Description:

This built-in CompilerPlugin of ALib Expressions compiles identifiers, functions and operators with character string-type operands or return types.

By default, this plug-in is automatically created and inserted into each instance of class Compiler with the invocation of SetupDefaults.

Constants:

Type	Name	Min. Abbreviation	Description
String	NewLine	nl	System dependent new line character combination ( `"\n"` or `"\r\n"`).
String	Tabulator	tab	String with single tabulator character (`"\t"`).

Functions:

Note: All identifier and function names are defined case insensitive.

Return Type	Name	Min. Abbreviation	Signature	Description
String	String	str	...	Creates and returns a string representation of the arguments, concatenated from left to right.
String	ToUpper	tu	String	Converts all appropriate characters of a string to upper case letters. This function is aliased by unary operator `'+'`.
String	ToLower	tl	String	Converts all appropriate characters of a string to lower case letters. This function is aliased by unary operator `'-'`.
Boolean	Compare	comp	String, String	Returns `0` if strings are equal, a negative value if the first string is "smaller" than the second and a positive otherwise.
Boolean	Compare	comp	String, String, Boolean	Same as Compare(String,String) if third parameter is `false`. If it is `true` letter case is ignored.
Boolean	StartsWith	sw	String, String	Tests if the first given string starts with the second. Comparison is case-sensitive.
Boolean	StartsWith	sw	String, String, Boolean	Tests if the first given string starts with the second. The third parameter is `true`, letter case is ignored.
Boolean	EndsWith	ew	String, String	Tests if the first given string ends with the second. Comparison is case-sensitive.
Boolean	EndsWith	ew	String, String, Boolean	Tests if the first given string ends with the second. The third parameter is `true`, letter case is ignored.
String	Substring	subs	String, Integer	Returns the substring, starting at given position (2nd argument) to the end of the string..
String	Substring	subs	String, Integer, Integer	Returns the substring, starting at given position (2nd argument) with the given length (3rd argument).
Integer	IndexOf	indo	String, String	Searches the first occurrence of the second string in the first. Returns the position if found, otherwise `-1`.
Integer	Count	count	String, String	Counts the number of occurrences of the second string in the first.
String	Replace	repl	String, String, String	Returns a copy of the 1st argument, with occurrences of 2nd argument replaced by 3rd argument.
String	Repeat	repeat	String, Integer	Returns 1st argument concatenated N times (2nd argument).
String	Token	tok	String, String, Integer	Parses tokens separated by character (2nd argument) in string (1st argument) an returns the n-th (3rd argument).
String	Trim	trim	String	Trims the string at both sides by removing the following whitespace characters: `' '`, `'\n'`, `'\r'` and `'\t'`.
String	Trim	trim	String, String	Trims the string at both sides by removing the whitespace characters listed in the second string.
String	TrimStart	trims	String	Trims the string at the start by removing the following whitespace characters: `' '`, `'\n'`, `'\r'` and `'\t'`.
String	TrimStart	trims	String, String	Trims the string at the start by removing the whitespace characters listed in the second string.
String	TrimEnd	trime	String	Trims the string at the end by removing the following whitespace characters: `' '`, `'\n'`, `'\r'` and `'\t'`.
String	TrimEnd	trime	String, String	Trims the string at the end by removing the whitespace characters listed in the second string.
Integer	Integer	int	String	Parses an integral value from the string. Allows decimal, hexadecimal, octal and binary formats. Literal prefixes default to `'0x'`, `'0o'` and `'0b'`, which can be changed by configuring object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
Float	Float	float	String	Parses a floating point value from the string. Allows scientific format and change of decimal point character by configuring object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
String	Hexadecimal	hex	Integer	Converts an integral value to a hexadecimal string representation. Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Hexadecimal	hex	Integer, Integer	Converts an integral value to a hexadecimal string representation of the given output width (2nd argument). Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Octal	oct	Integer	Converts an integral value to a binary string representation. Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Octal	oct	Integer, Integer	Converts an integral value to a binary string representation of the given output width (2nd argument). Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Binary	bin	Integer	Converts an integral value to an octal string representation. Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Binary	bin	Integer, Integer	Converts an integral value to an octal string representation of the given output width (2nd argument). Format options are available with object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. The literal prefix (e.g., `"0x"`) is not written.
String	Format	format	String, ...	Formats the given variadic parameters according to the given format string. See notes below, for further information.
Boolean	WildCardMatch	wcm	String, String	Matches a string against a wildcard pattern. See notes below, for further information.
Boolean	RegExMatch	rem	String, String	Matches a string against a regex pattern. See notes below, for further information.

