Re: how to find what's not there with a regex?

[pbeckingham]

How about this:

#! /usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

while (<DATA>)
{
  chomp;
  print "[$_]\n" for /\s*([^=]+\s+=\s+'[^']+'|\S+\s+=(?:\s+[^=]+)+(?:(
+?=\s+\S+\s+=)|$))/msg;
}

__DATA__
xyz = 'some     long   exp' xyz = some long exp with no more than one 
+space separating parts a = b c d = e
drsubc  = agauss(0, 1, 3)   delm1   = '0 + 0.045u*distm1'             
+  delm2   = '0 + 0.07u*distm2'        delm3   = '0 + 0.07u*distm3'   
+             delm4   = '0 + 0.07u*distm4'                delmt   = '0
+ + 0.07u*distmt'                delml   = '0.16u + 0.43u*distml'     
+       delam   = '0.32u + 0.86u*distam'            dele1   = '0 + 0.2
+5u*diste1'                dele2   = '0 + 0.25u*diste2'               
+ delma   = '0.16u + 0.6u*distma'             pmsxt   = 'npmsxt + 12.5
+u*dpmsxt'           tih     = 0.35u                capct   = '0.50u +
+ 0.13u*xdcapct'           capcti  = '0.55u + 0.13u*xdcapct'          
+ m1t     = '0.41u + 0.05u*xdm1t'    m1ti    = '0.36u + 0.05u*xdm1t'  
+           m2t     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dm2t'             m3t     = '0.4
+8u + 0.057u*dm3t'             m4t     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dm4t'        
+     mtt     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dmtt'             qtt     = '0.242u + 
+0.0202u*dqtt'           htt     = '0.242u + 0.0202u*dhtt'           m
+lt     = '2.0u + 0.2u*dmlt'                amt     = '4.0u + 0.4u*dam
+t'                e1t     = '3.0u + 0.5u*de1t'            e2t     = '
+4.0u + 0.5u*xde1mat'             mat     = '4.0u + 0.4u*dmat'        
+        m1m2t   = '0.35u + 0.05u*dm1m2t'

Generates the output:

[xyz = 'some     long   exp']
[xyz = some long exp with no more than one space separating parts]
[a = b c]
[d = e]
[drsubc  = agauss(0, 1, 3)  ]
[delm1   = '0 + 0.045u*distm1']
[delm2   = '0 + 0.07u*distm2']
[delm3   = '0 + 0.07u*distm3']
[delm4   = '0 + 0.07u*distm4']
[delmt   = '0 + 0.07u*distmt']
[delml   = '0.16u + 0.43u*distml']
[delam   = '0.32u + 0.86u*distam']
[dele1   = '0 + 0.25u*diste1']
[dele2   = '0 + 0.25u*diste2']
[delma   = '0.16u + 0.6u*distma']
[pmsxt   = 'npmsxt + 12.5u*dpmsxt']
[tih     = 0.35u               ]
[capct   = '0.50u + 0.13u*xdcapct']
[capcti  = '0.55u + 0.13u*xdcapct']
[m1t     = '0.41u + 0.05u*xdm1t']
[m1ti    = '0.36u + 0.05u*xdm1t']
[m2t     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dm2t']
[m3t     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dm3t']
[m4t     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dm4t']
[mtt     = '0.48u + 0.057u*dmtt']
[qtt     = '0.242u + 0.0202u*dqtt']
[htt     = '0.242u + 0.0202u*dhtt']
[mlt     = '2.0u + 0.2u*dmlt']
[amt     = '4.0u + 0.4u*damt']
[e1t     = '3.0u + 0.5u*de1t']
[e2t     = '4.0u + 0.5u*xde1mat']
[mat     = '4.0u + 0.4u*dmat']
[m1m2t   = '0.35u + 0.05u*dm1m2t']

[samizdat]

Almost. I think you're on the right track, because your solution's caught all but drsubc and tih correctly. Let me study what you've done, and thanks very much!

[pbeckingham]

Fixed the drsubc and tih.