heidi:

What is: @a= "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPCDEFQRST";? Do you want a scalar variable with a long string (no pun intended) of characters? Or do you want an array like: ( "A", "B", "C", ...)?

As ikegami points out, if you want to find where your $find string occurs in your "array", use index. After making it a scalar, of course.

So, cleaning it up a tad:

my $string = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPCDEFQRST";
my $find = "CDEF";

if( $string =~ /$find/ ){
  print "found $find in $string\n";
}
# OR
my $index = index( $string, $find );
if( $index > 0 ){
  print "found $find in $string at position $index\n";
}
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That will show you if your "find" string occurs in your main string. As far as: " and then only check for inbetween characters(D and E)", I don't know what you mean. Solid examples will speak volumes, show us what output you want to get.

For bonus points, show us what you've done so far, in case I've completely misinterpreted your first question. For reference, see I know what I mean. Why don't you?.

s**lil*;  $*=join'',sort split q**;  s;.*;grr; &&s+(.(.)).+$2$1+; $; =
qq-$_-;s,.*,ahc,;$,.=chop for split q,,,reverse;print for($,,$;,$*,$/)
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