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Publish only the match a backward search answers with - #7149

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matz merged 4 commits into
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takumin:regexp-rsearch-quiet-walk
Aug 14, 2026
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Publish only the match a backward search answers with#7149
matz merged 4 commits into
mruby:masterfrom
takumin:regexp-rsearch-quiet-walk

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@takumin

@takumin takumin commented Aug 14, 2026

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Stacked on #7148, which this needs and whose commits it carries. Review the last two.

#7148 took the character counting out of the walk String#rindex, String#byterindex and String#rpartition share, and named what it did not fix: every search publishes its match, cutting the whole subject into the pre match and post match globals, so the walk still copies the subject once per match. This is that.

                                    #7148     here
("あb" *  5000).rindex(/b/)         0.007s    0.002s
("あb" * 10000).rindex(/b/)         0.019s    0.004s
("あb" * 20000).rindex(/b/)         0.060s    0.007s
("あb" * 10000).byterindex(/b/)     0.017s    0.004s
("あb" * 10000).rpartition(/b/)     0.016s    0.004s
("ab"  * 10000).rindex(/b/)         0.012s    0.004s
("ab"  * 20000).rindex(/b/)         0.034s    0.007s

Doubling the subject now doubles the time rather than tripling it. The single-byte subject was paying the same copy and had nothing to do with characters, which is why it moves too.

What was being thrown away

A successful search publishes thirteen names: $~, $1 through $9, the match, the two pieces the subject is cut into around it, and the last group that took part. Two of those thirteen are cut from the subject and together are the whole of it, so a search costs its subject once over whether or not anything reads the result.

The walk keeps the last match that qualifies, so every match it passes is published and then replaced by the next one. It already publishes its answer itself at the end, with MatchData#__set_globals, and clears for a miss. Nothing read what the searches published in between.

Letting a search publish nothing

Regexp.__byte_search takes it as an argument, the way CRuby's rb_reg_search0() takes set_backref_str, and it reaches exec_match() and create_matchdata() from there. A search that publishes nothing clears nothing either, so the globals come out of it exactly as they went in and the caller owns them throughout; the walk passes FALSE and keeps the two lines that publish its answer or clear for a miss.

gsub, scan and sub cannot be told the same thing: the block they call reads the globals of the match it was handed, so those loops go on publishing every turn. The argument defaults to TRUE, so every other caller is where it was.

Tests

The first commit asks for the eleven globals no test read back. $~ and $1 after a backward search are asserted already; the match, the two pieces, a second group, a group that did not take part, the last one that did, and the same set after a miss were not, and they are exactly what a walk that passes matches on the way to its answer has to get right. Every answer is CRuby's.

The second commit is where they start being published by one act rather than falling out of the last search. Keeping the walk's own publish but dropping its clear, which is the mistake this change makes available now that a failing search no longer clears, turns 6 of the new assertions red.

The differential from #7148 was rerun against this: 21,672 checks on the UTF-8 build and 24,552 on the byte-indexing one, comparing the answer, the exception where one is raised, and $~, $&, $`, $' and $1 after every call. 0 mismatches.

Verification

Full suite green at every commit on build_config/ci/gcc-clang.rb: full-core with MRB_GC_STRESS (2282), bintest (2283), the C++ ABI (2283), and the default gembox (2068). 0 failures, 0 crashes, no new compiler warnings.

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Bug Fixes

    • Improved reverse regular-expression searches for multibyte text.
    • Corrected character-based and byte-based index limits, including negative positions, overlapping matches, and partitioning.
    • Ensured regular-expression match results are consistently updated after successful searches and cleared when searches fail.
  • Tests

    • Added coverage for multibyte reverse searches, boundary conditions, overlapping matches, partitioning, and match-result handling.

`String#rindex` bounds where a match may start by a character offset and
`String#byterindex` bounds it by a byte offset, which is the whole of the
difference between the two. On a single-byte subject the two offsets name
the same place, so the tests that ask about the position argument at all ask
it of `"hello"` and cannot tell one reading from the other. The one pair
that uses a multibyte subject reads the answer back rather than the
argument: `"あいうあいう".rindex(/い/)` and its `byterindex` twin are both
called without a position.

