in reply to Replace part of a regex match

If you're really committed to the regexp, this works: 

my $u = 'http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|277|target=_
+blank';
print "$u\n";
$u =~ s/(.*\|.*\|.*\|.*\|.*\|).*(\|.*)/${1}976$2/;
print "$u\n";
__END__
http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|277|target=_blank
http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|976|target=_blank

[download]

You might also try using split and join: 

my $u = 'http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|277|target=_
+blank';
print "$u\n";

my @fields = split /\|/, $u;
$fields[5] = 976;
$u = join '|', @fields;

print "$u\n";
__END__
http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|277|target=_blank
http://adserver.adtech.de/?addyn|2.0|323|91793|1|976|target=_blank

[download]

I also think it would be good to have a more specific expression. For example, instead of ".*", use "\d+" to make sure it's not an empty field and to make sure that it really does have digits and not some other junk you weren't expecting.

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Re^2: Replace part of a regex match
by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Dec 23, 2008 at 23:04 UTC
    kyle, could the following change to the your regex be a little closer to what the OP sought... 
    $u =~ s/(.*\|{5}).*(\|.*)/${1}976$2/;

    [download]

    A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))
[reply]
[d/l]
      The regex expression .*\|{5} matches anything followed by exactly five '|' characters in a row, which is not what is present in the example of the OP.

      A regex something like the following might be better (although it is still a bit awkward): 

      >perl -wMstrict -le
"my $u =
  'http://foo.bar.de/?baz|2.0|323|91793|1|277|fee=_fie';
 print $u;
 $u =~
  s{ \A ((?: [^|]* \|){5}) \d+ (\|.*) \z }{${1}976$2}xms;
 print $u;
"
http://foo.bar.de/?baz|2.0|323|91793|1|277|fee=_fie
http://foo.bar.de/?baz|2.0|323|91793|1|976|fee=_fie

      [download]
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
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