match_token(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 match_token(9) — bestie's guide to finding tokens ✨

Okay so we're doing match_token from the Kernel API Manual today, and honestly? It's giving "little function, big responsibilities." Let's get into it 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

match_token — the one that finds a token (and optional args) in a string, no cap 🔍

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int match_token (char *s , const match_table_t table , substring_t
args[] );

Like, yes, that's the whole signature. She's compact. She's iconic. She knows what she's doing 👑

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • s — the string you're examining for token/argument pairs. This is the main character of the operation, fr fr 🫶
  • table — a match_table_t that describes the set of allowed option tokens and the arguments that may be associated with them. Bestie listen: it must be terminated with a struct match_token whose pattern is set to the NULL pointer. Don't forget that terminator, I'm literally begging 🙈
  • args — an array of MAX_OPT_ARGS substring_t elements. It's used to return match locations. So she doesn't just find stuff, she tells you where she found it. Very thoughtful of her 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what does she actually do? She detects which — if any — of a set of token strings has been passed to her. Detective energy, ngl 🔍

Tokens can include up to MAX_OPT_ARGS instances of basic c-style format identifiers, and those get taken into account when matching the tokens. Their locations are then returned in the args array. So yeah, she matches and she reports back. Multitasking queen 👑

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

The whole fam lives in the kernel file ./lib/parser.c and wow, it's a lot of cousins:

Go say hi to all of them, they're all slaying in their own way 🫶✨

Quick vibe check reminder: that table has to end with a struct match_token whose pattern is NULL. That's not optional, that's the rules 💀

And that's the page, bestie! This one came straight out of ./lib, dated October 2026, and it's the match_token(9) manual — go forth and match those tokens, you're gonna do amazing 💖🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from