That is a good point. However you always know what flags are passed to the regex function since they are available. That's not arguing against such a function as being part of the library itself but it is still doable by you. Furthermore you can set the flag mode you like to simplify your escaping, but of course this is not a general solution as the rest of the regular expression may require particular flags set.
That's the point and that's why I am asking for a library-based function. Sure I can write one myself, but this will always be a limited version of what the library could provide. I think the conversion function should accept the same flags like regex itself. Here's a signature:
template< typename stringT >
stringT convert_to_regex_literals( const stringT& s,
flag_type f = regbase::normal );I don't know whether we also need to provide traits somewhere, but I think John is the expert to answer that. (Yes, the name of the function is ugly - please find a better one :)
IMHO the library is the best place to implement such a function and keep it up-to-date and consistent. If we are lucky, it's also easier than doing it as a separate function as a function which is part of the library might be able to use some internals to create an easier implementation.
That is not true. One just needs to read and understand the documentation on the particular flags and what they mean. There are no "secret innards" which retain information about escaping characters which you can't find for yourself by testing the flags.
Whatever I can do as a user, I think we've seen that I am not the only one who needs such a function and it doesn't make sense to reinvent it over and over again. Even if it's just for convenience, I think it's a desirable extension for the regex-library.
Regards, Daniel
-- Daniel Frey
aixigo AG - financial training, research and technology Schloß-Rahe-Straße 15, 52072 Aachen, Germany fon: +49 (0)241 936737-42, fax: +49 (0)241 936737-99 eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], web: http://www.aixigo.de
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