Rod Za <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: : --- "Charles K. Clarkson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: :: next unless :: /^ :: \Q$printer\E- :: (\d+)\s+ :: (\w+)\s+\d+\s+\w+\s :: (\d+\s\w+\s\d+\s\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}) :: /ox; : : What the \Q \E /ox in the regex does?
The \Q and \E do the same thing as the 'quotemeta' function in perl. See perlfunc. /o at the end of a regex tells perl that the variable(s) contained within do not change on each pass. See perlre. /x at the end of a regex tells perl to ignore white space added to the regex. See perlre. Thus: /^\Q$printer\E-(\d+)\s+(\w+)\s+\d+\s+\w+\s(\d+\s\w+\s\d+\s\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}) /o; is equivalent to: /^ \Q$printer\E- (\d+)\s+ (\w+)\s+\d+\s+\w+\s (\d+\s\w+\s\d+\s\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}) /ox; The second regex still compiles and is (IMO) easier to read. HTH, Charles K. Clarkson -- Mobile Homes Specialist 254 968-8328 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>