NAME

getpat - prepare regular expressions for subsequent pattern matching


SYNOPSIS


stat = getpat (arg, pat)

character arg(ARB), pat(MAXPAT)

integer stat returned as length/ERR



DESCRIPTION

Getpat is used to translate a regular expression into a format
convenient for subsequent pattern matching via 'match'
or 'amatch'.
(For a complete description of regular expressions, see the
writeup on the editor.)

A typical scenario for pattern-matching might be:



stat = getpat(pattern_you_want_located, pattern_array)
YES/NO = match(input_line, pattern_array)



The pattern array should be dimensioned at least MAXPAT
characters long, a definition available in the standard
symbol definitions file.

If the pattern can be made, the functions returns the number
of characters in "pat";
otherwise it returns ERR.

Getpat is essentially a call to makpat with the
following parameters:


getpat = makpat (arg, 1, EOS, pat)



SEE ALSO

makpat, match, amatch


DIAGNOSTICS

None