This line:
my @out = split(\s(AND|OR)\s/i,$string);
looks screwy to me. Perhaps you meant:
my @out = split(/\s(AND|OR)\s/i,$string);
Update:
Here is a quick rewrite that I believe does what you want...
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
use strict;
my $string = "something and something else or this thing here";
my $new = join(' ',
map {/^(and|or)$/ ? uc($_) : "tools.description LIKE \"%$
+_%\""}
split(/\s*\b(and|or)\b\s*/,$string));
print "S:$string\n";
print "N:$new\n";
=OUTPUT
S:something and something else or this thing here
N:tools.description LIKE "%something%" AND tools.description LIKE "%so
+mething else%" OR tools.description LIKE "%this thing here%"
Reading the complicated line from bottom to top.
- We split the string into a list of and/or/other pieces.
- Then convert that list using map, uppercasing and/or and putting some surrounding text around other.
- Finally we join the list back together.
-Blake