Removing the first character from a variable

[Kiko]

Hi All, I have a variable $ID that contains a string of data. I want to remove the first character to the left of the string. For Example

$ID=f5349j43
and i want
$ID=5349j43

If it was an array i can use the shift command to remove the first thing on the left. Thanks for your help, Kiko

[wog]

You can use substr:

$ID = substr $ID, 1;

[boo_radley]

Timtowdi.

$foo= "string";
(undef, $foo)=split //,$foo,2;
print $foo;

or

$foo= "string";
($foo)=$foo=~/.(.*)/s;
print $foo;

update changed to add /s in second example after bickering senslessly with wog.

[Daddio]

AYAWTDI

$ID =~ s/.(.*)/$1/;

D a d d i o

[Abigail]

Eh, why the (.*) and the $1? No need to say "replace the first character and the rest by the rest". "replace the first character by nothing" is far more efficient. And we can do so in two ways:

    $ID =~ s/.//s;   # No s modifier needed if the first char won't be
+ a newline

or

    substr ($ID, 0, 1) = "";  # Or substr $ID, 0, 1, "";

Of course, there are sillier ways:

    $ID = reverse $ID;
    chop $ID;
    $ID = reverse $ID;

or

    $ID =~ /./s;
    $ID = $';

-- Abigail

[Elgon]

I was thinking to chop off the first character...

$id=~s/^(.)//;

and if you want to save it afterwards...

$chopped_character = $1;

NB: Regexps are not my strongest point, so post a reply if I am talking crap, preferably with an explanation of why!

"Violence is the first resort of those faced with yet another BSOD."
--/me