Re: [MacPerl-WebCGI] well split!! (Solved)

-Bruce:

>... I'm not clear about the evolution to why you are explicitly 
>setting the EOR in your data file, but if that's worth preserving, 
>then setting $/ before reading the file with the <> input operator 
>is fine.

I am explicitly setting the EOR in my data files because I think that 
is the way to do a field <tab> record <ret> delimited file. In doing 
so, I had no idea of the diversity of what constitutes a simple EOR.

Back in the old Apple ][ days, I had to specifically set a character 
aside to determine the EOF of files as well as determining 
delimitation between fields and records. So, it's a force of habit to 
think in those terms -- plus the data files I will be using in this 
cgi will be generated by a spreadsheet which has an output common to 
what I used in this investigation.

>What makes it safe is the localizing. $/ is by default Perl's \n, 
>which within a Perl program means "End of Line/Record in the current 
>OS", as others have pointed out. So, if you change it to \r match 
>your data, you need to make sure to change it back, just in case 
>your script needs to read some other file later that happens to be 
>in the format native to the OS.
>
>Notice the outermost '{' and '}' in the example I gave before:
>
>  {
>local $/ = "\r";
>while (<DATA>) {
>    # ...
>    }
>  }
>
>Using
>
>  local $/ = "\r";
>
>within a block ensures that $/ goes back to whatever value it had 
>before you changed it to \r. Then you don't have to worry about $/ 
>anymore, especially when you go to modify the script next year... I 
>would also put a note with the line altering $/, reminding me that 
>I'm doing that to match the input data
>
>   {
>   # match incoming data
>   local $/ = "\r";
>   while (<DATA>) {
>   # ...

Wow, nice feature with limiting the scope of this function/statement 
to the block.

>-snip-
>This way, you have control over your EOR throughout your process.

Another nice tip -- thanks.

>OTOH, remember that if you let Perl use its defaults, the EOR 
>manipulations usually "drop out of both sides of the equation."

I'll have to think about that. If perl generates the data file, then 
I would expect that to be correct. However, if another program 
generates the file, then it's up to the OS, I guess.

Many thanks for your time and most informed help.

tedd
-- 
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