On 09.04.2007 15:28, Nanyang Zhan wrote:
> what kind of pattern will match the part of sentence before a <span>
> tag?
> 
> for instance:
> for this sentence:
> This forum is connected to a mailing list that is read by <span
> class="wow">thousands</span> of people.
> 
> it'll match:
> This forum is connected to a mailing list that is read by

One way to do it:

irb(main):022:0* s='This forum is connected to a mailing list that is 
read by <span
irb(main):023:0' class="wow">thousands</span> of people.'
=> "This forum is connected to a mailing list that is read by 
<span\nclass=\"wow\">thousands</span> of people."
irb(main):024:0> s[/\A(.*?)<span/, 1]
=> "This forum is connected to a mailing list that is read by "

	robert