Compare 2 string values

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

Hi all,
I'm more of a beginner, than an expert. My task: Compare 2 string values and see if $str1 is present in $str2, if yes then change the value of $str1 to $str2.

What I have: $str1="Mar" and $str2="Marketing" I have tried using this:

if ($str1 =~ $str2) { do something; } but this returns me a false!
if ($str1 le $str2) { do something; } this works but does not give me case insensitivity that is it returns a false if I try to compare if ($str1 le $str2 || $str1 eq $str2) {do something;} (where $str1 is "mar" and $str2 is "Marketing")
There are some other ways that I cld try but I feel they are too dumbo ways like putting both the strings into arrays and then comparing them.

That's when I thought u guys would liek to know somethign more today :)

Any help or suggestion would be appreciated
Jeshua

Discovery

edited: Thu Jun 20 18:45:01 2002 by jeffa - added code tags and formatting

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Re: Compare 2 string values by kvale (Monsignor) on Jun 20, 2002 at 04:14 UTC
To see if $str1 is in $str2, you could use the matching operator: `$str1 = $str2 if $str2 =~ /$str1/;` [download] This will work for strings containing simple alphanumerics. For $str1 that might contain regex metacharacters like \,{,}, *, etc., quote the string first: `$str1 = $str2 if $str2 =~ /\Q$str1\E/;` [download] -Mark	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Compare 2 string values by thelenm (Vicar) on Jun 20, 2002 at 04:17 UTC
You probably want something like this: `$str1 = $str2 if $str2 =~ /\Q$str1\E/i;` [download] The `\Q` and `\E` escape special characters in `$str1`, if there are any. The `/i` modifier gives you case-insensitivity. -- Mike `-- just,my${.02}`	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Compare 2 string values by Zaxo (Archbishop) on Jun 20, 2002 at 04:28 UTC
Try index. This assumes `$[` is 0 as it ought to be. `$str1 = $str2 if index( lc($str2), lc($str1)) != -1;` [download] You don't exactly say you want case insensitivity, but example 2 comment seems to imply you do, so I threw it in. Remove the lc() functions if you don't want it After Compline, Zaxo	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Compare 2 string values by Anonymous Monk on Jun 20, 2002 at 09:45 UTC
hey Dear Monks, Thanks for your valuable suggestions. With due respects to others cool inputs, I hv implemented the Mark and Mike inputs! Thanks a lot once again for your revelations! :) Jeshua -Discovery	[reply]
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