NAME

       PCRE2 - Perl-compatible regular expressions (revised API)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcre2.h>

       int pcre2_substitute(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, PCRE2_SPTR replacement,
         PCRE2_SIZE rlength, PCRE2_UCHAR *outputbuffer,
         PCRE2_SIZE *outlengthptr);

DESCRIPTION

       This  function  matches  a  compiled  regular expression against a given subject string, using a matching
       algorithm that is similar to Perl's. It then makes a copy of  the  subject,  substituting  a  replacement
       string for what was matched.  Its 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, or is NULL
         mcontext      Points to a match context, or is NULL
         replacement   Points to the replacement string
         rlength       Length of the replacement string
         outputbuffer  Points to the output buffer
         outlengthptr  Points to the length of the output buffer

       A  match  data block is needed only if you want to inspect the data from the final match that is returned
       in that block or if PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED is set. A match context is needed only if you want to:

         Set up a callout function
         Set a matching offset limit
         Change the backtracking match limit
         Change the backtracking depth limit
         Set custom memory management in the match context

       The length, startoffset and rlength values are code units, not characters, as  is  the  contents  of  the
       variable  pointed at by outlengthptr. This variable must contain the length of the output buffer when the
       function is called. If the function is successful, the value is changed to the length of the new  string,
       excluding the trailing zero that is automatically added.

       The  subject  and  replacement lengths can be given as PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED for zero-terminated strings.
       The options are:

         PCRE2_ANCHORED             Match only at the first position
         PCRE2_ENDANCHORED          Pattern can match only at end of subject
         PCRE2_NOTBOL               Subject is not the beginning of a line
         PCRE2_NOTEOL               Subject 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 or replacement
                                     for UTF validity (only relevant if
                                     PCRE2_UTF was set at compile time)
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED  Do extended replacement processing
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL    Replace all occurrences in the subject
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL   The replacement string is literal
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED   Use pre-existing match data for 1st match
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_OVERFLOW_LENGTH  If overflow, compute needed length
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_REPLACEMENT_ONLY  Return only replacement string(s)
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET  Treat unknown group as unset
         PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY  Simple unset insert = empty string

       If  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_LITERAL  is  set,  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_EXTENDED,  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNKNOWN_UNSET,   and
       PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_UNSET_EMPTY are ignored.

       If  PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_MATCHED  is  set,  match_data must be non-zero; its contents must be the result of a
       call to pcre2_match() using the same pattern and subject.

       The function returns the number of substitutions, which may be zero if there are no matches.  The  result
       may  be  greater  than one only when PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE_GLOBAL is set. In the event of an error, a negative
       error code is returned.

       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.

PCRE2 10.35                                      22 January 2020                             PCRE2_SUBSTITUTE(3)