### Method

# GLib MatchInfo fetch_pos

since: 2.14

#### Declaration [src]

    gboolean
    g_match_info_fetch_pos (
      const GMatchInfo* match_info,
      gint match_num,
      gint* start_pos,
      gint* end_pos
    )

#### Description [src]

Returns the start and end positions (in bytes) of a successfully matching capture parenthesis.

Valid values for `match_num` are `0` for the full text of the match, `1` for the first paren set, `2` for the second, and so on.

As `end_pos` is set to the byte after the final byte of the match (on success), the length of the match can be calculated as `end_pos - start_pos`.

As a best practice, initialize `start_pos` and `end_pos` to identifiable values, such as `G_MAXINT`, so that you can test if `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` actually changed the value for a given capture parenthesis.

The parameter `match_num` corresponds to a matched capture parenthesis. The actual value you use for `match_num` depends on the method used to generate `match_info`. The following sections describe those methods.

## Methods Using Non-deterministic Finite Automata Matching

The methods `g_regex_match()` and `g_regex_match_full()` return a `GMatchInfo` using traditional (greedy) pattern matching, also known as Non-deterministic Finite Automaton (NFA) matching. You pass the returned `GMatchInfo` from these methods to `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` to determine the start and end positions of capture parentheses. The values for `match_num` correspond to the capture parentheses in order, with `0` corresponding to the entire matched string.

`match_num` can refer to a capture parenthesis with no match. For example, the string `b` matches against the pattern `(a)?b`, but the capture parenthesis `(a)` has no match. In this case, `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` returns true and sets `start_pos` and `end_pos` to `-1` when called with `match_num` as `1` (for `(a)`).

For an expanded example, a regex pattern is `(a)?(.*?)the (.*)`, and a candidate string is `glib regexes are the best`. In this scenario there are four capture parentheses numbered 0–3: an implicit one for the entire string, and three explicitly declared in the regex pattern.

Given this example, the following table describes the return values from `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` for various values of `match_num`.

`match_num` | Contents | Return value | Returned `start_pos` | Returned `end_pos`
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
0 | Matches entire string | True | 0 | 25
1 | Does not match first character | True | -1 | -1
2 | All text before `the` | True | 0 | 17
3 | All text after `the` | True | 21 | 25
4 | Capture paren out of range | False | Unchanged | Unchanged

The following code sample and output implements this example.

    #include <glib.h>

    int
    main (int argc, char *argv[])
    {
      g_autoptr(GError) local_error = NULL;
      const char *regex_pattern = "(a)?(.*?)the (.*)";
      const char *test_string = "glib regexes are the best";
      g_autoptr(GRegex) regex = NULL;

      regex = g_regex_new (regex_pattern,
                           G_REGEX_DEFAULT,
                           G_REGEX_MATCH_DEFAULT,
                           &local_error);
      if (regex == NULL)
        {
          g_printerr ("Error creating regex: %s\n", local_error->message);
          return 1;
        }

      g_autoptr(GMatchInfo) match_info = NULL;
      g_regex_match (regex, test_string, G_REGEX_MATCH_DEFAULT, &match_info);

      int n_matched_strings = g_match_info_get_match_count (match_info);

      // Print header line
      g_print ("match_num Contents                  Return value returned start_pos returned end_pos\n");

      // Iterate over each capture paren, including one that is out of range as a demonstration.
      for (int match_num = 0; match_num <= n_matched_strings; match_num++)
        {
          gboolean found_match;
          g_autofree char *paren_string = NULL;
          int start_pos = G_MAXINT;
          int end_pos = G_MAXINT;

          found_match = g_match_info_fetch_pos (match_info,
                                                match_num,
                                                &start_pos,
                                                &end_pos);

          // If no match, display N/A as the found string.
          if (start_pos == G_MAXINT || start_pos == -1)
            paren_string = g_strdup ("N/A");
          else
            paren_string = g_strndup (test_string + start_pos, end_pos - start_pos);

          g_print ("%-9d %-25s %-12d %-18d %d\n", match_num, paren_string, found_match, start_pos, end_pos);
        }

      return 0;
    }

    match_num Contents                  Return value returned start_pos returned end_pos
    0         glib regexes are the best 1            0                  25
    1         N/A                       1            -1                 -1
    2         glib regexes are          1            0                  17
    3         best                      1            21                 25
    4         N/A                       0            2147483647         2147483647

