NAME

       PCRE2 - Perl-compatible regular expressions (revised API)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcre2.h>

       int pcre2_match(const pcre2_code *code, PCRE2_SPTR subject,
         PCRE2_SIZE length, PCRE2_SIZE startoffset,
         uint32_t options, pcre2_match_data *match_data,
         pcre2_match_context *mcontext);

DESCRIPTION

       This  function  matches  a  compiled  regular expression against a given subject string, using a matching
       algorithm that is similar to Perl's. It returns offsets to what it has matched and to captured substrings
       via   the   match_data   block,  which  can  be  processed  by  functions  with  names  that  start  with
       pcre2_get_ovector_...() or pcre2_substring_...(). The return from pcre2_match()  is  one  more  than  the
       highest  numbered capturing pair that has been set (for example, 1 if there are no captures), zero if the
       vector of offsets is too small, or a negative error code for no match  and  other  errors.  The  function
       arguments are:

         code         Points to the compiled pattern
         subject      Points to the subject string
         length       Length of the subject string
         startoffset  Offset in the subject at which to start matching
         options      Option bits
         match_data   Points to a match data block, for results
         mcontext     Points to a match context, or is NULL

       A match context is needed only if you want to:

         Set up a callout function
         Set a matching offset limit
         Change the heap memory limit
         Change the backtracking match limit
         Change the backtracking depth limit
         Set custom memory management specifically for the match

       The  length  and  startoffset  values  are  code  units,  not  characters.  The  length  may  be given as
       PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATE for a subject that is terminated by a binary zero code unit. The options are:

         PCRE2_ANCHORED          Match only at the first position
         PCRE2_ENDANCHORED       Pattern can match only at end of subject
         PCRE2_NOTBOL            Subject string is not the beginning of a line
         PCRE2_NOTEOL            Subject string is not the end of a line
         PCRE2_NOTEMPTY          An empty string is not a valid match
         PCRE2_NOTEMPTY_ATSTART  An empty string at the start of the subject
                                  is not a valid match
         PCRE2_NO_JIT            Do not use JIT matching
         PCRE2_NO_UTF_CHECK      Do not check the subject for UTF
                                  validity (only relevant if PCRE2_UTF
                                  was set at compile time)
         PCRE2_PARTIAL_HARD      Return PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL for a partial
                                  match even if there is a full match
         PCRE2_PARTIAL_SOFT      Return PCRE2_ERROR_PARTIAL for a partial
                                   match if no full matches are found

       For details of partial matching, see the pcre2partial page. There is a complete description of the  PCRE2
       native API in the pcre2api page and a description of the POSIX API in the pcre2posix page.