aa_dfa_matchn_until(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 aa_dfa_matchn_until(9) — like, the kernel API manual, but make it make sense 🦋

okay so bestie, we're in the Kernel API Manual today and this little icon is called aa_dfa_matchn_until ✨ she lives in AppArmor land and she is so good at her job. let me spill 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

aa_dfa_matchn_until — traverse @dfa until accept or @n bytes consumed 💫

like, she walks the dfa and she does not stop until she hits an accept or she's eaten @n bytes. main character energy fr fr 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

aa_state_t aa_dfa_matchn_until (const struct aa_dfa *dfa , aa_state_t
start , const char *str , int n , const char **retpos );

here's the whole squad, no cap 🎀

🧚 ARGUMENTS 🧚

  • dfa — the dfa to match str against 💖 (NOT NULL — like, respectfully, she needs to exist, don't do her like that 😭)
  • start — the state of the dfa to start matching in 🌈 you're picking up exactly where you left off, iykyk
  • str — the string of bytes to match against the dfa 🌸 (NOT NULL again bestie, same energy 💀)
  • n — length of the string of bytes to match 📏 that's how many bytes we're willing to snack on
  • retpos — first character in str after the match OR str + n 🎯 that's the little pointer she hands back to you so you know where she stopped

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

aa_dfa_match_len will match str against the dfa and return the state it finished matching in. 🔥 the final state can be used to look up the accepting label, or as the start state of a continuing match — so she's not just a one-hit wonder, she's reusable 💅

This function will happily match again the 0 byte and only finishes when n input is consumed. 🫶 ngl that's the whole vibe: she does not bail at a 0 byte, she keeps going until n bytes are done. periodt. ⭐

👑 RETURN 👑

final state reached after input is consumed ✨ that's it, that's the tea 🍓

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

the rest of the crew, all in Kernel file ./security/apparmor/match.c 🌸:

ok lowkey reminder: dfa and str are both NOT NULL. don't test her. 🙈

and that's the page bestie 💖 sign-off time: this one's from ./security/apparmor, dated October 2026, and yes it's literally titled aa_dfa_matchn_until(9) — iconic, no notes 🧚‍♀️💜

📦 where this page comes from