use strict;
my $str = '
2/2/2013 00:00:00
2/2/2013 12:30:20';
my $regex = qr/^(0?[1-9]|1[012])\/(0?[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01])\/[12]\d{3} ([01]\d|2[0-3])\:[0-5]\d\:[0-5]\d$/p;
if ( $str =~ /$regex/ ) {
print "Whole match is ${^MATCH} and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[0] and \$+[0]\n";
# print "Capture Group 1 is $1 and its start/end positions can be obtained via \$-[1] and \$+[1]\n";
# print "Capture Group 2 is $2 ... and so on\n";
}
# ${^POSTMATCH} and ${^PREMATCH} are also available with the use of '/p'
# Named capture groups can be called via $+{name}
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html