[28627] in Perl-Users-Digest
Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 9991 Volume: 10
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Tue Nov 21 06:05:59 2006
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 03:05:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Perl-Users Digest <Perl-Users-Request@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU>
To: Perl-Users@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Perl-Users Digest Tue, 21 Nov 2006 Volume: 10 Number: 9991
Today's topics:
Can't use an undefined value as an ARRAY reference at C yogita281@gmail.com
Change user <na@noaddress.com>
Re: Change user <someone@example.com>
Re: Do U use >>>>>perl -e 'use re debug;/REGEX/' so U c <robertospara@gmail.com>
Re: matching over multiple lines <tadmc@augustmail.com>
Re: matching over multiple lines <magnetfreak@gmail.com>
Re: matching over multiple lines <uri@stemsystems.com>
Re: matching over multiple lines (reading news)
Multiline substitution <gooliverNOSP@mlibero.it>
new CPAN modules on Tue Nov 21 2006 (Randal Schwartz)
Re: Perl is worth nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <robertospara@gmail.com>
Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: tadmc@augustmail.com
Re: string assignment and concatenation <justin.0511@purestblue.com>
Re: Win32::Registry::File - update values in file <lev.weissman@creo.com>
Win32::TieRegistry -- replace string in the whole HKLM <lev.weissman@creo.com>
Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 6 Apr 01) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 20 Nov 2006 21:40:11 -0800
From: yogita281@gmail.com
Subject: Can't use an undefined value as an ARRAY reference at C:/Perl/site/lib/Net/SFTP/
Message-Id: <1164087611.236758.75060@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>
Hi,
While trying to use lwp-protocol-sftp, I am getting this error:
Can't use an undefined value as an ARRAY reference at
C:/Perl/site/lib/Net/SFTP/
Foreign/Constants.pm line 77.
I am using ActivePerl 5.8.0.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 22:23:46 -0500
From: lucas <na@noaddress.com>
Subject: Change user
Message-Id: <60d97$4562713c$cef8bf78$20041@TEKSAVVY.COM>
Is there a way to change the user from root to say 'nobody' after a perl
script is executed? Aside from using the English module that is.
Kind regards,
--
lucas
-------------------------
Perl Coder since 2001
shift || die;
-------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 03:47:16 GMT
From: "John W. Krahn" <someone@example.com>
Subject: Re: Change user
Message-Id: <8Fu8h.21244$C94.13364@edtnps82>
lucas wrote:
> Is there a way to change the user from root to say 'nobody' after a perl
> script is executed? Aside from using the English module that is.
$< = getpwnam 'nobody';
John
--
Perl isn't a toolbox, but a small machine shop where you can special-order
certain sorts of tools at low cost and in short order. -- Larry Wall
------------------------------
Date: 21 Nov 2006 00:56:51 -0800
From: "robertospara" <robertospara@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Do U use >>>>>perl -e 'use re debug;/REGEX/' so U can help??
Message-Id: <1164099411.829171.135410@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Maybe someone had to move to think your old brains:):):):):)
hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhhheheh
Tad McClellan napisa=B3(a):
> robertospara <robertospara@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Don't piss me off Deutche Jurgen ...
>
>
> You have pissed off many of us, so take it like a man.
>
>
> > On 20 Lis, 14:35, "J=FCrgen Exner" <jurge...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> robertospara wrote:
> >> > So MONKS OF THE PERL
> >> > ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
> >> > Are you still
> >> > ALIVE?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Wo=
uld you mind
> >> - not top posting?
> >> - not full quoting?
> >> - repairing your keyboard?
> >>
> >> jue
> >
>
>
> --
> Tad McClellan SGML consulting
> tadmc@augustmail.com Perl programming
> Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:21:28 -0600
From: Tad McClellan <tadmc@augustmail.com>
Subject: Re: matching over multiple lines
Message-Id: <slrnem4s5o.btn.tadmc@tadmc30.august.net>
cyborg <magnetfreak@gmail.com> wrote:
> So consider this thread as if I were asking you "how do I match over
> multiple lines? could you provide full perl code?" and then you replied
> me with some code.
