pub struct LazyStateID(_);
Expand description

A state identifier especially tailored for lazy DFAs.

A lazy state ID logically represents a pointer to a DFA state. In practice, by limiting the number of DFA states it can address, it reserves some bits of its representation to encode some additional information. That additional information is called a “tag.” That tag is used to record whether the state it points to is an unknown, dead, quit, start or match state.

When implementing a low level search routine with a lazy DFA, it is necessary to query the type of the current state to know what to do:

  • Unknown - The state has not yet been computed. The parameters used to get this state ID must be re-passed to DFA::next_state, which will never return an unknown state ID.
  • Dead - A dead state only has transitions to itself. It indicates that the search cannot do anything else and should stop with whatever result it has.
  • Quit - A quit state indicates that the automaton could not answer whether a match exists or not. Correct search implementations must return a MatchError::Quit.
  • Start - A start state indicates that the automaton will begin searching at a starting state. Branching on this isn’t required for correctness, but a common optimization is to use this to more quickly look for a prefix.
  • Match - A match state indicates that a match has been found. Depending on the semantics of your search implementation, it may either continue until the end of the haystack or a dead state, or it might quit and return the match immediately.

As an optimization, the is_tagged predicate can be used to determine if a tag exists at all. This is useful to avoid branching on all of the above types for every byte searched.

Example

This example shows how LazyStateID can be used to implement a correct search routine with minimal branching. In particular, this search routine implements “leftmost” matching, which means that it doesn’t immediately stop once a match is found. Instead, it continues until it reaches a dead state.

Notice also how a correct search implementation deals with CacheErrors returned by some of the lazy DFA routines. When a CacheError occurs, it returns MatchError::GaveUp.

use regex_automata::{
    hybrid::dfa::{Cache, DFA},
    HalfMatch, MatchError, PatternID,
};

fn find_leftmost_first(
    dfa: &DFA,
    cache: &mut Cache,
    haystack: &[u8],
) -> Result<Option<HalfMatch>, MatchError> {
    // The start state is determined by inspecting the position and the
    // initial bytes of the haystack. Note that start states can never
    // be match states (since DFAs in this crate delay matches by 1
    // byte), so we don't need to check if the start state is a match.
    let mut sid = dfa.start_state_forward(
        cache, None, haystack, 0, haystack.len(),
    ).map_err(|_| MatchError::GaveUp { offset: 0 })?;
    let mut last_match = None;
    // Walk all the bytes in the haystack. We can quit early if we see
    // a dead or a quit state. The former means the automaton will
    // never transition to any other state. The latter means that the
    // automaton entered a condition in which its search failed.
    for (i, &b) in haystack.iter().enumerate() {
        sid = dfa
            .next_state(cache, sid, b)
            .map_err(|_| MatchError::GaveUp { offset: i })?;
        if sid.is_tagged() {
            if sid.is_match() {
                last_match = Some(HalfMatch::new(
                    dfa.match_pattern(cache, sid, 0),
                    i,
                ));
            } else if sid.is_dead() {
                return Ok(last_match);
            } else if sid.is_quit() {
                // It is possible to enter into a quit state after
                // observing a match has occurred. In that case, we
                // should return the match instead of an error.
                if last_match.is_some() {
                    return Ok(last_match);
                }
                return Err(MatchError::Quit { byte: b, offset: i });
            }
            // Implementors may also want to check for start states and
            // handle them differently for performance reasons. But it is
            // not necessary for correctness.
        }
    }
    // Matches are always delayed by 1 byte, so we must explicitly walk
    // the special "EOI" transition at the end of the search.
    sid = dfa
        .next_eoi_state(cache, sid)
        .map_err(|_| MatchError::GaveUp { offset: haystack.len() })?;
    if sid.is_match() {
        last_match = Some(HalfMatch::new(
            dfa.match_pattern(cache, sid, 0),
            haystack.len(),
        ));
    }
    Ok(last_match)
}

