typing perl regexp word boundary into google turns up
lots of things eg:
http://www.comtech-pcs.com/regexp.html
Perl defines the following zero-width assertions:
\b Match a word boundary
\B Match a non-(word boundary)
\A Match only at beginning of string
\Z Match only at end of string
\G Match only where previous m//g left off
A word boundary (\b) is defined as a spot between two characters that
has a \w on one side of it and and a \W on the other side of it (in
either order), counting the imaginary characters off the beginning and
end of the string as matching a \W. (Within character classes \b
represents backspace rather than a word boundary.) The \A and \Z are
just like "^" and "$" except that they won't match multiple times when
the /m modifier is used, while "^" and "$" will match at every internal
line boundary.
\b is what you want for this problem......
sed, ed, emacs, etc have had \b since the dark ages.
David
________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list