karl@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) (04/27/88)
I have a variable which has been setq'd to a string value. The string may contain characters which are special to RE searches, but I need the characters to be used literally in searches. (Specifically, I am looking at newsgroup name searches in the vn emulator, possibly containing +'s, e.g., comp.lang.c++.) I cannot avoid performing the search as re-search-forward; plain search-forward will not do, due to the need to find "[:!]" following the newsgroup name. Can anyone give me a simple function which takes a string argument and inserts backslashes (\) in front of RE-special characters within the string? --Karl
jr@PEBBLES.BBN.COM (John Robinson) (04/27/88)
I think the function you want might make use of: regexp-quote: Return a regexp string which matches exactly STRING and nothing else. provided you can call it prior to puttin g the real regexp stuff into the search string. /jr jr@bbn.com or jr@bbn.uucp
Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram) (04/27/88)
In article <11715@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, karl@tut (Karl Kleinpaste) writes: > Can anyone give > me a simple function which takes a string argument and inserts > backslashes (\) in front of RE-special characters within the string? Try: regexp-quote: Return a regexp string which matches exactly STRING and nothing else. For example: (regexp-quote "comp.lang.c++") "comp\\.lang\\.c\\+\\+" -- Ashwin. ARPA: Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,harvard,cmcl2,...}!yale!Ram-Ashwin BITNET: Ram@yalecs
matt@oddjob.UChicago.EDU (Schizophrenic Solipsist) (04/28/88)
Karl Kleinpaste writes:
) I have a variable which has been setq'd to a string value. The string
) may contain characters which are special to RE searches, but I need
) the characters to be used literally in searches.
regexp-quote:
Return a regexp string which matches exactly STRING and nothing else.
) plain search-forward will not do, due to
) the need to find "[:!]" following the newsgroup name.
(re-search-forward (concat (regexp-quote newsgroup) "[:!]"))
Mattmichael@pbinfo.UUCP (Michael Schmidt) (04/28/88)
Neulich schrieb karl@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste):
Can anyone give
me a simple function which takes a string argument and inserts
backslashes (\) in front of RE-special characters within the string?
Is something wrong with "regexp-quote"?
regexp-quote:
Return a regexp string which matches exactly STRING and nothing else.
Michael Schmidt
--
Michael Schmidt, Universitaet-GH Paderborn, FB 17, Warburger Str.100,
D-4790 Paderborn, West Germany
Mail: michael@pbinfo.UUCP or michael%pbinfo@uunet.uu.netmsb@ho5cad.ATT.COM (04/28/88)
In article <11715@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> karl@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) writes: > I have a variable which has been setq'd to a string value. The string > may contain characters which are special to RE searches, but I need > the characters to be used literally in searches. (Specifically, I am > looking at newsgroup name searches in the vn emulator, possibly > containing +'s, e.g., comp.lang.c++.) I cannot avoid performing the > search as re-search-forward; plain search-forward will not do, due to > the need to find "[:!]" following the newsgroup name. Can anyone give > me a simple function which takes a string argument and inserts > backslashes (\) in front of RE-special characters within the string? > > --Karl spell.el uses a function regexp-quote. Should do exactly what you want. Here is the function-help. regexp-quote: Return a regexp string which matches exactly STRING and nothing else. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- <cute quote> Michael S. Balenger (201) 949-8789 <cute disclaimer> AT&T Bell Labs Crawfords Corner Road ihnp4!ho5cad!msb Holmdel, NJ 07733
sbb@smpvax1.UUCP (05/03/88)
From: Karl Kleinpaste <trwrb!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!karl> I have a variable which has been setq'd to a string value. The string may contain characters which are special to RE searches, but I need the characters to be used literally in searches. (Specifically, I am looking at newsgroup name searches in the vn emulator, possibly containing +'s, e.g., comp.lang.c++.) I cannot avoid performing the search as re-search-forward; plain search-forward will not do, due to the need to find "[:!]" following the newsgroup name. Can anyone give me a simple function which takes a string argument and inserts backslashes (\) in front of RE-special characters within the string? Karl, GNU Emacs comes with a function called "regexp-quote". It takes a string that may contain regular expression chars and puts in suitable quoting characters so that the returned string will match (in regexp contexts) exactly the string passed as its argument. steve ----------------------- Steve Byrne ...ucbvax!trwrb!smpvax1!sbb Inference Corp. (213) 417-7997 5300 W. Century Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045