// We use a greedy '+' operator to show how the search doesn't just stop
// once a match is detected. It continues extending the match. Using
// '[a-z]+?' would also work as expected and stop the search early.
// Greediness is built into the automaton.
let dfa = DFA::new(r"[a-z]+")?;
let mut cache = dfa.create_cache();
let haystack = "123 foobar 4567".as_bytes();
let mat = find_leftmost_first(&dfa, &mut cache, haystack)?.unwrap();
assert_eq!(mat.pattern().as_usize(), 0);
assert_eq!(mat.offset(), 10);

// Here's another example that tests our handling of the special
// EOI transition. This will fail to find a match if we don't call
// 'next_eoi_state' at the end of the search since the match isn't found
// until the final byte in the haystack.
let dfa = DFA::new(r"[0-9]{4}")?;
let mut cache = dfa.create_cache();
let haystack = "123 foobar 4567".as_bytes();
let mat = find_leftmost_first(&dfa, &mut cache, haystack)?.unwrap();
assert_eq!(mat.pattern().as_usize(), 0);
assert_eq!(mat.offset(), 15);

// And note that our search implementation above automatically works
// with multi-DFAs. Namely, `dfa.match_pattern(match_state, 0)` selects
// the appropriate pattern ID for us.
let dfa = DFA::new_many(&[r"[a-z]+", r"[0-9]+"])?;
let mut cache = dfa.create_cache();
let haystack = "123 foobar 4567".as_bytes();
let mat = find_leftmost_first(&dfa, &mut cache, haystack)?.unwrap();
assert_eq!(mat.pattern().as_usize(), 1);
assert_eq!(mat.offset(), 3);
let mat = find_leftmost_first(&dfa, &mut cache, &haystack[3..])?.unwrap();
assert_eq!(mat.pattern().as_usize(), 0);
assert_eq!(mat.offset(), 7);
let mat = find_leftmost_first(&dfa, &mut cache, &haystack[10..])?.unwrap();
assert_eq!(mat.pattern().as_usize(), 1);
assert_eq!(mat.offset(), 5);

Implementations

Return true if and only if this lazy state ID is tagged.

When a lazy state ID is tagged, then one can conclude that it is one of a match, start, dead, quit or unknown state.

Return true if and only if this represents a lazy state ID that is “unknown.” That is, the state has not yet been created. When a caller sees this state ID, it generally means that a state has to be computed in order to proceed.

Return true if and only if this represents a dead state. A dead state is a state that can never transition to any other state except the dead state. When a dead state is seen, it generally indicates that a search should stop.

Return true if and only if this represents a quit state. A quit state is a state that is representationally equivalent to a dead state, except it indicates the automaton has reached a point at which it can no longer determine whether a match exists or not. In general, this indicates an error during search and the caller must either pass this error up or use a different search technique.

Return true if and only if this lazy state ID has been tagged as a start state.

Return true if and only if this lazy state ID has been tagged as a match state.

Trait Implementations

Returns a copy of the value. Read more

Performs copy-assignment from source. Read more

Formats the value using the given formatter. Read more

Returns the “default value” for a type. Read more

Feeds this value into the given Hasher. Read more

Feeds a slice of this type into the given Hasher. Read more

This method returns an Ordering between self and other. Read more

Compares and returns the maximum of two values. Read more

Compares and returns the minimum of two values. Read more

Restrict a value to a certain interval. Read more

This method tests for self and other values to be equal, and is used by ==. Read more

This method tests for !=.

This method returns an ordering between self and other values if one exists. Read more

This method tests less than (for self and other) and is used by the < operator. Read more

This method tests less than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the <= operator. Read more

This method tests greater than (for self and other) and is used by the > operator. Read more

This method tests greater than or equal to (for self and other) and is used by the >= operator. Read more

Auto Trait Implementations

Blanket Implementations

Gets the TypeId of self. Read more

Immutably borrows from an owned value. Read more

Mutably borrows from an owned value. Read more

Returns the argument unchanged.

Calls U::from(self).

That is, this conversion is whatever the implementation of From<T> for U chooses to do.

The resulting type after obtaining ownership.

Creates owned data from borrowed data, usually by cloning. Read more

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Uses borrowed data to replace owned data, usually by cloning. Read more

The type returned in the event of a conversion error.

Performs the conversion.

The type returned in the event of a conversion error.

Performs the conversion.