then the iterator increments member position and sets count N to zero.

If the end of sequence is reached (position is equal to the end of sequence iterator), the iterator becomes equal to the end-of-sequence iterator value, unless the sub-expression being enumerated has index -1, in which case the iterator enumerates one last sub-expression that contains all the characters from the end of the last regular expression match to the end of the input sequence being enumerated, provided that this would not be an empty sub-expression.

The default constructor constructs an end-of-sequence iterator object, which is the only legitimate iterator to be used for the end condition. The result of operator* on an end-of-sequence iterator is not defined. For any other iterator value a const sub_match<BidirectionalIterator>& is returned. The result of operator-> on an end-of-sequence iterator is not defined. For any other iterator value a const sub_match<BidirectionalIterator>* is returned.

It is impossible to store things into regex_token_iterators. Two end-of-sequence iterators are always equal. An end-of-sequence iterator is not equal to a non-end-of-sequence iterator. Two non-end-of-sequence iterators are equal when they are constructed from the same arguments.

namespace std {
  template <class BidirectionalIterator, 
            class charT = typename iterator_traits<
              BidirectionalIterator>::value_type,
              class traits = regex_traits<charT> >
  class regex_token_iterator  {
  public:
    typedef basic_regex<charT, traits>       regex_type;
    typedef sub_match<BidirectionalIterator> value_type;
    typedef std::ptrdiff_t                   difference_type;
    typedef const value_type*                pointer;
    typedef const value_type&                reference;
    typedef std::forward_iterator_tag        iterator_category;

    regex_token_iterator();
    regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, 
                        const regex_type& re, 
                        int submatch = 0, 
                        regex_constants::match_flag_type m =
                          regex_constants::match_default);
    regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, 
                        const regex_type& re, 
                        const std::vector<int>& submatches, 
                        regex_constants::match_flag_type m =
                          regex_constants::match_default);
    regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b,
                        const regex_type& re,
                        initializer_list<int> submatches,
                        regex_constants::match_flag_type m =
                          regex_constants::match_default);
    template <std::size_t N>
      regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, 
                        const regex_type& re, 
                        const int (&submatches)[N], 
                        regex_constants::match_flag_type m =
                          regex_constants::match_default);
    regex_token_iterator(const regex_token_iterator&);
    regex_token_iterator& operator=(const regex_token_iterator&);
    bool operator==(const regex_token_iterator&) const;
    bool operator!=(const regex_token_iterator&) const;
    const value_type& operator*() const;
    const value_type* operator->() const;
    regex_token_iterator& operator++();
    regex_token_iterator operator++(int);
  private:  // data members for exposition only:
    typedef regex_iterator<BidirectionalIterator, charT, traits> position_iterator;
    position_iterator position;
    const value_type *result;
    value_type suffix;
    std::size_t N;
    std::vector<int> subs;
  };
}

A suffix iterator is a regex_token_iterator object that points to a final sequence of characters at the end of the target sequence. In a suffix iterator the member result holds a pointer to the data member suffix, the value of the member suffix.match is true, suffix.first points to the beginning of the final sequence, and suffix.second points to the end of the final sequence.

Note: For a suffix iterator, data member suffix.first is the same as the end of the last match found, and suffix.second is the same as the end of the target sequence  — end note ]

The current match is (*position).prefix() if subs[N] == -1, or (*position)[subs[N]] for any other value of subs[N].

28.12.2.1 regex_token_iterator constructors [re.tokiter.cnstr]

regex_token_iterator();

Effects: Constructs the end-of-sequence iterator.

regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, const regex_type& re, int submatch = 0, regex_constants::match_flag_type m = regex_constants::match_default); regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, const regex_type& re, const std::vector<int>& submatches, regex_constants::match_flag_type m = regex_constants::match_default); regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, const regex_type& re, initializer_list<int> submatches, regex_constants::match_flag_type m = regex_constants::match_default); template <std::size_t N> regex_token_iterator(BidirectionalIterator a, BidirectionalIterator b, const regex_type& re, const int (&submatches)[N], regex_constants::match_flag_type m = regex_constants::match_default);

Requires: Each of the initialization values of submatches shall be >= -1.

Effects: The first constructor initializes the member subs to hold the single value submatch. The second constructor initializes the member subs to hold a copy of the argument submatches. The third and fourth constructors initialize the member subs to hold a copy of the sequence of integer values pointed to by the iterator range [submatches.begin(),submatches.end()) and [&submatches,&submatches + N), respectively.

Each constructor then sets N to 0, and position to position_iterator(a, b, re, m). If position is not an end-of-sequence iterator the constructor sets result to the address of the current match. Otherwise if any of the values stored in subs is equal to -1 the constructor sets *this to a suffix iterator that points to the range [a,b), otherwise the constructor sets *this to an end-of-sequence iterator.

28.12.2.2 regex_token_iterator comparisons [re.tokiter.comp]

bool operator==(const regex_token_iterator& right) const;

Returns: true if *this and right are both end-of-sequence iterators, or if *this and right are both suffix iterators and suffix == right.suffix; otherwise returns false if *this or right is an end-of-sequence iterator or a suffix iterator. Otherwise returns true if position == right.position, N == right.N, and subs == right.subs. Otherwise returns false.

bool operator!=(const regex_token_iterator& right) const;

Returns: !(*this == right).

28.12.2.3 regex_token_iterator dereference [re.tokiter.deref]

const value_type& operator*() const;

Returns: *result.

const value_type* operator->() const;

Returns: result.

28.12.2.4 regex_token_iterator increment [re.tokiter.incr]

regex_token_iterator& operator++();

Effects: Constructs a local variable prev of type position_iterator, initialized with the value of position.

If *this is a suffix iterator, sets *this to an end-of-sequence iterator.

