I am splitting some lines from an input line using the standard 
@flds = split(/\s+/);

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However, I have discovered that some lines may start with whitespace, meaning sometimes I get 4 elements in @flds, and sometimes 5, in which case the first element of @flds is empty. This screws up the code I have later that depends on certain values being in certain places in @flds. Is there a pattern I can use that would discard this first empty field? Or must I, for instance, test for this emptiness and shift it away?

In reply to A regexp/split question by husker

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