Re: [Boost-users] regular expressions and binary files

From: Eric Niebler (eric_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-07-20 18:59:43

Brad Tilley wrote:
> I'm using boost regular expressions with good results on text files 
> (html, xml, txt, etc), however, I'm having issues on binary file formats 
> (i.e. MS Office files, etc). I've goggled around, but not found any 
> hints. Just wondering if someone had experience doing REs on binary 
> files. I've tried different open methods ios::binary, etc... still no luck.

I'm not sure about Boost.Regex, but Boost.Xpressive (Boost's alternative 
regex package) supports regexing on non-char data. See 
http://tinyurl.com/5teeqz.

The version of Xpressive due out with 1.36 has expanded support for 
searching non-char data. You can get an idea for what things are 
possible by looking at the following code, taken from Xpressive's 
regression test:

http://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/browser/branches/release/libs/xpressive/test/test_non_char.cpp

If you don't want to wait for 1.36, you can download the latest version 
of Xpressive from the Boost File Vault:

http://www.boostpro.com/vault/index.php?direction=0&order=&directory=Strings%20-%20Text%20Processing&

HTH,

-- 
Eric Niebler
BoostPro Computing
http://www.boostpro.com