#!/usr/bin/perl -w

#######################################################
# class7_03_subst_whitespace
#
# playing with the s/// operator with /g modifier (s///g)
# some more --- ridding values of excess whitespace...
#
# modified by Sharon Tuttle from "Learning Perl",
#    by Schartz and Phoenix
#
# last modified: 5-2-03
#######################################################

# here is a line with TOO much white space...
$_ = "\tHello,     there! \t \t How are        you?   \t\t   ";
printf "\$_ starts as:<%s>\n", $_;


# this SHOULD replace *consecutive* whitespace characters with a single 
# space:

s/\s+/ /g;

printf "\$_ is now:   <%s>\n", $_;

# this SHOULD replace any whitespace at the BEGINNING of $_ with
# nothing (that is, REMOVE it):

s/^\s+//g;

printf "\$_ is now:   <%s>\n", $_;

# this SHOULD replace any whitespace at the END of $_ with nothing
# (that is, remove it):

s/\s+$//;

printf "\$_ is now:   <%s>\n", $_;

# end of class7_03_subst_whitespace