[ocamllex] how to specify strings not matching a pattern

Learning
1

Hello,

I’m trying to implement a RestructuredText parser as a stepping stone for an OCaML implementaition of Sphinx. I’ve got a problem with implementing the inline markup especially the strong markup (eg **my strongified text**). I would like to match the strings that do not contain the ending pattern (ie "**" ( ' ' | '\n'| eof)). I know I can do that by creating an equivalent regex but as I need to replicate that for other markup constructs it would become difficult to maintain.

2

It might be easiest to use different lexer context for this rather than trying to cram this into a regexp: detect the ** and branch into a new context where you stay until you reach the end of it. When lexing a programming language, this is typically the way how strings and comments are recognised. You could take a look at the lever for OCaml itself.

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