\c\@ and \c\\@ weirdness in patterns

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Migrated from rt.perl.org#123423 (status was 'open')

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From @cpansprout

Let’s look at qq strings first​:

In the first case, the \c swallows up the \ and the @​a that follows interpolates​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -le 'use Devel​::Peek; @​a = "a"; Dump "\c\@​a"'
SV = PV(0x7f9d228071c8) at 0x7f9d2282ff30
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (PADTMP,POK,pPOK)
  PV = 0x7f9d224209b8 "\34a"\0
  CUR = 2
  LEN = 10

In the second case, \c\ again is treated as a unit and \@​a is a literal '@​a' because the @​ is escaped​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -le 'use Devel​::Peek; @​a = "a"; Dump "\c\\@​a"'
SV = PV(0x7fb0118072d8) at 0x7fb01182ff30
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (POK,IsCOW,READONLY,PROTECT,pPOK)
  PV = 0x7fb0114209b8 "\34@​a"\0
  CUR = 3
  LEN = 10
  COW_REFCNT = 0

But it behaves differently when it comes to patterns​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -Mre=debug -le '@​a = "a"; /\c\@​a/'
Compiling REx "\c\@​a"
Final program​:
  1​: EXACT <\34@​a> (3)
  3​: END (0)
anchored "%34@​a" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 3
Freeing REx​: "\c\@​a"

There the backslash after the \c is \c’s character and *also* escapes the @​. It is doing two things at once.

With a double backslash, it is just bizarre​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -Mre=debug -le '@​a = "a"; /\c\\@​a/'
Compiling REx "\c\\a"
Final program​:
  1​: EXACT <\34\7> (3)
  3​: END (0)
anchored "%34%7" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 2
Freeing REx​: "\c\\a"

Here it appears that the double backslash allows interpolation of @​a, resulting in \c\\a, which then compiles to \c\ (\34) followed by \a (\7).

So I managed to create an escape sequence with a literal backslash and an interpolated variable. That is quite something.

I think the regexp cases should behave very similarly to the qq cases. I think the fix for this is for the lexer to treat \c\ exactly the way it does \\​: treat it as one unit and skip over it. That would also affect "\c\\" (currently equivalent to "\34\\", believe it or not; it would be a syntax error; "\c\" would give "\34" and "\c\\\" would give "\34\\"), and possibly break about 3 CPAN modules.

--

Father Chrysostomos

[p5pRT]

From @demerphq

On 13 December 2014 at 05​:36, Father Chrysostomos <perlbug-followup@​perl.org

wrote​:

# New Ticket Created by Father Chrysostomos
# Please include the string​: [perl #123423]
# in the subject line of all future correspondence about this issue.
# <URL​: https://rt-archive.perl.org/perl5/Ticket/Display.html?id=123423 >

Let’s look at qq strings first​:

In the first case, the \c swallows up the \ and the @​a that follows
interpolates​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -le 'use Devel​::Peek; @​a = "a"; Dump "\c\@​a"'
SV = PV(0x7f9d228071c8) at 0x7f9d2282ff30
REFCNT = 1
FLAGS = (PADTMP,POK,pPOK)
PV = 0x7f9d224209b8 "\34a"\0
CUR = 2
LEN = 10

In the second case, \c\ again is treated as a unit and \@​a is a literal
'@​a' because the @​ is escaped​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -le 'use Devel​::Peek; @​a = "a"; Dump "\c\\@​a"'
SV = PV(0x7fb0118072d8) at 0x7fb01182ff30
REFCNT = 1
FLAGS = (POK,IsCOW,READONLY,PROTECT,pPOK)
PV = 0x7fb0114209b8 "\34@​a"\0
CUR = 3
LEN = 10
COW_REFCNT = 0

But it behaves differently when it comes to patterns​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -Mre=debug -le '@​a = "a"; /\c\@​a/'
Compiling REx "\c\@​a"
Final program​:
1​: EXACT <\34@​a> (3)
3​: END (0)
anchored "%34@​a" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 3
Freeing REx​: "\c\@​a"

There the backslash after the \c is \c’s character and *also* escapes the
@​. It is doing two things at once.

With a double backslash, it is just bizarre​:

$ ./perl -Ilib -Mre=debug -le '@​a = "a"; /\c\\@​a/'
Compiling REx "\c\\a"
Final program​:
1​: EXACT <\34\7> (3)
3​: END (0)
anchored "%34%7" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 2
Freeing REx​: "\c\\a"

Here it appears that the double backslash allows interpolation of @​a,
resulting in \c\\a, which then compiles to \c\ (\34) followed by \a (\7).

So I managed to create an escape sequence with a literal backslash and an
interpolated variable. That is quite something.

I think the regexp cases should behave very similarly to the qq cases. I
think the fix for this is for the lexer to treat \c\ exactly the way it
does \\​: treat it as one unit and skip over it. That would also affect
"\c\\" (currently equivalent to "\34\\", believe it or not; it would be a
syntax error; "\c\" would give "\34" and "\c\\\" would give "\34\\"), and
possibly break about 3 CPAN modules.

This all makes sense to me.

cheers,
Yves

--
perl -Mre=debug -e "/just|another|perl|hacker/"

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