ikegami...List::MoreUtils's apply did exactly what I needed for the array. Thank you! Now all I need to figure out is why my grep is breaking.

I isolated the code that I am working on, but grep is grepping everything. I've never had this problem with grep before.

my @filesize_names = qw(bit nibble byte kilobyte megabyte gigabyte ter
+abyte petabyte exabyte zettabyte yottabyte);

  my $word = 'fubar';
     $word =~ s/s$//;

  my @short_sizes = apply {$_ =~ s/^(\w)\w{1,}$/$1b/} @filesize_names;

  print Dumper(\@filesize_names);
  print Dumper(\@short_sizes);

  if (grep(lc $word,@short_sizes)) { # even 'fubar' greps
    print "$word grepped!";
    $word = $filesize_names[firstidx { $_ eq lc $word } @short_sizes];
  }

  print $word;
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grep is grepping everything. I've never had this problem with grep before.

You are using:

grep( lc $word, @short_sizes )
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grep passes through any value where the expression (first argument) is true.

Your grep expression is lc $word. If $word has any value except undef, '' or 0, then lc $word will also have a value, and therefore be true, and everything in @short_sizes will pass through.

Since if( grep( ...,... ) ) { places grep in a scalar context, the result will be the number of items passed through, which will be the same as the number of elements in @short_sizes. So, unless it is empty, the if condition will be true.

Effectively, if (grep(lc $word,@short_sizes)) {

is the same as:if( defined( $word ) && @short_sizes > 0 ) {

which almost certainly isn't what you intend.

---

So, what are you trying to achieve with that construct?

If you are trying to check if any of the values in @short_sizes matches the lower cased value of $word, the you would need:

if( grep( $_ eq lc $word, @short_sizes ) ) {
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But that's just my guess as to your intent.

---

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

BrowserUk...you guessed correctly. Thank you!

Have a cookie and a very nice day!
Lady Aleena

Based on your code sample, might I suggest a hash lookup table, eg:

# Untested
my @filesize_names = qw(kilobyte megabyte gigabyte terabyte petabyte e
+xabyte zettabyte yottabyte);
my %short_sizes = map { m/^(\w)/; $1 . 'b' => $_ } @filesize_names;
my $word = 'kb';
if ( exists $short_sizes{lc $word} ) {
    say $short_sizes{lc $word};
}
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