I am trying to compile the regex part of the boost C++ library on AIX using the xlC compiler and use it as a 64-bit dynamic library, because I need to compare the performance of several C++ regex libraries and built-in solutions, and boost seemed like a viable candidate.
Here are my exact OS and compiler versions:
$ uname -a
AIX host_name 1 7 00F9A2144C00
$ xlC -qversion
IBM XL C/C++ for AIX, V13.1.2 (5725-C72, 5765-J07)
Version: 13.01.0002.0000
Since I do not have root priviliges, I cannot actually install the boost library, I am only trying to compile the regex part into a shared object file and to obtain all of the needed headers for my test application. I have tried to compile the latest available version (1.59.0), and also version 1.55.0, because I found that IBM has released a source code patch for boost:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27042921
I compile boost and copy the headers and the shared object file to my development folder using the following commands:
bootstrap.sh --with-toolset=vacpp --prefix=/my/user/directory --exec-prefix=/my/user/directory
./b2 address-model=64 cxxflags=-q64 cflags=-q64
b2 tools/bcp
./dist/bin/bcp boost/regex.hpp /my/include/directory
cp stage/lib/libboost_regex.so /my/library/directory
I know i could add the --with-libraries=regex flag to compile only the regex part, but it is irrelevant to my problems.
With both versions, with or without patching the boost source code, I encounter the same problems.
First: I already have some libraries compiled, and linked to my simple test application, for example the PCRE C++ regex library. When I also try to link the boost regex library, with the -lboost_regex compile flag, I get the following error:
ld: 0706-006 Cannot find or open library file: -l boost_regex
ld:open(): No such file or directory
make: The error code from the last command is 255.
This is resolved by adding the -brtl compile flag, which as far as I know would only be needed if I would try to link a static library, so it looks like to me as if libboost_regex.so would actually be libboost_regex.a
Second: When I add the line #include "boost/regex.hpp" to my code, I get a compilation error:
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 217.19: 1540-0130 (S) "false_type" is not declared.
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 223.19: 1540-0130 (S) "true_type" is not declared.
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 229.19: 1540-0130 (S) "true_type" is not declared.
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 235.19: 1540-0130 (S) "true_type" is not declared.
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 244.11: 1540-0130 (S) "false_type" is not declared.
"/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/include/xtr1common", line 250.11: 1540-0130 (S) "true_type" is not declared.
make: The error code from the last command is 1.
My test application is really simple. These are the contents of my Makefile:
all:
/opt/IBM/xlC/13.1.2/bin/xlC -q64 -Iinclude -Llibs -lpcrecpp main.cpp -o regexp_test
clean:
rm regexp_test
Here is the source code of my very basic test application:
#include <iostream>
#include <string.h>
#ifndef __IBMCPP_TR1__
#define __IBMCPP_TR1__ 1
#include <regex>
#undef __IBMCPP_TR1__
#endif
#define __IBMCPP_TR1__ 1
/* Regular expression libraries to be included */
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <regex.h>
#include "pcrecpp.h"
// #include "boost/regex.hpp"
#include "deelx.h"
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
if(argc != 4){
std::cerr << "Use: ./regexp_test <posix|tr1|pcre|deelx> value regexp" << std::endl;
return 1;
}
int status;
char buffer[256], regexp[256];
snprintf(buffer,sizeof(buffer),argv[2]);
snprintf(regexp,sizeof(regexp),argv[3]);
std::string buffer_string = buffer;
bool match = false;
if(strcmp(argv[1],"posix")==0){
regex_t comp;
if (regcomp(&comp, regexp, REG_EXTENDED) != 0) {
std::cerr << "The regular expression '" << regexp << "' could not be compiled!" << std::endl;
return 1;
} else {
status = regexec(&comp, buffer, (size_t) 0, NULL, 0);
regfree(&comp);
if (status == 0) {
match = true;
}
}
} else if(strcmp(argv[1],"tr1")==0){
try {
std::tr1::smatch matches;
std::tr1::regex rgx(regexp);
status = std::tr1::regex_search(buffer_string, matches, rgx);
if(status){
match = true;
}
}
catch(std::tr1::regex_error& re)
{
std::cerr << "TR1 exception caught!" << std::endl;
}
} else if(strcmp(argv[1],"pcre")==0){
pcrecpp::RE re(regexp);
if(re.PartialMatch(buffer)){
match = true;
}
} else if(strcmp(argv[1],"deelx")==0){
static CRegexpT <char> deelx_regexp(regexp, IGNORECASE | MULTILINE);
MatchResult result = deelx_regexp.Match(buffer);
if(result.IsMatched()){
match = true;
}
} else {
std::cerr << "Use: ./regexp_test <posix|tr1|pcre|deelx> value regexp" << std::endl;
return 1;
}
if (!match) {
std::cout << "The regular expression '" << regexp << "' does NOT match the value '" << buffer << "'." << std::endl;
} else {
std::cout << "The regular expression '" << regexp << "' matches the value '" << buffer << "'." << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
How can these problems be resolved? Any hints or advice would be appreciated.
