//
// This software is now distributed according to
// the Lesser Gnu Public License.  Please see
// http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.txt for
// the details.
//    -- Happy Computing!
//
package com.stevesoft.pat;

import java.util.*;

/**
 * This pattern matches nothing -- it is found in patterns like (hello|world|)
 * where a zero-length subelement occurs.
 */
class NullPattern extends Pattern
{
  public String toString()
  {
    return nextString();
  }

  public int matchInternal(int p, Pthings pt)
  {
    return nextMatch(p, pt);
  }

  public patInt maxChars()
  {
    return new patInt(0);
  }

  Pattern clone1(Hashtable h)
  {
    return new NullPattern();
  }
}