Unary Operators:

Return Type	Operator	Argument Type	Description
String	+	String	Alias to function ToUpper.
String	-	String	Alias to function ToLower.
Boolean	!	String	Tests a string for emptiness. See notes below.

Binary Operators:

Return Type	Lhs Type	Operator	Rhs Type	Description
String	String	+	Integer	Concatenates an integral value to a string. The number conversion is performed using object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
String	String	+	Float	Concatenates a floating point value to a string. The number conversion is performed using object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
String	String	+	<any>	Converts a boxed value of an arbitrary type to a string and appends the result to another string. The conversion of the boxed value is performed by invoking box-function FAppend.
String	Integer	+	String	Converts an integral value to a string and concatenates another string. The number conversion is performed using object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
String	Float	+	String	Converts a floating point value to a string and concatenates another string. The number conversion is performed using object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter.
String	<any>	+	String	Converts a boxed value of an arbitrary type to a string and appends another string. The conversion of the boxed value is performed by invoking box-function FAppend.
String	String	+	String	Concatenates two strings.
Boolean	String	<	String	Compares two strings using method String::CompareTo.
Boolean	String	<=	String	Compares two strings using method String::CompareTo.
Boolean	String	>	String	Compares two strings using method String::CompareTo.
Boolean	String	>=	String	Compares two strings using method String::CompareTo.
Boolean	String	==	String	Compares two strings using method String::Equals.
Boolean	String	!=	String	Compares two strings using method String::Equals.
Boolean	String	*	String	Alias to expression function WildCardMatch. See notes below, for further information.
Boolean	String	%	String	Alias to expression function RegexMatch. See notes below, for further information.
Boolean	String	[]	Integer	Returns the substring of length `1` at index rhs in string lhs.

Notes And Hints

Compile-Time Invokable:: All callback functions are defined compile-time invokable. This means that redundancies in string expressions emerging from operations on constant strings are optimized (pruned) by the compiler.

Underlying String Types:: While all string manipulation is based on ALib classes String, AString and Substring, due to the "harmonizing" way that string classes become boxed, none of these types appears as an expression result type. This means that custom expression functions can unbox strings that have been created by callback functions of this plug-in to their own custom string-type (e.g., std::string, QString, or whatever), and, the other way round, results of custom callback functions that returned custom strings objects, can seamlessly be used by functions and operators defined here.

: Details of this are explained in chapters 3. Non-Bijective Type Relationships and 10. Boxing Character Strings of the Programmer's Manual of module ALib Boxing.

Determine A String's Length: The length of the string can be determined with function Length, which is defined with compiler plugin Arithmetics (because it works on all arrays).

Test For Empty Strings:: Unary operator BoolNot ('!') may be used to check if a string is not empty. The operator returns true if the string is empty and false otherwise.

Consequently, to test for non-empty strings, '!!' may be written. The outer not-operator is then a not-operator on the boolean result of the inner.
Alternatively, binary operators (see below) against an emtpy string can be used:

  myIndentifier == ""
  myIndentifier != ""

As a result, this expressions is a tautology:

    !myIdentifier == (myIndentifier == "")

Finally with strings, the built-in implementation of the elvis operator is quite useful to avoid empty strings. The expression:

  myIdentifier ?: "Default"

: returns "Default" if myIdentifier evaluates to an empty string.

Case conversion:

Unary operators Positive '+' and Negative '-' are alias to functions ToUpper and ToLower. Hence, the expressions

     ToUpper( "Hello " ) + ToLower( "World" )
     +"Hello " + -"World"

are equivalent.

Concatenation:: Binary operator '+' is compiled by this plug-in if one of the arguments (or both) is of string-type. If one argument is not of string-type, it becomes converted. For the conversion, the following rules apply:

Types Integer and Float are converted to string-types using object DefaultNumberFormat of field Scope::Formatter. With this, detailed options for the number output format is available. Even more options are available when using expression function Format instead of the '+' operator.

