in reply to Re: The return value of m// (clues)
in thread The return value of m//

Really interesting! I changed the script to:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $a="  456 789 123 456 789  ";
my $count;
$count = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
print "$count\n";

my @a = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
$count = @a;
print "@a\n";
print "$count\n";

$count = () = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
print "$count\n";

[download]

The results are:<\p> 

1
789 123 456 789
4
5

[download]

Could you please advise why the 1st digit group is gone the first time i call $a =~ /\d+/g ?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^3: The return value of m// (clues)
by kcott (Archbishop) on Apr 23, 2012 at 07:56 UTC

    When you use the g modifier, it keeps track of its last match. In the first RE (scalar context), 456 is matched: your count indicates a single match (see code below for actual value). In the second RE (list context), the remaining four sets of digits are matched. You can use pos to reset the last match position. 

    $ perl -Mstrict -Mwarnings -e '
> my $a="  456 789 123 456 789  ";
> my $count;
> $count = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
> print "$count\n";
> print "${^MATCH}\n";
> pos($a) = 0;
> my @a = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
> $count = @a;
> print "@a\n";
> print "$count\n";
> '
1
456
456 789 123 456 789
5

    [download]

    ${^MATCH} is described in perlvar.

    -- Ken

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      Thanks so much !! It's great to learn more about how g behaves :-)

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Re^3: The return value of m// (clues)
by quester (Vicar) on Apr 23, 2012 at 07:04 UTC

    Hint: look for the phrase "search position" in perlop. Also consider that scalar global matches are typically used in loops, for example

    for my $match ($a =~ /\d+/g) {
   print "$match\n"
}

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[d/l]
Re^3: The return value of m// (clues)
by bimleshsharma (Beadle) on Apr 23, 2012 at 07:47 UTC

    Really i could not understand but the code 

    $count = $a =~ /\d+/g ;
vs.
$count = () = $a =~ /\d+/g ;

    [download]

    is an issue.

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[d/l]

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