> $/ = undef;
> # comment the above line out and the parser won't
> # match over multiple lines anymore.
The comment is plain wrong.
comment the above line out and the string won't have
multiple lines it it.
$/ has NO effect on pattern matching.
It may have an effect on the string that you are matching the
pattern against however.
> #______________________check file existence and permission
that comment is misleading, as you do NOT check for existence nor
for permissions.
You only check that the 2 variable contain true values.
> unless($source and $dest){
> print "Source or destination file missing\n";
> }
print "$source does not exist\n" unless -e $source;
print "you do not have read permission on $source\n"
unless -r $source;
> #______________________open input and output files
> open SOURCE, "<$source";
> open DEST, ">$dest";
You should always, yes *always*, check the return value from open():
open SOURCE, "<$source" or die "could not open '$source' $!";
Even better, use 3-argument open() and an indirect filehandle:
open my $src, '<', $source or die "could not open '$source' $!";
> while($line = <SOURCE>){
while($line = <$src>){
> # replace "if" for "while" and it will print the first
> # match and nothing more. don't know why.
Because while loops and if does not loop.
> # take away g and it will print the first match infinite
> # times. don't know why.
Because the while() condition is never false.
> # the $/=undef above is just for the file reading
> # part, i guess. it doesn't nullify \n
Exactly so, but that isn't what you said above...
> while($line =~ m/<(.*?)>/gs) {
> print DEST "----$1----\n";
> }
--
Tad McClellan SGML consulting
tadmc@augustmail.com Perl programming
Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: 20 Nov 2006 20:18:16 -0800
From: "cyborg" <magnetfreak@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: matching over multiple lines
Message-Id: <1164082695.958455.205000@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>
I'll number this just for organization's sake.
1 - $/ has no effect on pattern matching.
Well, yes, I understand your point of view. But if I take it out it
won't match multilinely and if I leave it in it will, so do you
understand my point of view? :)
-----
2 - You only check that the 2 variable contain true values.
yes, very misleading, only now do I realize my mistake. thanks for
pointing it out.
-----
3 - print "$source does not exist\n" unless -e $source;
-e and -r, nice! probably for Exist and openRead, of course.
-----
4 - You should always, yes *always*, check the return value from open()
yes, that's the "or die" thingy. thanks.
-----
5 - Even better, use 3-argument open() and an indirect filehandle
now why exactly is $src better/safer than <SOURCE>?
-----
6 - Because while loops and if does not loop.
heh, I know the difference between while and if. I'm a c/c++
programmer. What I don't know is why do I ever need it to loop. What is
it looping in? And wouldn't the outer loop loop it for me?
-----
7 - Because the while() condition is never false.
which while is never false? outer while or inner while?
-----
8 - Exactly so, but that isn't what you said above...
haha, that proves I knew it all along :P
-----
So all that applied leaves me with this:
Could you please check the last lines, as I'm not sure how to close
indirect filehandlers, and not sure how to print into them?
use strict;
use warnings;
my $source="r.txt";
my $dest="r2.txt";
my $line;
$/ = undef;
print "$source does not exist\n" unless -e $source;
print "you do not have read permission on $source\n" unless -r $source;
open my $src, '<', $source or die "could not open '$source' $!";
open my $dst, '>', $dest or die "could not open '$dest' $!";
while($line = <$src>){
while($line =~ m/<(.*?)>/gs) {
print $dst "----$1----\n";
}
}
close $src;
close $dst;
Thanks a million!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 23:54:22 -0500
From: Uri Guttman <uri@stemsystems.com>
Subject: Re: matching over multiple lines
Message-Id: <x7ac2le6wx.fsf@mail.sysarch.com>
>>>>> "c" == cyborg <magnetfreak@gmail.com> writes:
c> I'll number this just for organization's sake.
