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regsub (n)

Perform substitutions based on regular expression pattern matching

SYNOPSIS

    regsub ?switches? exp string subSpec varName

DESCRIPTION

    This command matches the regular expression exp against string, and it copies string to the variable whose name is given by varName. If there is a match, then while copying string to varName the portion of string that matched exp is replaced with subSpec. If subSpec contains a ``&'' or ``\e0'', then it is replaced in the substitution with the portion of string that matched exp. If subSpec contains a ``\en'', where n is a digit between 1 and 9, then it is replaced in the substitution with the portion of string that matched the n-th parenthesized subexpression of exp. Additional backslashes may be used in subSpec to prevent special interpretation of ``&'' or ``\e0'' or ``\en'' or backslash. The use of backslashes in subSpec tends to interact badly with the Tcl parser's use of backslashes, so it's generally safest to enclose subSpec in braces if it includes backslashes.

    If the initial arguments to regexp start with - then they are treated as switches. The following switches are currently supported:

    -all

      All ranges in string that match exp are found and substitution is performed for each of these ranges. Without this switch only the first matching range is found and substituted. If -all is specified, then ``&'' and ``\en'' sequences are handled for each substitution using the information from the corresponding match.

    -nocase

      Upper-case characters in string will be converted to lower-case before matching against exp; however, substitutions specified by subSpec use the original unconverted form of string.

    -\|-

      Marks the end of switches. The argument following this one will be treated as exp even if it starts with a -.

    The command returns a count of the number of matching ranges that were found and replaced. See the manual entry for regexp for details on the interpretation of regular expressions.

KEYWORDS

    match, pattern, regular expression, substitute '\" '\" Copyright (c) 1993 The Regents of the University of California. '\" Copyright (c) 1994-1997 Sun Microsystems, Inc. '\" '\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution '\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: rename.n,v 1.2 1998/09/14 18:39:54 stanton Exp $ '\" '\" The definitions below are for supplemental macros used in Tcl/Tk '\" manual entries. '\" '\" .AP type name in/out ?indent? '\" Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure. '\" type is type of argument (int, etc.), in/out is either "in", "out", '\" or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg, '\" and indent is equivalent to second arg of .IP (shouldn't ever be '\" needed; use .AS below instead) '\" '\" .AS ?type? ?name? '\" Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops. Type and '\" name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed '\" to .AP later. If args are omitted, default tab stops are used. '\" '\" .BS '\" Start box enclosure. From here until next .BE, everything will be '\" enclosed in one large box. '\" '\" .BE '\" End of box enclosure. '\" '\" .CS '\" Begin code excerpt. '\" '\" .CE '\" End code excerpt. '\" '\" .VS ?version? ?br? '\" Begin vertical sidebar, for use in marking newly-changed parts '\" of man pages. The first argument is ignored and used for recording '\" the version when the .VS was added, so that the sidebars can be '\" found and removed when they reach a certain age. If another argument '\" is present, then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar. '\" '\" .VE '\" End of vertical sidebar. '\" '\" .DS '\" Begin an indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .DE '\" End of indented unfilled display. '\" '\" .SO '\" Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The '\" options follow on successive lines, in four columns separated '\" by tabs. '\" '\" .SE '\" End of list of standard options for a Tk widget. '\" '\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass '\" Start of description of a specific option. cmdName gives the '\" option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives '\" the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives '\" the option's class in the option database. '\" '\" .UL arg1 arg2 '\" Print arg1 underlined, then print arg2 normally. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: man.macros,v 1.2 1998/09/14 18:39:54 stanton Exp $ '\" '\" # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages. t .wh -1.3i ^B ^l \n(.l b '\" # Start an argument description AP !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4 \{\ !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu .TP 15