Hello Datz_cozee75,

I'd like the second word of the name to be rendered as only a first initial. I'm completely mystified by the omission of the second letter.

For the input line 2. Kim Washington, do you want the output to be Kim W or K Washington? You say “the second word of the name,” so I’m assuming the former. Here is your regex, with the captures numbered:

my $int = s/^(\d+\.)(\s+)(\w+)(\s+)(\w)(.)/$3$4$5/;
#            1      2    3    4    5   6

[download]

For the given input line, captures are as follows:

^(2.)( )(Kim)( )(W)(a)shington
 1   2  3    4  5  6

[download]

The substitution says: match the expression in the left-hand side (regex), then replace the matched part with the right-hand side. The former (i.e., the match) is 2. Kim Wa. The latter (i.e., the replacement) is $3$4$5, which expands to Kim W. This is replaces the matched text within the string, so 2. Kim Wa becomes Kim W and the rest of the string is unaffected. And that’s why the second letter disappears!

For this substitution, I would use a simpler regex (only one capture), like this:

s/^\d+\.\s+(\w+\s+\w).*$/$1/;

[download]

For example:

13:08 >perl -wE "my $s = '2. Kim Washington'; $s =~ s/^\d+\.\s+(\w+\s+
+\w).*$/$1/; say $s;"
Kim W

13:09 >

[download]

Hope that helps,

Athanasius <°(((>< contra mundum Iustus alius egestas vitae, eros Piratica,

In reply to Re: combining lists along with a regex by Athanasius
in thread combining lists along with a regex by Aldebaran

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