Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier

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

I'm using the x modifier on one of my regexes to allow me to space everything out and comment it. However, is there a way to use a space that's part of the regex when using the x modifier (and have it not treated as garbage). So if I wanted to replace something with a space, and the x modifier will ignore that space, what can I change it to so that the program will "see" the space?

Comment on Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier

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•Re: Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier by merlyn (Sage) on Feb 29, 2004 at 19:14 UTC
Spaces that are escaped by a backslash, defined as \x20 or similar, included in a character class, or referenced by meta-char-classes like \s are still spaces even in /x mode. Most spaces should be matched with \s anyway, because you can't visually distinguish a space from a tab character. -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply]
Re: Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier by matija (Priest) on Feb 29, 2004 at 19:10 UTC
The x modifier only ignores spaces in the "match" part, not in the replace part - at least I conclude that from this test: `perl -e '$_=shift @ARGV; s/ c / /x; print;' "bbbcbbb" bbb bbb` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier by gmpassos (Priest) on Mar 01, 2004 at 06:32 UTC
`/[ ]/x` there is a space. Graciliano M. P. "Creativity is the expression of the liberty".	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Using Spaces in a Regex With the X Modifier by rjahrman (Scribe) on Feb 29, 2004 at 19:37 UTC
Thanks!	[reply]