Konst Sushenko <konsu@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
+---------------
| but if i convert my regexp string into a list before processing it, then i
| would have to return multiple values from my sub-functions: the result and
| the remaining input list...
+---------------

There's no nead to avoid multiple values -- Common Lisp has them
conveniently built into the language. In fact, when writing tiny
parsers of various kinds, I often do exactly as you suggest: Call
a routine to parse some construct, and have it return the parsed
phrase/object/structure/whatever and the list of unused characters:

	(multiple-value-bind (result-thing remaining-chars)
	    (parse-a-thing some-chars)
	  ;; do something with the parsed "result-thing",
	  ;; handing the "remaining-chars" to the next parser
	  ... )

[Also see "multiple-value-setq".]


-Rob

p.s. But before taking me literally and heading off to code a regexp in
that form, first look in your Lisp implementation's documentation -- you
may find there's a perfectly usable regexp library there already!

-----
Rob Warnock, 41L-955		rpw3@sgi.com
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