How do I count the number of tabs at the beginning of a string?

[Michael Dube]

So... if I have a string that contains tabs both at the beginning and in the
middle, how do I just count the beginning ones?

I know that tr/// will return the number of matches in a string.  My attempt
below results in $inittabcount being set to 6 (wrong), while $tabcount gets
correctly set to 5.

        $test = "\t\t\tsasdfasdftill:\tin\tscope?";

        $inittabcount = ($test =~ tr/^\t*?\w//);
        $tabcount     = ($test =~ tr/\t//);

        print "inittabs = $inittabcount\n";
        print "tabs     = $tabcount\n";

Help?

Mike


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