## Methods Using Deterministic Finite Automata Matching

The methods `g_regex_match_all()` and `g_regex_match_all_full()` return a `GMatchInfo` using Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) pattern matching. This algorithm detects overlapping matches. You pass the returned `GMatchInfo` from these methods to `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` to determine the start and end positions of each overlapping match. Use the method `g_match_info_get_match_count()` to determine the number of overlapping matches.

For example, a regex pattern is `<.*>`, and a candidate string is `<a> <b> <c>`. In this scenario there are three implicit capture parentheses: one for the entire string, one for `<a> <b>`, and one for `<a>`.

Given this example, the following table describes the return values from `g_match_info_fetch_pos()` for various values of `match_num`.

`match_num` | Contents | Return value | Returned `start_pos` | Returned `end_pos`
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
0 | Matches entire string | True | 0 | 11
1 | Matches `<a> <b>` | True | 0 | 7
2 | Matches `<a>` | True | 0 | 3
3 | Capture paren out of range | False | Unchanged | Unchanged

The following code sample and output implements this example.

    #include <glib.h>

    int
    main (int argc, char *argv[])
    {
      g_autoptr(GError) local_error = NULL;
      const char *regex_pattern = "<.*>";
      const char *test_string = "<a> <b> <c>";
      g_autoptr(GRegex) regex = NULL;

      regex = g_regex_new (regex_pattern,
                           G_REGEX_DEFAULT,
                           G_REGEX_MATCH_DEFAULT,
                           &local_error);
      if (regex == NULL)
        {
          g_printerr ("Error creating regex: %s\n", local_error->message);
          return -1;
        }

      g_autoptr(GMatchInfo) match_info = NULL;
      g_regex_match_all (regex, test_string, G_REGEX_MATCH_DEFAULT, &match_info);

      int n_matched_strings = g_match_info_get_match_count (match_info);

      // Print header line
      g_print ("match_num Contents                  Return value returned start_pos returned end_pos\n");

      // Iterate over each capture paren, including one that is out of range as a demonstration.
      for (int match_num = 0; match_num <= n_matched_strings; match_num++)
        {
          gboolean found_match;
          g_autofree char *paren_string = NULL;
          int start_pos = G_MAXINT;
          int end_pos = G_MAXINT;

          found_match = g_match_info_fetch_pos (match_info, match_num, &start_pos, &end_pos);

          // If no match, display N/A as the found string.
          if (start_pos == G_MAXINT || start_pos == -1)
            paren_string = g_strdup ("N/A");
          else
            paren_string = g_strndup (test_string + start_pos, end_pos - start_pos);

          g_print ("%-9d %-25s %-12d %-18d %d\n", match_num, paren_string, found_match, start_pos, end_pos);
        }

      return 0;
    }

    match_num Contents                  Return value returned start_pos returned end_pos
    0         <a> <b> <c>               1            0                  11
    1         <a> <b>                   1            0                  7
    2         <a>                       1            0                  3
    3         N/A                       0            2147483647         2147483647

Available since: 2.14

#### Parameters

`match_num`

  Type: `gint`

  Number of the capture parenthesis.

`start_pos`

  Type: `gint*`

  Pointer to location where to store the start position, or `NULL`.

  The argument will be set by the function.
  The argument can be `NULL`.

`end_pos`

  Type: `gint*`

  Pointer to location where to store the end position (the byte after the final byte of the match), or `NULL`.

  The argument will be set by the function.
  The argument can be `NULL`.

#### Return value

Type: `gboolean`

True if `match_num` is within range, false otherwise. If the capture paren has a match, `start_pos` and `end_pos` contain the start and end positions (in bytes) of the matching substring. If the capture paren has no match, `start_pos` and `end_pos` are `-1`. If `match_num` is out of range, `start_pos` and `end_pos` are left unchanged.