I was wondering if it is even necessary to calculate the next section number? The code below starts with the "Significant Accounting Policies" section (doesn't really care about the number) and captures up to but not including the next line that starts with "(x" where x is a number.

See the Monk Tutorial at Flipin good, or a total flop? for an explanation of the flip-flop operator and how I excluded the ending point. the "(2" line. 

#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

while (<DATA>)
{
   #use flip flop operator and exclude ending point
   print if (/^\s*\(\d+.+Significant Accounting Policies/.../^\s*\(\d+
+/) =~ /^\d+$/ ;
}

__DATA__
(1) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is recognized at the time goods are sold and shipped.

(2) Long-term Debt
(3) something else

[download]
Update: Another way to code this: 
#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

while (<DATA>)
{ 
   if (/^\s*\(\d+\).+Significant Accounting Policies/)
   {
      print;  #this is the SAP heading line
      print  while (defined ($_ = <DATA>) and $_ !~ /^\s*\(\d+\)/);
   }
}


__DATA__

[download]

In reply to Re: Making a variable from a number in front of a string by Marshall
in thread Making a variable from a number in front of a string by porsche5k

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