Why am I getting multiple regex matches? - c++

Question

I'm trying to write a processor for GLSL shader code that will allow me to analyze the code and dynamically determine what inputs and outputs I need to handle for each shader.
To accomplish that, I decided to use some regex to parse the shader code before I compile it via OpenGL.
I've written some test code to verify that the regex is working as I expect.
Code:
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <regex>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string strInput = " in vec3 i_vPosition; ";
smatch match;
// Will appear in regex as:
// \bin\s+[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s+[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\s*(\[[0-9]+\])?\s*;
regex rgx("\\bin\\s+[a-zA-Z0-9]+\\s+[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\\s*(\\[[0-9]+\\])?\\s*;");
bool bMatchFound = regex_search(strInput, match, rgx);
cout << "Match found: " << bMatchFound << endl;
for (int i = 0; i < match.size(); ++i)
{
cout << "match " << i << " (" << match[i] << ") ";
cout << "at position " << match.position(i) << std::endl;
}
}
The only problem is that the above code generates two results instead of one. Though one of the results is empty.
Output:
Match found: 1
match 0 (in vec3 i_vPosition;) at position 6
match 1 () at position 34
I ultimately want to generate multiple results when I provide a whole file as input, but I'd like to get some consistency so that I can process the results in a consistent manner.
Any ideas as to why I'm getting multiple results when I'm only expecting one?

Answer 1

Your regex appears to contain a back reference
(\[[0-9]+\])?
which would contain square brackets surrounding 1 or more digits, but the ? makes it optional.
When applying the regex, the leading and trailing spaces are trimmed by the
\s+ ... \s*
The remainder of the string is matched by
[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s+[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\s*
And the backreference bit matches the empty string.
If you want to match strings that optionally contain that bit, but not return it as a backreference, make it passive with ?: like:
\bin\s+[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s+[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\s*(?:\[[0-9]+\])?\s*

Answer 2

I ultimately want to generate multiple results
The regex_search only finds the first match of the complete regular expression.
If you want to find the other places in your source text that the complete regular expression matches,
you must run regex_search repeatedly.
See
" C++ Regex to match words without punctuation "
for an example of repeatedly running the search.
the above code generates two results instead of one.
Confusing, isn't it?
The regular expression
\bin\s+[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s+[a-zA-Z0-9_]+\s*(\[[0-9]+\])?\s*;
includes round brackets().
The round brackets create a "group" aka "sub-expression".
Because the sub-expression is optional "(....)?",
the expression as a whole is allowed to match even if the sub-expression doesn't really match anything.
When the sub-expression doesn't match anything, the value of that sub-expression is an empty string.
See "Regular-expressions: Use Round Brackets for Grouping" for far more information on "capturing parenthesis" and "non-capturing parenthesis".
According to the documentation for regex_search,
match.size() is the number of subexpressions plus 1,
match[0] is the part of the source string that matches the complete regular expression.
match[1] is the part of the source string that matches the first sub-expression inside the regular expression.
match[n] is the part of the source string that matches the n'th sub-expression inside the regular expression.
A regular expression with only 1 sub-expression, as in the above example, will always return a match.size() of 2 -- one match for the complete regular expression, and one match for the sub-expression -- even when that sub-expression doesn't really match anything and is therefore the empty string.