PRB: CodeView Search String Length Limited to 19-23 Characters

 Last reviewed: July 17, 1997
Article ID: Q48863
2.20 3.00 3.11 3.14 4.00 4.01 4.10 | 2.20 3.00 3.12 | 3.x 4.0x 4.10 4.25 
MS-DOS                             | OS/2           | WINDOWS
kbtool

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft CodeView for MS-DOS, versions 2.2, 3.0, 3.11, 3.14, 4.0, 4.01, 4.05, and 4.1
  • Microsoft CodeView for OS/2, versions 2.2, 3.0, 3.11, 3.12, and 3.5
  • Microsoft CodeView for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.05, 3.06, 3.07, 4.0, 4.01, and 4.1
  • Microsoft CodeView for Win32s, version 4.25

SYMPTOMS

If you enter a 20 or 21 character search string, CodeView displays the message "No match of regular expression" even when the search string exists in the file. If the search string is 22 characters or longer, CodeView displays the message "Regular expression too long."

CAUSE

CodeView versions 2.2 and 2.3 and CodeView version 2.1 for Windows can search for strings up to 19 characters long by choosing Find from the Search menu. This limit is in place even though the edit control in the dialog box accepts many more than 19 characters of text. If you type a string longer than 19 characters, one of two error messages results.

CodeView versions 3.0 and later are limited to 23 character strings.

RESOLUTION

Even though 19 characters can be limiting at times, CodeView performs substring searches such that the following search expression: 

   AFunctionWithAVeryL
finds the following string: 

   AFunctionWithAVeryLongName
Problems occur only when the code contains two functions with similar names and you want to find only one function and not the other, such as the following: 

   AFunctionWithAVeryLongName()
   AFunctionWithAVeryLongParameterList(a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j)
In this case, CodeView does not allow you to specify a search string long enough to distinguish between the two function names. However, you can use the Next command on the search menu to find subsequent occurrences of the following string: 

   AFunctionWithAVeryL
The Next command finds whichever of the two function names above occurs next in the source code.

Additional reference words: kbinf 2.20 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.10
KBCategory: kbtool
KBSubcategory: CvwIss
Keywords : kb16bitonly

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Last reviewed: July 17, 1997
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