Ask both of them with a position on a subject where the two readings part
company, and ask the walk that finds the answer whether an overlapping match
still stands when the match ahead of it is multibyte. The answers are the
ones CRuby gives.
The engine searches forward only, so `String#rindex`, `String#byterindex`
and `String#rpartition` reach their answer by walking the subject from the
start through `__regexp_rsearch`, keeping the last match that starts at or
before the limit. The walk spoke characters, and a character offset is not a
place a subject can be read from: `Regexp.__search` counts one out from the
start of the subject to reach the byte offset the engine takes, and
`MatchData#begin` counts a byte offset back the same way. Every turn asked
for both, and `rindex` and `rpartition` asked for the second twice, so a
walk over a multibyte subject read the whole of it three times per match and
took quadratic time. On a full-core build `("あb" * 5000).rindex(/b/)` took
0.174s, doubling the subject took 0.584s, and doubling it again took 2.315s,
against 0.012s for the ASCII twin of the middle one, whose offsets are its
bytes and need no counting at all.

Walk in bytes. Nothing is given up by leaving character space: a byte inside
a character is not a position a match can start at, and the engine steps
over one rather than seed an attempt there, in `nfa_exec()`, `bt_exec()` and
`literal_exec()` alike, so resuming at `md.__byte_begin(0) + 1` reaches the
next character by itself. Resuming one position past the match start rather
than at the match end is what keeps an overlapping match in view, and one
byte past keeps it the same way one character past did. The three now take
0.007s, 0.019s and 0.060s, and the ASCII subject is where it was.

`limit` is a byte offset for every caller, which is what `byterindex`
already handed it. `rindex` reads the character position it was given into
one where it is given, once, and the whole subject is its own byte length
rather than a reading of it, which is the form `rindex` is in whenever it is
called with one argument. `Regexp.__byte_search` does not range check its
position, so the walk stops itself at the end of the subject.

What remains is the subject each search publishes: a match sets the pre and
post match globals, which copies the subject once per match. That is common
to every search loop in the gem and is left where it is.
A match publishes thirteen names, and the tests that ask what `rindex`,
`byterindex` and `rpartition` leave behind read back two of them, `$~` and
`$1`. The other eleven are published by the same act and go unasked, which
is the whole of what a walk that passes matches on the way to its answer has
to get right: the one it settled on is the one that must be standing, and a
walk that found nothing must leave nothing standing at all.

Ask for the match, the two pieces the subject is cut into, a second group, a
group that did not take part, the last one that did, and the same set after
a search that missed. The answers are the ones CRuby gives.
A search publishes its match on the way out: `$~`, the nine numbered groups,
the match itself, the two pieces the subject is cut into around it, and the
last group that took part. Cutting the subject in two copies the whole of it,
so a search costs its subject once over whether or not anything reads what it
published.

`String#rindex`, `String#byterindex` and `String#rpartition` walk the subject
and keep the last match that qualifies, and every match the walk passes is
published and then replaced by the next one. The walk already publishes its
answer itself at the end, with `MatchData#__set_globals`, so what the searches
published was read by nothing. It was still paid for: the subject copied once
per match, which is quadratic in the subject and is what the walk costs once
the character counting is out of it.

Let a search be told to publish nothing. `Regexp.__byte_search` takes it as an
argument, the way CRuby's `rb_reg_search0()` takes `set_backref_str`, and a
search that publishes nothing clears nothing either, so the globals come out
of it as they went in and the caller owns them throughout. The walk passes
FALSE and keeps the two lines that publish its answer or clear for a miss.
`gsub`, `scan` and the rest cannot be told the same thing, since the block
they call reads the globals of the match it was handed.

`("あb" * 20000).rindex(/b/)` goes from 0.060s to 0.007s, and doubling the
subject now doubles the time rather than tripling it. The single-byte subject
was paying the same copy and had nothing to do with characters: `("ab" *
20000).rindex(/b/)` goes from 0.034s to 0.007s.
@takumin
takumin requested a review from matz as a code owner August 14, 2026 04:48
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coderabbitai Bot commented Aug 14, 2026

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Review Change Stack

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Reverse regexp searches now operate in byte space. Character-based limits are converted before searching. Regexp execution can defer match-global publication, while standard matching paths publish explicitly. Tests cover UTF-8 offsets and match globals.

