> > Howdy all.....:-) > > During a chat with a linux developer, he mentioned that OS/2 (plus DOS and > Windows) didn't support "regular expressions". From what I have been able to > > gather from reading app docs (like the EPM INF file) , *nix ported to OS/2 > app > docs and shareware descriptions, it would appear that OS/2 does indeed > support > regular expressions. > > 1) What is the definition of "regular expressions"? (A url to grab a > tutorial > would also be great)
There is a description in the man page of `grep'. If you install the regex0 and regex-dev packages (that's in bo, don't know about hamm), then you'll get some more info with `info regex'. I don't know about tutorials of any kind. > 2) Are there any great differences between the way(s) that Linux supports > (integrates???) regular expressions and the way OS/2 does? Regular expressions are not really part of linux as an operating system. It is a powerful set of matching search patterns that is used a lot for searching in many unix programs. The reason they are so widespread is that there are widely available libraries in C that implement them. That means that you can use them easily in your own programs using regcomp, regexec, regfree and regerror (posix) or re_comp and re_exec (bsd). There really is no reason they could not be used under OS/2, Windows9x, or MacOS, it is just that in unix they are a de facto standard, whereas on other OS's they are rare. > 3) A couple of messages I ran across on DejaNews seemed to imply that REXX > supports regular expressions. Would this be an integrated function of REXX > or > just indicative that a person could 'roll their own" with REXX? I wouldn't be surprised if they actually were a standard part of REXX. If they are not, you should be able to program them in REXX. Eric -- E.L. Meijer ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) | tel. office +31 40 2472189 Eindhoven Univ. of Technology | tel. lab. +31 40 2475032 Lab. for Catalysis and Inorg. Chem. (TAK) | tel. fax +31 40 2455054 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
