finding whole words in a string

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

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Re: finding whole words in a string by mrbbking (Hermit) on May 07, 2002 at 18:45 UTC
Look for word breaks: `#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; foreach (qw(india indian indiana)){ print if /\bindia\b/; }` [download] HTH - mrbbking	[reply] [d/l]
Re: finding whole words in a string by Kanji (Parson) on May 07, 2002 at 18:51 UTC
Use a regular expression with the `\b` assertion (which matches at word boundries) before and after the word you want to match ... `if ( $text =~ /\bindia\b/ ) { # ... };` [download] --k.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: finding whole words in a string by hopes (Friar) on May 07, 2002 at 18:45 UTC
Use the `\b` This match ~~"the blank"~~ the nothing after and before your word: `$string =~ /\bindia\b/i;` [download] (Thanks Fletch) Hopes `$_=$,=q,\,@4O,,s,^$,$\,,s,s,^,b9,s, $_^=q,$\^-]!,,print` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Re: finding whole words in a string by Fletch (Bishop) on May 07, 2002 at 19:00 UTC
Technically it doesn't match `the blank'. As perlre states it matches at a `\w\W' or '\W\w' transition (it doesn't match anything literally as it's zero width, just at a point where the previous character is \w and the next is \W (or vice versa)).	[reply]
Re: Re: Re: finding whole words in a string by hopes (Friar) on May 07, 2002 at 19:24 UTC
Sure Fletch, I was not clear. I would had to say: `\b` matches the nothing after and before ... Hopes `$_=$,=q,\,@4O,,s,^$,$\,,s,s,^,b9,s, $_^=q,$\^-]!,,print` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: finding whole words in a string by TexasTess (Beadle) on May 16, 2002 at 00:02 UTC
append a blank both before and after the search string, then match the find to the string..thus returning only words with leading and trailing blanks after the group of desired characters....	[reply]