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=head1 TITLE
counting matches
=head1 VERSION
Maintainer: Richard Proctor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 16 Aug 2000
Last Modified: 28 Aug 2000
Version: 3
Mailing List: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Number: 110
=head1 ABSTRACT
Provide a simple way of giving a count of matches of a pattern.
=head1 DESCRIPTION
Have you ever wanted to count the number of matches of a patten? s///g
returns the number of matches it finds. m//g just returns 1 for matching.
Counts can be made using s//$&/g but this is wastefull, or by putting some
counting loop round a m//g. But this all seams rather messy.
m//gt (or m//t see below) would be defined to do the match, and return the
count of matches, this leaves all existing uses consistent and unaffected.
/t is suggested for "counT", as /c is already taken.
Relationship of m//t and m//g - there are two possibilities, my original:
m//gt, where /t adds counting to a group match (/t without /g would just
return 0 or 1). However \G loses its meaning.
The Alternative By Uri :
m//t and m//g are mutually exclusive and m//gt should be regarded as an error.
I have no preference.
=head1 IMPLENTATION
No idea
=head1 REFERENCES
I brought this up on p5p a couple of years ago, but it was lost in the noise...
