Perl -

http://www.perl.org/
http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.8.0/pod/perlop.html

Perl regular expressions quick start http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.8.0/pod/perlrequick.html

extracted from above websites...

What is Perl?

Perl is a high-level programming language with an eclectic heritage written by Larry Wall and a cast of thousands. It derives from the ubiquitous C programming language and to a lesser extent from sed, awk, the Unix shell, and at least a dozen other tools and languages. Perl's process, file, and text manipulation facilities make it particularly well-suited for tasks involving quick prototyping, system utilities, software tools, system management tasks, database access, graphical programming, networking, and world wide web programming. These strengths make it especially popular with system administrators and CGI script authors, but mathematicians, geneticists, journalists, and even managers also use Perl. Maybe you should, too.

Perl FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a .cgi File and a .pl file?

CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. A .cgi file is a file that will run on a Web server. It may be written in Perl or C++. The extension for a Perl file can also be .pl.

What is the problem between line endings for Windows to UNIX transfers

In text files, there are several different ways of signalling that the end of a line has been reached. Windows Dos machines tend to use two characters, whereas UNIX uses just one. You need to make sure you can make the conversion for carriage return/line feed between UNIX and DOS text files if you are using both platforms - commonly servers run UNIX while home computing and some corporate users use Windows/Dos.

What are the UNIX attribute settings?

CGI files on the UNIX server have attributes that specify whether you can Read, Write to, or Execute and List the files. 1=Execute 2=Write 4=Read. The Attributes also specify whether this activity can be done by Owner, Group or Public.

000 means noone can do anything.
777 means anyone can do anything.
700 means the Owner can do anything, but Group/Public can do nothing
770 means the Owner/Group can do anything, but Public can do nothing
774 means the Owner/Group can do anything, but Public can read the data