Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!udel!mmdf
From: MROBINSON@wash-vax.bbn.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: pattern matching library for 1.4
Message-ID: <12314@louie.udel.EDU>
Date: 5 Apr 89 02:59:09 GMT
Sender: mmdf@udel.EDU
Lines: 33


I've seen lots of talk about a library for filename pattern matching
support in 1.4, but none about supporting pattern matching in strings!

I personally would like to see, IN ADDITION to the previously mentioned
filename "parameter expansion" support, a supported call like

find_pattern_in_string(pattern,plen,string,slen,match_start,match_len)
  char *pattern;
  int   plen;
  char *string;
  int   slen;
  int  *match_start, *match_len;

The idea here is, since the AmigaDOS filename pattern matching capabilities
are a powerful syntax for matching patterns in ANY kind of strings, why not
make it easy for people to write editors and the like that will all use the
same pattern matching syntax?

For the above C function (which would return an int, either TRUE or FALSE
based on whether a match to pattern existed in string), please do NOT
assume pattern or string is null-terminated (since then how could one match
a pattern with a \0 in it).  match_start would be an offset from string
for where the match found starts, and match_len is of course the length of
the matching string.

Perhaps having a standard string pattern matching syntax for all applications
would make it clearer to unix (or domain, or VMS) lovers that the syntax
really isn't difficult to use, eh Commodore?

--Max Robinson (no, not the dead one)

I am giving my opinion, I don't know who else agrees with me.