How to retrieve 1 (from M 1 COMPLD) this line using regexp in TCL?

Question

set sample "act-user:IMLI:nmss:1::***;
imli 2013-10-21 15:13:54
M  1 COMPLD
;
IMLI 2013-10-21 15:13:54
;
>"

How to retrieve 1 (from M 1 COMPLD) this line using regexp in TCL ???

Answer 1

You need to use a non-default matching mode — line-aware — to make that RE simple:

regexp -line {^M\s+(\d+)\s+COMPLD$} $sample -> value
puts "value = $value"

Alternatively, you can put the option inside the RE itself:

regexp {(?n)^M\s+(\d+)\s+COMPLD$} $sample -> value
puts "value = $value"

The behaviour is exactly equivalent.