c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -e
"my $clause = qq(failure_reason <> 'Response=X');
 my @operators = qw ( <> != !< !> <= >= < > = );
 my $opr_regex = '(\s*' . join('\s*|\s*', @operators) . '\s*)';
 my ($fld,$opr,$val) = split /$opr_regex/, $clause, 2;
 print \"\n\$opr_regex =  $opr_regex\n\n\";
 print \"\$clause    =  $clause\n\n\";
 print \"\$fld       = ^|$fld^|\n\";
 print \"\$opr       = ^|$opr^|\n\";
 print \"\$val       = ^|$val^|\n\n\";
"

$opr_regex =  (\s*<>\s*|\s*!=\s*|\s*!<\s*|\s*!>\s*|\s*<=\s*|\s*>=\s*|\s*<\s*|\s*>\s*|\s*=\s*)

$clause    =  failure_reason <> 'Response=X'

$fld       = |failure_reason|
$opr       = | <> |
$val       = |'Response=X'|