Add argument names to the regexp_XXX functions.

This change allows these functions to be called using named-argument
notation, which can be helpful for readability, particularly for
the ones with many arguments.

There was considerable debate about exactly which names to use,
but in the end we settled on the names already shown in our
documentation table 9.10.

The citext extension provides citext-aware versions of some of
these functions, so add argument names to those too.

In passing, fix table 9.10's syntax synopses for regexp_match,
which were slightly wrong about which combinations of arguments
are allowed.

Jian He, reviewed by Dian Fay and others

Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/CACJufxG3NFKKsh6x4fRLv8h3V-HvN4W5dA=zNKMxsNcDwOKang@mail.gmail.com

1 files changed, 16 insertions, 10 deletions

diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
index fd5699f4d85..b669ab7f977 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/func.sgml
@@ -3426,7 +3426,6 @@ SELECT NOT(ROW(table.*) IS NOT NULL) FROM TABLE; -- detect at least one null in
          <primary>regexp_replace</primary>
         </indexterm>
         <function>regexp_replace</function> ( <parameter>string</parameter> <type>text</type>, <parameter>pattern</parameter> <type>text</type>, <parameter>replacement</parameter> <type>text</type>
-         [, <parameter>start</parameter> <type>integer</type> ]
          [, <parameter>flags</parameter> <type>text</type> ] )
         <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
        </para>
@@ -3445,20 +3444,27 @@ SELECT NOT(ROW(table.*) IS NOT NULL) FROM TABLE; -- detect at least one null in
       <row>
        <entry role="func_table_entry"><para role="func_signature">
         <function>regexp_replace</function> ( <parameter>string</parameter> <type>text</type>, <parameter>pattern</parameter> <type>text</type>, <parameter>replacement</parameter> <type>text</type>,
-         <parameter>start</parameter> <type>integer</type>,
-         <parameter>N</parameter> <type>integer</type>
-         [, <parameter>flags</parameter> <type>text</type> ] )
+         <parameter>start</parameter> <type>integer</type>
+         [, <parameter>N</parameter> <type>integer</type>
+         [, <parameter>flags</parameter> <type>text</type> ] ] )
         <returnvalue>text</returnvalue>
        </para>
        <para>
         Replaces the substring that is the <parameter>N</parameter>'th
         match to the POSIX regular expression <parameter>pattern</parameter>,
-        or all such matches if <parameter>N</parameter> is zero; see
+        or all such matches if <parameter>N</parameter> is zero, with the
+        search beginning at the <parameter>start</parameter>'th character
+        of <parameter>string</parameter>.  If <parameter>N</parameter> is
+        omitted, it defaults to 1.  See
         <xref linkend="functions-posix-regexp"/>.
        </para>
        <para>
         <literal>regexp_replace('Thomas', '.', 'X', 3, 2)</literal>
         <returnvalue>ThoXas</returnvalue>
+       </para>
+       <para>
+        <literal>regexp_replace(string=>'hello world', pattern=>'l', replacement=>'XX', start=>1, "N"=>2)</literal>
+        <returnvalue>helXXo world</returnvalue>
        </para></entry>
       </row>
 
@@ -5963,7 +5969,7 @@ regexp_count('ABCABCAXYaxy', 'A.', 1, 'i')  <lineannotation>4</lineannotation>
 <programlisting>
 regexp_instr('number of your street, town zip, FR', '[^,]+', 1, 2)
                                    <lineannotation>23</lineannotation>
-regexp_instr('ABCDEFGHI', '(c..)(...)', 1, 1, 0, 'i', 2)
+regexp_instr(string=>'ABCDEFGHI', pattern=>'(c..)(...)', start=>1, "N"=>1, endoption=>0, flags=>'i', subexpr=>2)
                                    <lineannotation>6</lineannotation>
 </programlisting>
     </para>
@@ -6109,7 +6115,7 @@ SELECT col1, (SELECT regexp_matches(col2, '(bar)(beque)')) FROM tab;
      The <function>regexp_replace</function> function provides substitution of
      new text for substrings that match POSIX regular expression patterns.
      It has the syntax
-     <function>regexp_replace</function>(<replaceable>source</replaceable>,
+     <function>regexp_replace</function>(<replaceable>string</replaceable>,
      <replaceable>pattern</replaceable>, <replaceable>replacement</replaceable>
      <optional>, <replaceable>start</replaceable>
      <optional>, <replaceable>N</replaceable>
@@ -6118,9 +6124,9 @@ SELECT col1, (SELECT regexp_matches(col2, '(bar)(beque)')) FROM tab;
      (Notice that <replaceable>N</replaceable> cannot be specified
      unless <replaceable>start</replaceable> is,
      but <replaceable>flags</replaceable> can be given in any case.)
-     The <replaceable>source</replaceable> string is returned unchanged if
+     The source <replaceable>string</replaceable> is returned unchanged if
      there is no match to the <replaceable>pattern</replaceable>.  If there is a
-     match, the <replaceable>source</replaceable> string is returned with the
+     match, the <replaceable>string</replaceable> is returned with the
      <replaceable>replacement</replaceable> string substituted for the matching
      substring.  The <replaceable>replacement</replaceable> string can contain
      <literal>\</literal><replaceable>n</replaceable>, where <replaceable>n</replaceable> is 1
@@ -6161,7 +6167,7 @@ regexp_replace('foobarbaz', 'b(..)', 'X\1Y', 'g')
                                    <lineannotation>fooXarYXazY</lineannotation>
 regexp_replace('A PostgreSQL function', 'a|e|i|o|u', 'X', 1, 0, 'i')
                                    <lineannotation>X PXstgrXSQL fXnctXXn</lineannotation>
-regexp_replace('A PostgreSQL function', 'a|e|i|o|u', 'X', 1, 3, 'i')
+regexp_replace(string=>'A PostgreSQL function', pattern=>'a|e|i|o|u', replacement=>'X', start=>1, "N"=>3, flags=>'i')
                                    <lineannotation>A PostgrXSQL function</lineannotation>
 </programlisting>
    </para>