# pcre2_pattern_convert man page

Return to the PCRE2 index page.

This page is part of the PCRE2 HTML documentation. It was generated automatically from the original man page. If there is any nonsense in it, please consult the man page, in case the conversion went wrong.

## SYNOPSIS

#include <pcre2.h>

int pcre2_pattern_convert(PCRE2_SPTR pattern, PCRE2_SIZE length, uint32_t options, PCRE2_UCHAR **buffer, PCRE2_SIZE *blength, pcre2_convert_context *cvcontext);

## DESCRIPTION

This function is part of an experimental set of pattern conversion functions. It converts a foreign pattern (for example, a glob) into a PCRE2 regular expression pattern. Its arguments are:

      pattern     The foreign pattern
      length      The length of the input pattern or PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED
      options     Option bits
      buffer      Pointer to pointer to output buffer, or NULL
      blength     Pointer to output length field
      cvcontext   Pointer to a convert context or NULL

The length of the converted pattern (excluding the terminating zero) is returned via blength. If buffer is NULL, the function just returns the output length. If buffer points to a NULL pointer, heap memory is obtained for the converted pattern, using the allocator in the context if present (or else malloc()), and the field pointed to by buffer is updated. If buffer points to a non-NULL field, that must point to a buffer whose size is in the variable pointed to by blength. This value is updated.

The option bits are:

      PCRE2_CONVERT_UTF                     Input is UTF
      PCRE2_CONVERT_NO_UTF_CHECK            Do not check UTF validity
      PCRE2_CONVERT_POSIX_BASIC             Convert POSIX basic pattern
      PCRE2_CONVERT_POSIX_EXTENDED          Convert POSIX extended pattern
      PCRE2_CONVERT_GLOB                    ) Convert
      PCRE2_CONVERT_GLOB_NO_WILD_SEPARATOR  )   various types
      PCRE2_CONVERT_GLOB_NO_STARSTAR        )     of glob

The return value from pcre2_pattern_convert() is zero on success or a non-zero PCRE2 error code.

The pattern conversion functions are described in the pcre2convert documentation.

Return to the PCRE2 index page.