Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing

Hello Monks. I'm looking for an elegant solution to an insignificant issue, already resolved :)
I have my data like this:

abc def data 123
ghi jkl "data with spaces" 456
[download]

and I need to print something like this:

abc-def-data1
ghi-jkl-data with spaces
[download]

so, space delimits fields, but third field can have spaces if it's surrounded by double quotes.
Right now I'm doing this:

print "$1-$2-".($4 || $3)
      if /(\w+)\s(\w+)\s("([^"]+)"|(\w+))/;
[download]

I'm sure there should be a better way. I need $3 to have the third field, without the quotes. Anyone knows how to do it?
Thanks.

Comment on Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing Select or Download Code
Re: Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing by ww (Chancellor) on Nov 22, 2011 at 19:47 UTC
This is another case (IMO) where two statements would be both more elegant (because more readable & maintainable) and...less subject to brain-cramp, whilst originally writing it Why not use split as the first; then `s/"//` each element of the resultant (split) array as the second step prior to printing. Yes, you can argue that that adds two steps (and you would not be UNjustified in making that argument) and thus slows the operation, IMO, the clarity is worth the cost.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing by eddor1614 (Beadle) on Nov 22, 2011 at 20:01 UTC
That was exactly what I did a few months ago. And today I spend a few minutes trying to find out why I put s/"//g: `foreach (<DATA>) { ($a,$b,$c) = ($3,$2,$1) if /^(\w+)\s(\S+)\s("([^"]+)"\|(\w+))/; $a =~ s/"//g; . .` [download] I thought that if I need to match 3 fields, there should by a regexp that sets $1, $2 and $3. Just as a mental exercise. Thanks for your answer.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing by hbm (Hermit) on Nov 22, 2011 at 20:16 UTC
`$+` helps a little: `#print "$1-$2-".($4 \|\| $3) if /(\w+)\s(\w+)\s("([^"]+)"\|(\w+))/; print "$1-$2-$+" if /(\w+)\s(\w+)\s("([^"]+)"\|(\w+))/;` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing by Not_a_Number (Parson) on Nov 22, 2011 at 20:26 UTC
What if `"data with spaces"` is not necessarily the third (or nth) field? To make your code more robust, try Text::CSV: `use Text::CSV; my $csv = Text::CSV->new( { sep_char => ' '} ); my $fh = DATA; # Replace DATA with your input file name while ( my $row = $csv->getline( $fh ) ) { say join '-', @$row; } __DATA__ abc def data 123 ghi jkl "data with spaces" 456 "oh dear" "more data with spaces"` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing by remiah (Friar) on Nov 23, 2011 at 13:40 UTC
Named back reference save your ($4 \|\| $3), but I wonder this is elegant or not. `print "$1-$2-$+{third}\n" if m/ (\w+)\s (\w+)\s (?: "(?<third>[^"]+)" \| (?<third>\w+)) /x;` [download]	[reply] [d/l]


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Nested grouping or capturing inside capturing

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