NAME¶

Perl::Critic::Policy::RegularExpressions::RequireDotMatchAnything - Always use the "/s" modifier with regular expressions.

AFFILIATION¶

This Policy is part of the core Perl::Critic distribution.

DESCRIPTION¶

When asked what "." in a regular expression means, most people will say that it matches any character, which isn't true. It's actually shorthand for "[^\n]". Using the "s" modifier makes "." act like people expect it to.

    my $match = m< foo.bar >xm;  # not ok
    my $match = m< foo.bar >xms; # ok

CONFIGURATION¶

This Policy is not configurable except for the standard options.

NOTES¶

Be cautious about slapping modifier flags onto existing regular expressions, as they can drastically alter their meaning. See <http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=484238> for an interesting discussion on the effects of blindly modifying regular expression flags.

AUTHOR¶

Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <jeff@imaginative-software.com>

COPYRIGHT¶

Copyright (c) 2005-2011 Imaginative Software Systems. All rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.