Question

I’m using ActiveState perl 5.12.4 on Windows 7. I’m trying to execute a search and replace …

print "selected dir: $selected_dir basedir: $baseTestDir\n";
$selected_dir =~ s/$baseTestDir//g; 

Where $selected_dir = "\home\selenium\projects\myco\AutomatedTests\MyCliUSA\Critical Path\Live\G Sedan" and $baseTestDir = "\home\selenium\projects\myco\AutomatedTests\MyCliUSA". However, after the search and replace statement, $selected_dir is unchanged. How can I properly implement a search and replace here?

Answer 1

You didn’t convert the text in $baseTestDir into a regex pattern. This can be using quotemeta.

my $base_test_dir_pat = quotemeta($base_test_dir);
$selected_dir =~ s/^$base_test_dir_pat//;

It’s also accessible via \Q..\E in double-quoted and similar string literals.

$selected_dir =~ s/^\Q$base_test_dir\E//;

A trailing \E can be omitted.

$selected_dir =~ s/^\Q$base_test_dir//;