Any other type is converted to a string representation by using box-function FAppend. For information on how to implement this for custom types, consult the documentation of module ALib Boxing. The following provides a quick sample snippet, taken from the unit tests:
1. The custom type:
  struct MyType
  
  {
  
  String Name= A_CHAR("Joe");
  
  integer Age= 42;
  
  };
2. Definition of functor T_Append type MyType. Because the type will be boxed as a pointer, we also define the functor for the pointer type:
  ALIB_STRINGS_APPENDABLE_TYPE_INLINE( ut_aworx::MyType , target << src.Name << '/' << src.Age; )
  
  ALIB_STRINGS_APPENDABLE_TYPE_INLINE( ut_aworx::MyType*, target << src->Name << '/' << src->Age; )
3. In the bootstrap section of an application, an implementation of the templated interface function has be registered with ALib Boxing:
  ALIB_BOXING_BOOTSTRAP_REGISTER_FAPPEND_FOR_APPENDABLE_TYPE( ut_aworx::MyType* )
With this short setup code, objects of type MyType, which might be returned by custom identifiers, can be added to strings in expressions!

With type Boolean, the resourced string values generally used with box-function FAppend defined for C++ type bool are used. These string resources default to "true" and "false". While resources can be customized, such customization has process-wide effect.
To express other values, conditional operator (Q ? T : F) can be used by the end-user:
```
"Is true: " + {boolean expression}                     // Uses the global resourced strings
"Is true: " + ( {boolean expression} ? "Yes" : "No" )  // Custom conversion per expression.
```

Comparison:: Operators '==', '!=', '<', '<=', '>' and '>=' perform comparisons between two string operands. Internally, to perform the comparison, methods String::Equals and String::CompareTo are used.

Case insensitive comparison can be performed by converting the operand(s) to upper case using expression function ToUpper or its "alias operator", unary '+'. A more effective way is to use overloaded function Compare that accepts an optional third operator of type Boolean, which if true is given performs a case insensitive search without performing string conversions.

Formatting:: Function Format(String, ...) offers full featured string formatting in expressions. Being based on classes of underlying module ALib BaseCamp, there is a choice between python style or Java/printf style format strings. It is even possible to allow both formats, of course not within the same string, but within different evaluations of the same expression!

Please consult the documentation of classes

Wildcard Match:: Wildcard match is implemented with expression function WildcardMatch, respectively its "alias operator" '*'. The first (left-hand side) argument is the string that is searched, the second (right-hand side) argument is the pattern string to be matched.

Wildcards characters are ('*') and ('?'). For example, expressions

     WildcardMatch("This is ALib Expressions", "*A?ib*")
     "This is ALib Expressions" * "*A?ib*"

are equivalent and return boolean true.

For case insensitive search, the both strings are to be converted to upper case, as in expression:

     +filename  *  "*.JPG"

Note

A more performant alternative for the latest sample expression is:

   EndsWith( filename, ".jpg", true )

Regular Expression Match:: Regular expression match is implemented with expression function RegexMatch, respectively its "alias operator" '%'. The first (left-hand side) argument is the string that is searched, the second (right-hand side) argument is the pattern string to be matched.

: The regular expression syntax is compatible with Perl Regular Expressions . The feature is implemented with using boost::regex library .

Attention: The regular expression features of ALib and therefore of this compiler plug-in, are only available with the definition of compiler symbol ALIB_FEAT_BOOST_REGEX and if either ALIB_CHARACTERS_WIDE is false or ALIB_CHARACTERS_NATIVE_WCHAR equals true.

Reference Documentation

Definition at line 289 of file strings.hpp.

#include <strings.hpp>

Inheritance diagram for Strings:

[legend]

Collaboration diagram for Strings:

[legend]

Public Method Index:
ALIB_API	Strings (Compiler &compiler)

virtual	~Strings () override
	Virtual destructor.

virtual ALIB_API bool	TryCompilation (CIBinaryOp &ciBinaryOp) override

virtual ALIB_API bool	TryCompilation (CIFunction &ciFunction) override

Public Method Index: inherited from Calculus
	Calculus (const NString &name, Compiler &compiler, CompilePriorities pPriority)

virtual	~Calculus () override
	Virtual destructor.

ALIB_API void	AddBinaryOpOptimizations (BinaryOpOptimizationsTableEntry *table, size_t length)

template<size_t TCapacity>
void	AddBinaryOpOptimizations (BinaryOpOptimizationsTableEntry(&table)[TCapacity])

void	AddOperator (const String &op, Type lhsType, Type rhsType, CallbackDecl callback, const char *dbgCallbackName, Type resultType, CTInvokable cti)

void	AddOperatorAlias (const String &alias, Type lhsType, Type rhsType, const String &op)

void	AddOperatorAliases (OperatorAliasTableEntry *table, size_t length)

template<size_t TCapacity>
void	AddOperatorAliases (OperatorAliasTableEntry(&table)[TCapacity])

ALIB_API void	AddOperators (OperatorTableEntry *table, size_t length)

template<size_t TCapacity>
void	AddOperators (OperatorTableEntry(&table)[TCapacity])

virtual ALIB_API bool	TryCompilation (CIAutoCast &autoCast) override

virtual ALIB_API bool	TryCompilation (CIUnaryOp &ciUnaryOp) override

Public Method Index: inherited from CompilerPlugin
	CompilerPlugin (const NString &name, Compiler &compiler, CompilePriorities pPriority)

virtual	~CompilerPlugin ()
	Virtual destructor.

