Question

I am trying to match patterns in perl and need some help.

I need to delete from a string anything that matches [xxxx] i.e. opening bracket-things inside it-first closing bracket that occurs.

So I am trying to substitute with space the opening bracket, things inside, first closing bracket with the following code :

   if($_ =~ /[/)
  {
    print "In here!\n";
    $_ =~ s/[(.*?)]/ /ig;
  }

Similarly I need to match i.e. angular bracket-things inside it-first closing angular bracket.

I am doing that using the following code :

   if($_ =~ /</)
  {
    print "In here!\n";
    $_ =~ s/<(.*?)>/ /ig;
  }

This some how does not seem to work. My sample data is as below :

 'Joanne' <!--Her name does NOT contain "Kathleen"; see the section "Name"--> "'Jo'" 'Rowling', OBE [http://news bbc co uk/1/hi/uk/793844 stm Caine heads birthday honours list]  BBC News  17 June 2000  Retrieved 25 October 2000  , [http://content scholastic com/browse/contributor jsp?id=3578 JK Rowling Biography]  Scholastic com  Retrieved 20 October 2007  better known as 'J  K  Rowling' ,<ref name=telegraph>[http://www telegraph co uk/news/uknews/1531779/BBCs-secret-guide-to-avoid-tripping-over-your-tongue html Daily Telegraph, BBC's secret guide to avoid tripping over your tongue, 19 October 2006] is a British <!--do not change to "English" or "Scottish" until issue is resolved --> author best known as the creator of the [[Harry Potter]] fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990  The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies and been the basis for a popular series of films, in which Rowling had creative control serving as a producer in two of the seven installments  [http://www businesswire com/news/home/20100920005538/en/Warner-Bros -Pictures-Worldwide-Satellite-Trailer-Debut%C2%A0Harry Business Wire - Warner Bros  Pictures mentions J  K  Rowling as producer ] 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

$_ =~ /someregex/ will not modify $_

Just a note, $_ =~ /someregex/ and /someregex/ do the same thing.

Also, you don’t need to check for the existence of [ or < or the grouping parenthesis:

s/\[.*?\]/ /g;

s/<.*?>/ /g;

will do the job you want.

Edit: changed code to match the fact you’re modifying $_