Eh Rolf -- thanks! I messed with the following line:

($page , $section) = ( $line =~ /^((?:\w|:|-)+)(\(.*?\))?/)
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This did what I wanted. I needed to keep "\(.*?\)" because that block is used elsewhere in the code. I found it amazing that the first chunk was so simple. I was over-complicating the matter...

DOH! ... The space was not intended. I cant keep all those () straight while reading my code.

you can insert spaces and linebreaks to be ignored when using the /x modifier.

Long regexps like this may impress your friends, but can be hard to decipher. In complex situations like this, the /x modifier for a match is invaluable. It allows one to put nearly arbitrary whitespace and comments into a regexp without affecting their meaning. Using it, we can rewrite our "extended" regexp in the more pleasing form

/^
   [+-]?         # first, match an optional sign
   (             # then match integers or f.p. mantissas:
       \d+\.\d+  # mantissa of the form a.b
      |\d+\.     # mantissa of the form a.
      |\.\d+     # mantissa of the form .b
      |\d+       # integer of the form a
   )
   ( [eE] [+-]? \d+ )?  # finally, optionally match an exponent
$/x;
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Cheers Rolf
_{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
Wikisyntax for the Monastery}