Try
$string =~ s/^(.{0,$maxlength})\b.*$/$1.../s;
that should work as expected (at least as far as the presented code goes...).
Edit: explanation: you can ommit the upper bound, but not the lower bound, as you did. From perlre:
{n}? Match exactly n times
{n,}? Match at least n times
{n,m}? Match at least n but not more than m times
and you have to match the rest of the input (
.*$) for it to be replaced too - otherwise you would simply insert the ellipsis (...) without truncating the input.
regards,
tomte
An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.
-- Albert Camus