How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line

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

Hi, I have a file with the lines below:


  Grab this 'test1' (repeat/new)
many lines
...
..
..
  Grab this 'test2' (repeat/new)
many lines
...
..
..
  Grab this 'test3' (repeat/new)
[download]

I want to get all test* in a variable. I am trying the code below:

 
    while ($current_line = <$file_pointer>) {
      if ($current_line =~ /Grab this\s+(.*)/) {
      $GRAB = $1;
      push (@grab_array, $GRAB);
      print "$GRAB";   
}
}
[download]

With this, grab_array shows the entire line in it like: 'test3' (repeat/new) I don't want the (repeat/new) but only the test* in grab_array. I have tried the following: $current_line =~ /Grab this\s+(.+)/ $current_line =~ /Grab this\s+(.)/ but it did not work. Appreciate any help with this. Thanks.

Comment on How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line Select or Download Code

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Re: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by GrandFather (Saint) on Nov 11, 2019 at 02:39 UTC
`.*` is almost never useful in a well constructed regex. Instead use a character set restricted to just the allowed characters, or a negated character set that lists characters that are not allowed. In your case the closing ' character is a good candidate for a negated character set: `use strict; use warnings; my @grabArray; while (my $current_line = <DATA>) { next if $current_line !~ /Grab this\s+'([^']+)'/; push @grabArray, $1; } print join "\n", @grabArray; __DATA__ Grab this 'test1' (repeat/new) many lines Grab this 'test2' (repeat/new) many lines Grab this 'test3' (repeat/new)` [download] Prints: `test1 test2 test3` [download] Optimising for fewest key strokes only makes sense transmitting to Pluto or beyond	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Nov 11, 2019 at 04:11 UTC
`next if $current_line !~ /Grab this\s+'([^']+)'/;` oysterperl: Note that `'([^']+)'` will not correctly match a single-quoted string that contains an escaped single-quote, but if that can occur, a regex can easily be written that can handle an escaped delimiter. Give a man a fish: `<%-{-{-{-<`	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by oysterperl (Novice) on Nov 11, 2019 at 05:29 UTC
That is very useful, thank you!	[reply]
Re: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by LanX (Saint) on Nov 11, 2019 at 02:28 UTC
Please try a non-greedy match `/Grab this\s+'(.*?)'/` Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :) Wikisyntax for the Monastery FootballPerl is like chess, only without the dice}	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by oysterperl (Novice) on Nov 11, 2019 at 05:30 UTC
That worked, thanks!	[reply]
Re^3: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by LanX (Saint) on Nov 11, 2019 at 09:48 UTC
Great! Do you understand why? :) Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :) Wikisyntax for the Monastery FootballPerl is like chess, only without the dice}	[reply]
Re: How to get only the next word matching the regex in the line by swl (Prior) on Nov 11, 2019 at 02:27 UTC
If it is consistently formatted then you can be more specific with your capture and look for `'test\d+'`. `$current_line =~ /Grab this\s+('test\d+')/` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]