I did do a print $x if "Patient" is matched

and

When I put this print in the match condition I want to break the loop, the print comes along at the right place, it's just that the loop continues. if ( $x =~ m/^Patient/ ) { print "matched here "; #goto WID; last WID; }
Are you sure you are actually entering this section, i.e. did you do a distinctive print STDERR from that section (not just a match on patient or vague print "matched here")? As in: 
  ...
  if ($x =~ m/^Patient/) {
    print STDERR "Patient found\n";  #added for verification
    last WID;
  }
  ...

[download]

If you have a match on the ENCODE stuff at the top of the loop, your $x will be set to "Patient" (with quotes) and will match m/^"Patient/ and /Patient/ but not m/^Patient/.

Failing that, I would try to comment out everything except the stuff at the top that sets $x and the if ... last WID stuff and see if you still have the wierd behavior. If you do, start simplifying the code that sets $x until you don't. Then start adding stuff back until you do. The key thing is to isolate the code that triggers this odd behavior.

Best, beth

Update: added quotes of previous debugging efforts, plus some extra suggestions.

In reply to Re: Break perl foreach loop by ELISHEVA
in thread Break perl foreach loop by pvecchio

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