The second questions easier to answer: the spaces in your pattern match the spaces in the text. So if you want the $title to include the surrounding spaces, use: m|^\(([^\)]*)\)([^<]*)<([^>]*)> / (.*)$|;

As to what could break it, that depends on what you're trying to do :-). Anything not in that format wouldn't behave the way you expect. Particularly if the title happens to include a < character.

--
Tommy
Too stupid to live.
Too stubborn to die.