Public Method Index: inherited from Plugin< Compiler, CompilePriorities >
PrioritiesType	GetPriority () const

Additional Inherited Members
Public Type Index: inherited from Calculus
using	BinaryOpOptimizationsTableEntry = const std::tuple<String, lang::Side, Type, const Box&, const Box&>

using	CTInvokable = bool

using	OperatorAliasTableEntry = const std::tuple<String, Type, Type, String>

using	OperatorTableEntry

Public Type Index: inherited from Plugin< Compiler, CompilePriorities >
using	PluginType
	This exposes the template parameter TPlugin to the outer world.

using	PrioritiesType
	This exposes the template parameter pTPlugin to the outer world.

Public Static Field Index: inherited from Calculus
static constexpr CTInvokable	CTI = true

static constexpr CTInvokable	ETI = false

Public Field Index: inherited from Calculus
MonoAllocator	allocator

std::vector< AutoCastEntry >	AutoCasts
	List of auto-casts to be compiled by this plug-in.

HashMap< MonoAllocator, BinOpOptKey, Box, BinOpOptKey::Hash, BinOpOptKey::EqualTo >	BinaryOperatorOptimizations

std::vector< ConstantIdentifierEntry >	ConstantIdentifiers
	List of identifiers that return constant values to be compiled by this plug-in.

std::vector< FunctionEntry >	Functions
	List of functions to be compiled by this plug-in.

HashMap< MonoAllocator, OperatorKey, String, OperatorKey::Hash, OperatorKey::EqualTo >	OperatorAliases

HashMap< MonoAllocator, OperatorKey, std::tuple< CallbackDecl, Box, CTInvokable ALIB_DBG(, const char *) >, OperatorKey::Hash, OperatorKey::EqualTo >	Operators

Public Field Index: inherited from CompilerPlugin
Compiler &	Cmplr
	The compiler that this plug-in is attached to.

const NString	Name

Protected Field Index: inherited from Plugin< Compiler, CompilePriorities >
PrioritiesType	priority
	The priority of this plug-in.

Protected Method Index: inherited from Plugin< Compiler, CompilePriorities >
	Plugin (PrioritiesType pPriority)

Constructor(s) / Destructor Details:

◆ Strings()

ALIB_API Strings ( Compiler & compiler )

Constructor. Creates the hash map.

Parameters

compiler The compiler we will get attached to.

◆ ~Strings()

virtual ~Strings ( )

inlineoverridevirtual

Virtual destructor.

Definition at line 300 of file strings.hpp.

Method Details:

◆ TryCompilation() [1/2]

virtual ALIB_API bool TryCompilation ( CIBinaryOp & ciBinaryOp )

overridevirtual

Overwrites the implementation of class Calculus. While this is usually not needed, this class uses this to fetch arbitrary boxed types for certain operations because the interface mechanics of module ALib Boxing allows us to convert any custom type to a string.

Of course, the original method is called alternatively.

Parameters

[in,out] ciBinaryOp The compilation info struct.

Returns: true if compilation information was given, false otherwise.

Reimplemented from Calculus.

◆ TryCompilation() [2/2]

virtual ALIB_API bool TryCompilation ( CIFunction & ciFunction )

overridevirtual

Overwrites the implementation of class Calculus. While this is usually not needed, this class uses this for wildcard and regular expression matching functions. These functions implement a special behavior in respect to allocate "matcher" classes at compile-time in the case that the pattern string is constant (which usually is). Parent helper-class Calculus does provide mechanics for such rather complicated special actions.

Of course, the original method is called alternatively.

Parameters

[in,out] ciFunction The compilation info struct.

Returns: true if compilation information was given, false otherwise.

Reimplemented from Calculus.

The documentation for this struct was generated from the following file:

strings.hpp

Description:

Notes And Hints

Reference Documentation

Public Method Index:

Additional Inherited Members

Constructor(s) / Destructor Details:

◆ Strings()

◆ ~Strings()

Method Details:

◆ TryCompilation() [1/2]

◆ TryCompilation() [2/2]