use strict;
my $str = 'DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tbl1; CREATE TABLE tbl1 ...
CREATE TABLE tbl1 ...
CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE tbl1 ...
INSERT /*some comment*/ INTO tbl2 ...
INSERT /*some comment*/ INTO tbl2 ...
UPDATE tbl3 SET col1 = ...
/*some garbage comments*/ UPDATE tbl3 SET col1 = ...
DELETE from tbl4 ...
select from select_table insert into table_ttt
alter table alter_table
#1 some optional statements like CREATE /*some comments*/ TABLE table_name everything else
#1 some optional statements like CREATE /*some comments*/ OR REPLACE TABLE table_name everything else
#2 some optional statements like INSERT /*some comments*/ INTO /*some comments*/ table_name
#3 some optional statements like UPDATE /*some comments*/ table_name everything else';
my $regex = qr/(SELECT|DELETE)(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+FROM*\s+([^\s\/*;]+)?|(?:(?:(CREATE|ALTER|DROP)(?:(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+OR(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+(REPLACE))?)(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+TABLE(?:(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+IF(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+EXISTS)?|(UPDATE)|(ALTER)|(INSERT)(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+(?:INTO?))(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+([^\s\/*;]+)|(?:(REPLACE)(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+(?:INTO?))(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+([^\s\/*;]+)(?:\s*\/\*.*\*\/\s*?)*\s+([^\s\/*;]+)/mip;
if ( $str =~ /$regex/g ) {
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