On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 12:36, Reuben Thomas <r...@sc3d.org> wrote: > On 18 August 2010 08:52, Paolo Bonzini <bonz...@gnu.org> wrote: >> Syntax options are anyway not going to be supported by the POSIX API, > > That's why I mentioned extensions. glibc has many GNU extensions to > POSIX APIs, both in the form of extended semantics of existing APIs > and new-but-similar APIs; I was wondering whether it might be more > profitable in the long run to add functionality such as backwards > searching and syntax options as extensions to the POSIX APIs rather > than force developers to choose either POSIX or GNU (or, more likely, > add the missing functionality to a more commonly-used package such as > PCRE).
We have been very strict in adding extensions to the POSIX APIs (basically only REG_STARTEND). Adding syntax bits to PCRE would be nice indeed, but then PCRE does not guarantee POSIX leftmost-longest matching like GNU regex does. Paolo
