PCRE2-CONFIG(1)

💅 NAME 💅

ok so like, <pink>pcre2-config</pink> — it's the program that returns the PCRE2 configuration, bestie. that's it, that's the vibe. it tells you how your PCRE2 is set up so you don't have to guess 🧚

(also hi, this is from the <purple>General Commands Manual</purple> section, section 1, slay 👑)

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pcre2-config [--prefix] [--exec-prefix] [--version]
             [--libs8] [--libs16] [--libs32] [--libs-posix]
             [--cflags] [--cflags-posix]

like, you just run it with one (or more) of these bad boys and it prints stuff at you. no cap 📠

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

pcre2-config returns the configuration of the installed PCRE2 libraries, plus the options you need to compile a program that uses them. it's giving "personal assistant for your build system" honestly.

okay so here's the tea ☕ — some of these options apply only to the 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit libraries, respectively. and they're literally not available for libraries that haven't been built. so if you hit an unavailable option, the "usage" information gets output instead. that's your sign to check what you actually have installed, bestie 🫶

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🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

• --prefix — writes the directory prefix used in the PCRE2 installation for architecture-independent files to the standard output. <mint>/usr</mint> on many systems, <mint>/usr/local</mint> on some systems. iykyk 💖
• --exec-prefix — writes the directory prefix used in the PCRE2 installation for architecture-dependent files to the standard output. normally the same as --prefix, lowkey twins 👯
• --version — writes the version number of the installed PCRE2 libraries to the standard output. cute little number, go off ✨
• --libs8 — writes to the standard output the command line options required to link with the 8-bit PCRE2 library. that's <hotpink>-lpcre2-8</hotpink> on many systems 🎀
• --libs16 — writes to the standard output the command line options required to link with the 16-bit PCRE2 library. <hotpink>-lpcre2-16</hotpink> on many systems 💜
• --libs32 — writes to the standard output the command line options required to link with the 32-bit PCRE2 library. <hotpink>-lpcre2-32</hotpink> on many systems 🔥
• --libs-posix — writes to the standard output the command line options required to link with PCRE2's POSIX API wrapper library. <hotpink>-lpcre2-posix -lpcre2-8</hotpink> on many systems — yeah, two of them, it's a whole duo 🌈
• --cflags — writes to the standard output the command line options required to compile files that use PCRE2. this may include some -I options, but is blank on many systems. sometimes it's just quiet like that 🙈
• --cflags-posix — writes to the standard output the command line options required to compile files that use PCRE2's POSIX API wrapper library. this may include some -I options, but is blank on many systems. same energy, different wrapper 🍓

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🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

• pcre2(3) — go read the main character's page, fr fr 📖

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💀 AUTHOR 💀

this manual page was originally written by <purple>Mark Baker</purple> for the Debian GNU/Linux system. it has been subsequently revised as a generic PCRE2 man page. iconic lineage honestly, we stan 🫡💖

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⭐ REVISION ⭐

last updated: <yellow>22 February 2025</yellow> — recent enough, we love a fresh page ✨

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okay that's the whole thing, bestie, you're officially a pcre2-config expert now, no notes 💅

PCRE2 10.47 — 22 February 2025 — from the PCRE2-CONFIG(1) page, mwah 💋