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Re: [2.23 PATCH] Desupport regexp.h (bug 18681)
- From: Zack Weinberg <zackw at panix dot com>
- To: "Carlos O'Donell" <carlos at redhat dot com>
- Cc: Andreas Schwab <schwab at suse dot de>, GNU C Library <libc-alpha at sourceware dot org>
- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2015 12:37:49 -0400
- Subject: Re: [2.23 PATCH] Desupport regexp.h (bug 18681)
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <20150805152109 dot 2FDA114B9A at panix1 dot panix dot com> <mqs78o$a16$1 at ger dot gmane dot org> <55D1E207 dot 30203 at panix dot com> <20150817135629 dot GE1584 at vapier> <CAKCAbMhzyp8gTcn073+a7R7Hgz3t=ntYKouWH-AfhWPr8OnQqQ at mail dot gmail dot com> <mvm8u9aezn8 dot fsf at hawking dot suse dot de> <CAKCAbMhw=fF1w5z7nCKurVMcX+g2DJcFETaJ66tTFsLB=gs0iQ at mail dot gmail dot com> <55D1FDAE dot 6000000 at panix dot com> <20150818132933 dot GH1584 at vapier> <55D34682 dot 3010605 at redhat dot com>
On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 10:51 AM, Carlos O'Donell <carlos@redhat.com> wrote:
>
> Could one of you please update "Packaging Changes" for 2.23 to indicate
> exactly what happens if you use the header and how distributions should
> change their packages? The more detail the better, but if all we can say
> is "You need to from this API to that API," that's fine also. Some record
> of this requirement is important.
Here's suggested text. If you grant wiki account 'ZackWeinberg'
permission to edit, I can take care of formatting and stuff.
zw
* The header file `regexp.h` (not to be confused with `regex.h`) is
no longer supported. (This header was formerly part of SUS, but was
deprecated in 1994 and removed from the standard in 2001; moreover,
the glibc implementation suffered from memory leaks which were
impractical to fix. See
https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=18681 for more
information.)
Binary backward compatibility is preserved, and glibc still
installs a header file with this name, but it contains only an
`#error` directive. Therefore, no packaging changes are required, but
application developers and distribution maintainers should be aware
that formerly-working programs may fail to compile as a result of this
change. Such programs should be updated to use `regex.h` instead.
`regcomp` is the replacement for the `compile` function and its
associated macros, and `regexec` is the replacement for the `step` and
`advance` functions and their associated global variables. [link each
function name to its documentation]