FAQ 6.18 Why don't word-boundary searches with "\b" work for me?
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From: PerlFAQ Server on 24 Mar 2010 00:00 This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq6.pod, which comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org . -------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.18: Why don't word-boundary searches with "\b" work for me? (contributed by brian d foy) Ensure that you know what \b really does: it's the boundary between a word character, \w, and something that isn't a word character. That thing that isn't a word character might be \W, but it can also be the start or end of the string. It's not (not!) the boundary between whitespace and non-whitespace, and it's not the stuff between words we use to create sentences. In regex speak, a word boundary (\b) is a "zero width assertion", meaning that it doesn't represent a character in the string, but a condition at a certain position. For the regular expression, /\bPerl\b/, there has to be a word boundary before the "P" and after the "l". As long as something other than a word character precedes the "P" and succeeds the "l", the pattern will match. These strings match /\bPerl\b/. "Perl" # no word char before P or after l "Perl " # same as previous (space is not a word char) "'Perl'" # the ' char is not a word char "Perl's" # no word char before P, non-word char after "l" These strings do not match /\bPerl\b/. "Perl_" # _ is a word char! "Perler" # no word char before P, but one after l You don't have to use \b to match words though. You can look for non-word characters surrounded by word characters. These strings match the pattern /\b'\b/. "don't" # the ' char is surrounded by "n" and "t" "qep'a'" # the ' char is surrounded by "p" and "a" These strings do not match /\b'\b/. "foo'" # there is no word char after non-word ' You can also use the complement of \b, \B, to specify that there should not be a word boundary. In the pattern /\Bam\B/, there must be a word character before the "a" and after the "m". These patterns match /\Bam\B/: "llama" # "am" surrounded by word chars "Samuel" # same These strings do not match /\Bam\B/ "Sam" # no word boundary before "a", but one after "m" "I am Sam" # "am" surrounded by non-word chars -------------------------------------------------------------------- The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up, so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms. Working code is greatly appreciated. If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in perlfaq.pod. |