> How can I read a string 5 - 4 and get 1? Hallucinations may cause such strange errors. If the string is really "5 - 4", and you get "1" then your grey matter has failed. I suggest updating to a more reliable version ;)
Oh, hang on... I know what you are talking about now! You want to evaluate the string "5 - 4", and the numerical result. This is an area frought with security issues, however this should be safe: my $string = "5 - 4"; die "Invalid characters in string" if $string !~ /^(\s|\d|[()\-\+\*\/])*$/; print eval $string; --- you'll need to modify it if you need taint mode. This is restrictive for a reason, don't blindly use eval without thinking first. Jonathan Paton __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]