http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=984588


in reply to Removing extra spaces

You could use a negative look-ahead to replace any space that is not followed by a space with nothing. This will break down if there are more than two spaces though.

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ perl -E '
> $dateStr = q{ 2 0 1 2 - 7 - 2 7  9 : 3 7 : 3 1 };
> $dateStr =~ s{\s(?!\s)}{}g;
> say $dateStr;'
2012-7-27 9:37:31
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

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Cheers,

JohnGG

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom