regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING

jeffrgsf has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

This is probably pretty easy, but I can't get it to work:

I want a regexp to grab everything withing a string between "For" and "In", such that this string:

Zelazowa Wola, Symphonic Poem, For Orchestra In B Minor, Op. 37

would return:
For Orchestra

Se puede? (Thanks!)

Ideally, I could keep the "In " in the original string ($work), but I can re-add it if that's not possible using the method I've already started with.


    if ( $work =~ /(For #DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PUT HERE )/ )
    {
        $instruments = $1;
        $instruments =~ s/[()]//g; #remove extra parentheses
        $work =~ s/$instruments//g; #remove instruments
        $instruments =~ s/^\s+//; #remove leading spaces
        $instruments = substr($instruments, 4, 100);   
           #last line removes the substring "For "
    }
[download]

Comment on regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING Download Code

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Re: regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING by frozenwithjoy (Priest) on Oct 25, 2012 at 21:29 UTC
Like this? `$ perl -E '$string = "Zelazowa Wola, Symphonic Poem, For Orchestra In +B Minor, Op. 37"; say $string =~ m/(For.) In/;' For Orchestra` [download] or.... `$ perl -E '$string = "Zelazowa Wola, Symphonic Poem, For Orchestra In +B Minor, Op. 37"; say $string =~ m/(For.In)/;' For Orchestra In` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING by jeffrgsf (Novice) on Oct 25, 2012 at 22:35 UTC
I coulda sworn I'd already tried that! Probably had an error due to something else. Thanks!!!! I'll make a donation in the next month or so when my next paycheck comes in! This site is da bomb!	[reply]
Re: regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Oct 25, 2012 at 23:23 UTC
Just a cautionary example of greedy `.` versus lazy `.?` regex matching: `>perl -wMstrict -le "my $s = 'xx FOR foo IN bar baz and FOR fee fie foe IN fum yy'; ;; my @for_in = $s =~ m{ FOR .* IN }xmsg; printf 'greedy: '; printf qq{'$_' } for @for_in; print ''; ;; printf 'lazy: '; @for_in = $s =~ m{ FOR .*? IN }xmsg; printf qq{'$_' } for @for_in; " greedy: 'FOR foo IN bar baz and FOR fee fie foe IN' lazy: 'FOR foo IN' 'FOR fee fie foe IN'` [download] Also note that in the conditional statement `if (my @captures = $string =~ m{ pattern }xmsg) {` `do_something_with(@captures);` `}` if nothing matches (no captures, array empty), the conditional evaluates false and the statement body is not executed.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: regexp to grab STRING...[everything here]...DIF STRING by marquezc329 (Scribe) on Oct 25, 2012 at 22:26 UTC
Looks like frozenwithjoy already set you up with your regex, but I would suggest taking a look at perlintro (safety net) and begin using strictures in your code. `use warnings` will save you time and frustration in debugging and `use strict` will help you write and maintain cleaner code. There are a multitude of nodes on PerlMonks that support the use of strictures. use strict why use strict is good, and barewords are bad why you should use strict Why use strict/warnings?	[reply] [d/l] [select]