I wanted to group some list items when I went to print it out so I could insert sleep between the groups. This little thing is what I came up with. I know it is not big and complex, but I was pretty happy with it. (I recently rewrote the script this was in and do not need it anymore, so I decided to share it here.)
my $previous = "";
for my $item (@list) {
sleep(5) if $item !~ /^$previous/;
print $item;
$previous = $item;
$previous =~ s/^(.+)\: .+/$1/; # the regex by which you want to grou
+p your items
}
Update: The regex currently in the code is what I was using, you can use whatever regex fits your need.
Have a cookie and a very nice day!
Lady Aleena