My string is in this format

'DHEC(optional dot)(unspecified number of alphanumerics'

for example:

$if_descr = 'DHEC.177628'
or
$if_descr = 'DHEC177628'

I want to grab everything but the dot and assign it to $circuit_id. I've been trying to use a lookaround to grab the string before and after the dot, but have been unsuccessful.

Here is the latest thing I tried:

($circuit_id) = $if_descr =~ /
             .*?
             (
                DHEC
                  (?:
                    \.?
                  )
                [^\s]+
             )
/xims;

[download]

I've also tried simply

($circuit_id) = $if_descr =~ /.*?
             (
                DHEC
                  (?=\.)
                [^\s]+
             )
/xims;

[download]

No dice.

How do I do this?

TDR

In reply to regexp help -- grab almost a whole string by tdruttenberg

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