Chap Harrison wrote on 30.09.2004: > >On Sep 30, 2004, at 9:55 AM, Wiggins d Anconia wrote: > >> Out of curiousity based on your description shouldn't it return, >> >> 1111:2222:3333:5555:5555:6666:7777:8888 >> >> Or do you really mean, you are trying to capture all 4 digit strings >> that are not in a string of longer digits? You need to be very >> explicit >> about what you are after. >> >> > >The example was intended to resolve the ambiguities of my informal >description :-) You correctly surmised what I was after. > >> my @a = ($foo =~ m'(?<!\d{4})\d{4}(?!\d)'g); > Careful, you mistyped the original proposition:
my @a = ($foo =~ m'(?<!\d)\d{4}(?!\d)'g); This one will find a string consisting of four digits, neither preceded nor followed by a digit. In other words: exactly four digits. Your quote will find a string of four digits not preceded by another four digits, so it could find a string of five, six or seven digits. - Jan -- How many Microsoft engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None. They just redefine "dark" as the new standard. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>