Otherwise, if N + 1 < subs.size(), increments N and sets result to the address of the current match.

Otherwise, sets N to 0 and increments position. If position is not an end-of-sequence iterator the operator sets result to the address of the current match.

Otherwise, if any of the values stored in subs is equal to -1 and prev->suffix().length() is not 0 the operator sets *this to a suffix iterator that points to the range [prev->suffix().first,prev->suffix().second).

Otherwise, sets *this to an end-of-sequence iterator.

Returns: *this

regex_token_iterator& operator++(int);

Effects: Constructs a copy tmp of *this, then calls ++(*this).

Returns: tmp.

28.13 Modified ECMAScript regular expression grammar [re.grammar]

The regular expression grammar recognized by basic_regex objects constructed with the ECMAScript flag is that specified by ECMA-262, except as specified below.

Objects of type specialization of basic_regex store within themselves a default-constructed instance of their traits template parameter, henceforth referred to as traits_inst. This traits_inst object is used to support localization of the regular expression; basic_regex member functions shall not call any locale dependent C or C++ API, including the formatted string input functions. Instead they shall call the appropriate traits member function to achieve the required effect.

The following productions within the ECMAScript grammar are modified as follows:

ClassAtom ::
  -
  ClassAtomNoDash
  ClassAtomExClass
  ClassAtomCollatingElement
  ClassAtomEquivalence

The following new productions are then added:

ClassAtomExClass ::
  [: ClassName :]

ClassAtomCollatingElement ::
  [. ClassName .]

ClassAtomEquivalence ::
  [= ClassName =]

ClassName ::
  ClassNameCharacter
  ClassNameCharacter ClassName

ClassNameCharacter ::
  SourceCharacter but not one of "." "=" ":"

The productions ClassAtomExClass, ClassAtomCollatingElement and ClassAtomEquivalence provide functionality equivalent to that of the same features in regular expressions in POSIX.

The regular expression grammar may be modified by any regex_constants::syntax_option_type flags specified when constructing an object of type specialization of basic_regex according to the rules in Table [tab:re:syntaxoption].

A ClassName production, when used in ClassAtomExClass, is not valid if traits_inst.lookup_classname returns zero for that name. The names recognized as valid ClassNames are determined by the type of the traits class, but at least the following names shall be recognized: alnum, alpha, blank, cntrl, digit, graph, lower, print, punct, space, upper, xdigit, d, s, w. In addition the following expressions shall be equivalent:

\d and [[:digit:]]

\D and [^[:digit:]]

\s and [[:space:]]

\S and [^[:space:]]

\w and [_[:alnum:]]

\W and [^_[:alnum:]]

A ClassName production when used in a ClassAtomCollatingElement production is not valid if the value returned by traits_inst.lookup_collatename for that name is an empty string.

The results from multiple calls to traits_inst.lookup_classname can be bitwise OR'ed together and subsequently passed to traits_inst.isctype.

A ClassName production when used in a ClassAtomEquivalence production is not valid if the value returned by traits_inst.lookup_collatename for that name is an empty string or if the value returned by traits_inst.transform_primary for the result of the call to traits_inst.lookup_collatename is an empty string.

When the sequence of characters being transformed to a finite state machine contains an invalid class name the translator shall throw an exception object of type regex_error.

If the CV of a UnicodeEscapeSequence is greater than the largest value that can be held in an object of type charT the translator shall throw an exception object of type regex_error. [ Note: This means that values of the form "uxxxx" that do not fit in a character are invalid.  — end note ]

Where the regular expression grammar requires the conversion of a sequence of characters to an integral value, this is accomplished by calling traits_inst.value.

The behavior of the internal finite state machine representation when used to match a sequence of characters is as described in ECMA-262. The behavior is modified according to any match_flag_type flags [re.matchflag] specified when using the regular expression object in one of the regular expression algorithms [re.alg]. The behavior is also localized by interaction with the traits class template parameter as follows:

  • During matching of a regular expression finite state machine against a sequence of characters, two characters c and d are compared using the following rules:

    1. if (flags() & regex_constants::icase) the two characters are equal if traits_inst.translate_nocase(c) == traits_inst.translate_nocase(d);

    2. otherwise, if flags() & regex_constants::collate the two characters are equal if traits_inst.translate(c) == traits_inst.translate(d);

    3. otherwise, the two characters are equal if c == d.

  • During matching of a regular expression finite state machine against a sequence of characters, comparison of a collating element range c1-c2 against a character c is conducted as follows: if flags() & regex_constants :: collate is false then the character c is matched if c1 <= c && c <= c2, otherwise c is matched in accordance with the following algorithm:

    string_type str1 = string_type(1,
      flags() & icase ?
        traits_inst.translate_nocase(c1) : traits_inst.translate(c1);
    string_type str2 = string_type(1,
      flags() & icase ?
        traits_inst.translate_nocase(c2) : traits_inst.translate(c2);
    string_type str = string_type(1,
      flags() & icase ?
        traits_inst.translate_nocase(c) : traits_inst.translate(c);
    return traits_inst.transform(str1.begin(), str1.end())
          <= traits_inst.transform(str.begin(), str.end())
      && traits_inst.transform(str.begin(), str.end())
          <= traits_inst.transform(str2.begin(), str2.end());
    
  • During matching of a regular expression finite state machine against a sequence of characters, testing whether a collating element is a member of a primary equivalence class is conducted by first converting the collating element and the equivalence class to sort keys using traits::transform_primary, and then comparing the sort keys for equality.

  • During matching of a regular expression finite state machine against a sequence of characters, a character c is a member of a character class designated by an iterator range [first,last) if traits_inst.isctype(c, traits_inst.lookup_classname(first, last, flags() & icase)) is true.