corvus-ecma-regex

name

corvus-ecma-regex

description

Translate ECMAScript 262 /u mode regular expressions to .NET regex patterns. Covers semantic differences between ECMAScript and .NET regex engines, supplementary code point handling via surrogate pairs, Unicode property escapes, backreference conditionals, character class strategies, and strict /u mode validation. USE FOR: understanding regex translation in generated validation code, debugging pattern matching issues in JSON Schema pattern/patternProperties, extending regex support for new Unicode properties or constructs. DO NOT USE FOR: general .NET regex usage, writing custom regex patterns.

ECMAScript Regex Translation

Entry Point API

The translator is in src/Corvus.Text.Json.CodeGeneration/EcmaRegexTranslator.cs:

// Translate an ECMAScript /u mode pattern to .NET
string dotnetPattern = EcmaRegexTranslator.Translate(@"\d+\.\d+");

// Non-throwing variant with span output
OperationStatus status = EcmaRegexTranslator.TryTranslate(
    ecmaPattern, buffer, out int charsWritten);

// Safe fallback — returns original pattern if translation fails
string pattern = EcmaRegexTranslator.TranslateOrFallback(ecmaPattern);

Translation Examples

ECMAScript Pattern	.NET Translation	Reason
.	[^\n\r\u2028\u2029]	Dot excludes specific line terminators
\d	[0-9]	ASCII digits only
\u{1F600}	(?:\uD83D\uDE00)	Supplementary char → surrogate pair
(a)\1	(a)(?(1)\1)	Backreference wrapped in conditional
[a\D]	(?:[a]|[^0-9])	Negated shorthand in class uses alternation

Why Translation Is Needed

JSON Schema's pattern keyword uses ECMAScript regex semantics (ECMA 262 /u mode). .NET's System.Text.RegularExpressions has different semantics for several constructs. The translator converts ECMAScript patterns to equivalent .NET patterns.

Key Translation Rules

Character Class Shorthands

ECMAScript	.NET Translation	Reason
\d	[0-9]	.NET \d matches Unicode digits; ECMAScript only ASCII
\w	[a-zA-Z0-9_]	.NET \w matches Unicode word chars
\s	Explicit ECMAScript whitespace set	Different whitespace sets
.	[^\n\r\u2028\u2029]	ECMAScript excludes 4 line terminators

Word Boundaries

\b → explicit lookaround assertions using ASCII word characters only (ECMAScript definition).

Supplementary Code Points

\u{XXXXX} (code points above U+FFFF) → (?:\uHHHH\uLLLL) surrogate pair in .NET.

Backreferences

ECMAScript treats non-participating groups as always-matching. Translated to: (?(N)\N) — .NET conditional syntax that checks if group N participated.

Unicode Property Escapes

\p{Script=Latin} → expanded character class ranges (34 BMP + 5 supplementary ranges).

Binary properties like \p{Emoji} → equivalent .NET character class unions.

Performance Characteristics

The translator is zero-allocation using:

• ref struct translator type
• stackalloc for small intermediate buffers
• ArrayPool<char> for larger buffers

The translated regex pattern is then compiled using RegexOptions.Compiled for repeated use in validation.

Regex Pattern Classification (at code-gen time)

Before translating, the code generator classifies patterns:

Classification	Example	Optimization
Noop	.*, ^.*$	Skip validation entirely
NonEmpty	.+	Simple length > 0 check
Prefix	^foo	StartsWith("foo")
Range	[a-z]	Inline character range check
FullRegex	Everything else	Full compiled regex

Cross-References

• For the evaluator that uses translated patterns, see corvus-standalone-evaluator
• For the keyword that drives pattern validation, see corvus-keywords-and-validation
• Full reference: docs/EcmaRegexTranslator.md, docs/EcmaRegexTranslations.md