You could use Regexp::Common's "number" extension to detect reals, which is what you seem to be seeking:

if( $string =~ /^$RE{num}{real}$/ ) {
  print "Match!\n";
}
else {
  print "Reject!\n";
}

[download]

You don't want to invent this yourself. Just look at the regular expression that $RE{num}{real} contains:

perl -MRegexp::Common=number -E 'say $RE{num}{real}'
(?:(?i)(?:[-+]?)(?:(?=[.]?[0123456789])(?:[0123456789]*)(?:(?:[.])(?:[
+0123456789]{0,}))?)(?:(?:[E])(?:(?:[-+]?)(?:[0123456789]+))|))

[download]

...better off using a solution from Regexp::Common, or the looks_like_number() utility Limbic~Region suggested, or both.


Dave

In reply to Re: only want numerics in field by davido
in thread only want numerics in field by newby2perl

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.