* A PatternCompiler instance is used to compile the string representation * (either as a String or char[]) of a regular expression into a Pattern * instance. The Pattern can then be used in conjunction with the appropriate * PatternMatcher instance to perform pattern searches. A form * of use might be: *
*
* PatternCompiler compiler;
* PatternMatcher matcher;
* Pattern pattern;
* String input;
*
* // Initialization of compiler, matcher, and input omitted;
*
* try {
* pattern = compiler.compile("\\d+");
* } catch(MalformedPatternException e) {
* System.out.println("Bad pattern.");
* System.out.println(e.getMessage());
* System.exit(1);
* }
*
*
* if(matcher.matches(input, pattern))
* System.out.println(input + " is a number");
* else
* System.out.println(input + " is not a number");
*
* * Specific PatternCompiler implementations such as Perl5Compiler may have * variations of the compile() methods that take extra options affecting * the compilation of a pattern. However, the PatternCompiler method * implementations should provide the default behavior of the class. * * @version @version@ * @since 1.0 * @see Pattern * @see PatternMatcher * @see MalformedPatternException */ public interface PatternCompiler { /** * Compiles a regular expression into a data structure that can be used * by a PatternMatcher implementation to perform pattern matching. *
* @param pattern A regular expression to compile. * @return A Pattern instance constituting the compiled regular expression. * @exception MalformedPatternException If the compiled expression * does not conform to the grammar understood by the PatternCompiler or * if some other error in the expression is encountered. */ public Pattern compile(String pattern) throws MalformedPatternException; /** * Compiles a regular expression into a data structure that can be * used by a PatternMatcher implementation to perform pattern matching. * Additional regular expression syntax specific options can be passed * as a bitmask of options. *
* @param pattern A regular expression to compile. * @param options A set of flags giving the compiler instructions on * how to treat the regular expression. The flags * are a logical OR of any number of the allowable * constants permitted by the PatternCompiler * implementation. * @return A Pattern instance constituting the compiled regular expression. * @exception MalformedPatternException If the compiled expression * does not conform to the grammar understood by the PatternCompiler or * if some other error in the expression is encountered. */ public Pattern compile(String pattern, int options) throws MalformedPatternException; /** * Compiles a regular expression into a data structure that can be used * by a PatternMatcher implementation to perform pattern matching. *
* @param pattern A regular expression to compile. * @return A Pattern instance constituting the compiled regular expression. * @exception MalformedPatternException If the compiled expression * does not conform to the grammar understood by the PatternCompiler or * if some other error in the expression is encountered. */ public Pattern compile(char[] pattern) throws MalformedPatternException; /** * Compiles a regular expression into a data structure that can be * used by a PatternMatcher implementation to perform pattern matching. * Additional regular expression syntax specific options can be passed * as a bitmask of options. *
* @param pattern A regular expression to compile. * @param options A set of flags giving the compiler instructions on * how to treat the regular expression. The flags * are a logical OR of any number of the allowable * constants permitted by the PatternCompiler * implementation. * @return A Pattern instance constituting the compiled regular expression. * @exception MalformedPatternException If the compiled expression * does not conform to the grammar understood by the PatternCompiler or * if some other error in the expression is encountered. */ public Pattern compile(char[] pattern, int options) throws MalformedPatternException; }