in reply to Selecting HL7 Transactions
better try [^|] instead of .
PV1\|1\|O\|([^|]*?\|){3}\|
do you really need to capture field 2-5 ?
Honestly this code hurts my eyes and horrifies my senses for maintenance !
Better consider something like putting your first regex in a while loop and analyzing the captured string within that loop.
Friedl's book is a good read!
Cheers Rolf
( addicted to the Perl Programming Language)
In Section
Seekers of Perl Wisdom