Changes

Regexp reverse-search and publication

Layer / File(s) Summary
Match publication control
mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c, mrbgems/mruby-regexp/test/string_index.rb
Regexp execution accepts a publish flag. Standard matching, substitution, scanning, and operator paths publish matches explicitly. Tests verify settled match data and failure cleanup.
Byte-space reverse search
mrbgems/mruby-regexp/mrblib/string_regexp.rb, mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c, mrbgems/mruby-regexp/test/string_index.rb
__regexp_rsearch walks byte positions. rindex converts character limits to byte offsets. byterindex and rpartition pass byte limits. UTF-8 tests cover bounds, negative positions, overlaps, and partitions.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 445c6

The change alters which globals backward searches publish; one localized miss-case test should cover additional preexisting captures and $~, but no actionable merge-blocking risk remains.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant StringReverseSearch
  participant RegexpByteSearch
  participant ExecMatch
  participant MatchGlobals
  StringReverseSearch->>RegexpByteSearch: search byte positions up to limit
  RegexpByteSearch->>ExecMatch: execute candidate with deferred publication
  ExecMatch-->>RegexpByteSearch: return MatchData
  RegexpByteSearch->>MatchGlobals: publish selected match or clear globals
Loading

Possibly related PRs

  • mruby/mruby#7075: Introduces the reverse-search and byte-search paths refined by this PR.
  • mruby/mruby#7079: Adds the Regexp.__byte_search and String#__regexp_rsearch paths extended here.
  • mruby/mruby#7148: Contains the byte-based reverse regexp search changes updated by this PR.

Suggested reviewers: matz

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5
✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Description Check ✅ Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check ✅ Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: publishing only the match selected by a backward search.
Docstring Coverage ✅ Passed No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@mrbgems/mruby-regexp/test/string_index.rb`:
- Around line 611-617: Update the match-global regression test around the "zzz"
capture and subsequent String#rindex miss to seed two capture groups, then
assert that both $~ and $2 are nil after the miss while preserving the existing
checks for the other match globals.
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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 7fcad02 and 445c624.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)
  • mrbgems/mruby-regexp/mrblib/string_regexp.rb
  • mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c
  • mrbgems/mruby-regexp/test/string_index.rb

Comment thread mrbgems/mruby-regexp/test/string_index.rb
@matz
matz merged commit a4122a9 into mruby:master Aug 14, 2026
21 checks passed
takumin added a commit to takumin/mruby that referenced this pull request Aug 14, 2026
`Regexp.__byte_search` takes the position it is handed without asking anything
about it, which is what the mrblib loops of `gsub`, `split` and `byteindex`
want: they enter at zero or at an offset a match answered with, and they work
in byte space already. A position past the end needs no question either,
because the engine reads it as a miss.

A position before the subject is read instead. It reaches the engine as
`RSTRING_PTR(str) + pos`, and the walk starts from there:

```
$ mruby -e 'Regexp.__byte_search(/x/, "a" * 100, -1)'
AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow, READ of size 101
    #0 memchr
    #1 literal_exec mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/re_exec.c:857
    #2 mrb_re_exec mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/re_exec.c:889
    #3 exec_match mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c:381
    #4 regexp_s_byte_search mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c:505
```

No mrblib caller passes one, so this is a backstop against a direct call, of
the kind `check_regexp_arg()` above it already is for the pattern. The answer
is the miss the far end gives, and it clears the match globals the same way,
so the two ends of the range come out alike. A search that publishes nothing
clears nothing at either end, which is the contract mruby#7149 gave the argument.
takumin added a commit to takumin/mruby that referenced this pull request Aug 14, 2026
`Regexp.__byte_search` takes the position it is handed without asking anything
about it, which is what the mrblib loops of `gsub`, `split` and `byteindex`
want: they enter at zero or at an offset a match answered with, and they work
in byte space already. A position past the end needs no question either,
because the engine reads it as a miss.

A position before the subject is read instead. It reaches the engine as
`RSTRING_PTR(str) + pos`, and the walk starts from there:

```
$ mruby -e 'Regexp.__byte_search(/x/, "a" * 100, -1)'
AddressSanitizer: heap-buffer-overflow, READ of size 101
    #0 memchr
    #1 literal_exec mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/re_exec.c:857
    #2 mrb_re_exec mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/re_exec.c:889
    #3 exec_match mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c:381
    #4 regexp_s_byte_search mrbgems/mruby-regexp/src/regexp.c:505
```

No mrblib caller passes one, so this is a backstop against a direct call, of
the kind `check_regexp_arg()` above it already is for the pattern. The answer
is the miss a position past the end already gives, and it clears the match
globals the same way; a search that publishes nothing clears nothing at either
end, which is the contract mruby#7149 gave that argument.

It is asked before the encoding is, as `__search` asks a position it cannot
place before it reads the subject. A subject that the position names nothing
in is not read either way.
@takumin
takumin deleted the regexp-rsearch-quiet-walk branch August 14, 2026 06:56
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