Regexp::Common::list -- provide regexes for lists

    use Regexp::Common qw /list/;

    while (<>) {
        /$RE{list}{-pat => '\w+'}/          and print "List of words";
        /$RE{list}{-pat => $RE{num}{real}}/ and print "List of numbers";
    }

Please consult the manual of Regexp::Common for a general description of the works of this interface.

Do not use this module directly, but load it via Regexp::Common.

Returns a pattern matching a list of (at least two) substrings.

If -pat=P is specified, it defines the pattern for each substring in the list. By default, P is qr/.*?\S/. In Regexp::Common 0.02 or earlier, the default pattern was qr/.*?/. But that will match a single space, causing unintended parsing of a, b, and c as a list of four elements instead of 3 (with -word being (?:and)). One consequence is that a list of the form "a,,b" will no longer be parsed. Use the pattern qr /.*?/ to be able to parse this, but see the previous remark.

If -sep=P is specified, it defines the pattern P to be used as a separator between each pair of substrings in the list, except the final two. By default P is qr/\s*,\s*/.

If -lastsep=P is specified, it defines the pattern P to be used as a separator between the final two substrings in the list. By default P is the same as the pattern specified by the -sep flag.

For example:

      $RE{list}{-pat=>'\w+'}                # match a list of word chars
      $RE{list}{-pat=>$RE{num}{real}}       # match a list of numbers
      $RE{list}{-sep=>"\t"}                 # match a tab-separated list
      $RE{list}{-lastsep=>',\s+and\s+'}     # match a proper English list

Under -keep:

$1

captures the entire list

$2

captures the last separator

An alias for $RE{list}{-lastsep=>'\s*,?\s*PATTERN\s*'}

If -word is not specified, the default pattern is qr/and|or/.

For example:

      $RE{list}{conj}{-word=>'et'}        # match Jean, Paul, et Satre
      $RE{list}{conj}{-word=>'oder'}      # match Bonn, Koln oder Hamburg

An alias for $RE{list}{conj}{-word=>'and'}

An alias for $RE{list}{conj}{-word=>'or'}

Regexp::Common for a general description of how to use this interface.

Damian Conway (damian@conway.org)

This package is maintained by Abigail (regexp-common@abigail.be).

Bound to be plenty.

For a start, there are many common regexes missing. Send them in to regexp-common@abigail.be.

This software is Copyright (c) 2001 - 2009, Damian Conway and Abigail.

This module is free software, and maybe used under any of the following licenses:

 1) The Perl Artistic License.     See the file COPYRIGHT.AL.
 2) The Perl Artistic License 2.0. See the file COPYRIGHT.AL2.
 3) The BSD Licence.               See the file COPYRIGHT.BSD.
 4) The MIT Licence.               See the file COPYRIGHT.MIT.