Hmmm
> The fix doesn't work because the regex has to decide which non-greedy ? has "precedence".
strange, it works like I initially thought
DB<63> print join "|",'abc' =~ /a(.+?)(c)?/
b|c
DB<64> print join "|",'abd' =~ /a(.+?)(c)?/
b|
well you seem to have other issues I can't see.
EDIT
Interesting
DB<84> print join "|",'a<c1<c2' =~ /(.+?)<(c.)?/ # ok
a|c1
DB<85> print join "|",'a<b1<b2' =~ /(.+?)<(c.)?/ # ok
a|
DB<86> print join "|",'a<b1<c2' =~ /(.+?)<(c.)?/ # oops
a|
you might want to use use re 'debug' to parse whats happening.
update
ah now it's clearer
DB<89> print join "|",'a<b1<c2' =~ /(.+?)(c.)?/
a|
The non-greedy is finishing as soon as it succeeds, and c. is optional
|