Converting multiple spaces to nbsp

eastcoastcoder has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by GrandFather (Saint) on Jun 17, 2005 at 04:37 UTC
`s/\s(\s+)/" " . (" " x length ($1))/ge` Read more... example (524 Bytes) update: Fix code quoting for regex Perl is Huffman encoded by design.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by eastcoastcoder (Sexton) on Jun 17, 2005 at 04:42 UTC
Wow, that was quick! Two points: 1) I only want space, not tabs or new lines - so shouldn't the \s be replaced with " "? 2) Is there a difference between inkgmi's and GrandFather's entry? PS I thought executed regexs are experimental (so says the man page) - is there a problem with them?	[reply]
Re^3: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jun 17, 2005 at 05:08 UTC
I only want space, not tabs or new lines Then yes, substitute "`\s`" with "" or "`\040`". Keep in mind that HTML doesn't know the difference between spaces, tabs and newlines. Is there a difference between inkgmi's and GrandFather's entry? I think mine is a teeny bit faster. (One less character to add to $1, one less operation in building the replacement string, one less character to replace.) I thought executed regexs are experimental Just `(?{ code })`, `(??{ code })`, `(?>pattern)` and `(?(condition)yes-pattern\|no-pattern)`, none of which were used here. `/e` has been around for quite some time and is reliable.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by GrandFather (Saint) on Jun 17, 2005 at 05:43 UTC
Re^5: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by Cap'n Steve (Friar) on Jun 17, 2005 at 07:20 UTC
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Re^4: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by bart (Canon) on Jun 17, 2005 at 08:43 UTC
Re^4: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by reasonablekeith (Deacon) on Jun 17, 2005 at 08:06 UTC
Re^5: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by Smylers (Pilgrim) on Jun 17, 2005 at 14:11 UTC
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Re^3: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by davido (Cardinal) on Jun 17, 2005 at 04:50 UTC
The /e modifier (evaluation) is not experimental. You're probably thinking of `(?{...})` and `(??{....})` which are considered experimental. Actually, the've proven to be fairly stable over the last few Perl releases, other than having a few kinks worked out. Dave	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by GrandFather (Saint) on Jun 17, 2005 at 04:46 UTC
Yes, substitute spaces for the \s in either version. GrandFather's solution comes with an example :-) Perl is Huffman encoded by design.	[reply]
Re: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jun 17, 2005 at 04:30 UTC
A series of spaces preceeded by a space: `s/(?<=\s)(\s+)/' ' x length($1)/eg` [download] Update: Added needed parens around the `\s+`. doh!	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by Smylers (Pilgrim) on Jun 17, 2005 at 13:35 UTC
`s/(?<=\s)(\s+)/' ' x length($1)/eg` You don't need to bother with the `length` and `/e`: just substituting one space at a time and letting the `/g` flag take care of the repetition works fine: `s/(?<=\s)\s/ /g` Smylers	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jun 17, 2005 at 14:59 UTC
oo! That's unexpected! I didn't realize that the previous substitution failed to affect `(?<=...)`. `s/(?<=\s)\s/ /g` had occured to me, but I had dismissed it. ++! `local $\ = "\n"; local $_ = ' '; s/(?<=\s)\s/ /g; print; print($_ eq '    ' ? 'correct' : 'wrong'); __END__     correct` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by Smylers (Pilgrim) on Jun 17, 2005 at 15:17 UTC
Re^5: Converting multiple spaces to nbsp by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jun 17, 2005 at 15:27 UTC