my $string = "yada yada yada";
print "Yes! $1\n" if $string =~ m{(.*?)};
### Here is an explanation of the regular expression
use YAPE::Regex::Explain;
print YAPE::Regex::Explain->new('(.*?)')->explain;
__END__
The regular expression:
(?-imsx:(.*?))
matches as follows:
NODE EXPLANATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(?-imsx: group, but do not capture (case-sensitive)
(with ^ and $ matching normally) (with . not
matching \n) (matching whitespace and #
normally):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
''
----------------------------------------------------------------------
( group and capture to \1:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
.*? any character except \n (0 or more times
(matching the least amount possible))
----------------------------------------------------------------------
) end of \1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
''
----------------------------------------------------------------------
) end of grouping
----------------------------------------------------------------------