Doc/libregsub.tex

\section{Standard Module \sectcode{regsub}}

\stmodindex{regsub}
This module defines a number of functions useful for working with
regular expressions (see built-in module \code{regex}).

Warning: these functions are not thread-safe.

\renewcommand{\indexsubitem}{(in module regsub)}

\begin{funcdesc}{sub}{pat\, repl\, str}
Replace the first occurrence of pattern \var{pat} in string
\var{str} by replacement \var{repl}.  If the pattern isn't found,
the string is returned unchanged.  The pattern may be a string or an
already compiled pattern.  The replacement may contain references
\samp{\e \var{digit}} to subpatterns and escaped backslashes.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{gsub}{pat\, repl\, str}
Replace all (non-overlapping) occurrences of pattern \var{pat} in
string \var{str} by replacement \var{repl}.  The same rules as for
\code{sub()} apply.  Empty matches for the pattern are replaced only
when not adjacent to a previous match, so e.g.
\code{gsub('', '-', 'abc')} returns \code{'-a-b-c-'}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{split}{str\, pat\optional{\, maxsplit}}
Split the string \var{str} in fields separated by delimiters matching
the pattern \var{pat}, and return a list containing the fields.  Only
non-empty matches for the pattern are considered, so e.g.
\code{split('a:b', ':*')} returns \code{['a', 'b']} and
\code{split('abc', '')} returns \code{['abc']}.  The \var{maxsplit}
defaults to 0. If it is nonzero, only \var{maxsplit} number of splits
occur, and the remainder of the string is returned as the final
element of the list.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{splitx}{str\, pat\optional{\, maxsplit}}
Split the string \var{str} in fields separated by delimiters matching
the pattern \var{pat}, and return a list containing the fields as well
as the separators.  For example, \code{splitx('a:::b', ':*')} returns
\code{['a', ':::', 'b']}.  Otherwise, this function behaves the same
as \code{split}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{capwords}{s\optional{\, pat}}
Capitalize words separated by optional pattern \var{pat}.  The default
pattern uses any characters except letters, digits and underscores as
word delimiters.  Capitalization is done by changing the first
character of each word to upper case.
\end{funcdesc}