This is as far as I got: ^(?=.{65}\\\\Q\\1\\\\E\\\)\z)(\Q^(?=.{65}\\\\Q\\1\\\\E\\\)\z)(\E)\\Q\1\\E\) It is a true inequ of sorts. However, it uses \Q, which is a quoting construct, not a regex construct. So it doesn't work as $x =~ /$x/, only as $x =~ eval("qr/$x/"): chomp(my $x = <<'EOF'); ^(?=.{65}\\\\Q\\1\\\\E\\\)\z)(\Q^(?=.{65}\\\\Q\\1\\\\E\\\)\z)(\E)\\Q\1\\E\) EOF print "OK" if $x =~ eval("qr/$x/"); Going all the way to $x = qr/.../; "$x" =~ $x; doesn't help either, because in the stringyfied version \Q-quoting is replaced by normal \-escaping. - KarstenThread Previous | Thread Next