c> 1 - $/ has no effect on pattern matching.
c> Well, yes, I understand your point of view. But if I take it out it
c> won't match multilinely and if I leave it in it will, so do you
c> understand my point of view? :)
your point of view is wrong as you don't understand what $/
does. read perldoc perlvar. it has NOTHING to do with matching. what you
did was slurp in the file instead of reading it line by line. think a
bit, if you read it line by line how could you match over multiple
lines? you never have more than one line in ram!
and try using File::Slurp for this as it is cleaner and can be much
faster.
c> 5 - Even better, use 3-argument open() and an indirect filehandle
c> now why exactly is $src better/safer than <SOURCE>?
$src is a lexical and SOURCE is a global and a symref. the former is
safe and the latter open for possible bugs.
c> -----
c> 6 - Because while loops and if does not loop.
c> heh, I know the difference between while and if. I'm a c/c++
c> programmer. What I don't know is why do I ever need it to loop. What is
c> it looping in? And wouldn't the outer loop loop it for me?
you don't get file vs line i/o and loops. when you undef'ed $/ you SLURP
the entire file when you call <>. NO LOOP needed. when you want to run
the regex over and over you need a loop and the /g modifier. LOOP needed
(or implied with /g in list context).
c> -----
c> 7 - Because the while() condition is never false.
c> which while is never false? outer while or inner while?
you mentioned an infinite loop. so you should know which loop that is.
c> $/ = undef;
lose that and use File::Slurp. it will clear up your code.
c> print "$source does not exist\n" unless -e $source;
c> print "you do not have read permission on $source\n" unless -r $source;
c> open my $src, '<', $source or die "could not open '$source' $!";
no need for that with File::Slurp.
c> open my $dst, '>', $dest or die "could not open '$dest' $!";
c> while($line = <$src>){
there is NO line there. you slurp in the entire file the first time you
call <$src> because you undef'ed $/.
use File::Slurp ;
my $file_text = read_file( $source ) ;
NO LOOP NEEDED AS YOU DO THAT ONE TIME ONLY. you want multiline matches
so you can't do line by line i/o.
this should be obvious to any c/c++ coder! :)
c> while($line =~ m/<(.*?)>/gs) {
that is the real (and now only) loop of the program.
c> print $dst "----$1----\n";
c> }
c> }
c> close $src;
no need for that with file::slurp.
c> close $dst;
this reduces to (untested and missing some code):
use File::Slurp ;
my $file_text = read_file( $source ) ;
print $dst map "----$_----\n", $file_text =~ m/<(.*?)>/gs ;
look ma! NO (explicit) LOOPS!!
uri
--
Uri Guttman ------ uri@stemsystems.com -------- http://www.stemsystems.com
--Perl Consulting, Stem Development, Systems Architecture, Design and Coding-
Search or Offer Perl Jobs ---------------------------- http://jobs.perl.org
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:39:24 GMT
From: "Mumia W. (reading news)" <paduille.4060.mumia.w@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: matching over multiple lines
Message-Id: <wHA8h.1605$1s6.641@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>
On 11/20/2006 07:39 PM, cyborg wrote:
> When I was starting to learn regexes in Perl (2 days ago), I picked up
> some books and some websites and read a bunch. When I though I was
> ready to go, I realized none of those sources taught me how to actually
> write a Perl program from start to end that would open the file I
> wanted to parse and save the parsing results to a second file. That was
> a bummer.
>
> Bla bla bla etc etc etc all those boring stuff everyone hates to read
> about other people's life bla bla bla.
>
> Okay, finally I have created a template for my regexes to parse a file,
> save results to another file, and have its matches work OVER MULTIPLE
> LINES.
> [... program snipped ...]
> Any improvements will be appreciated.
>
You could do that, or you could do this:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Fatal qw(open close);
die "need source and destination file names" if (@ARGV < 2);
open (my $fs, '<', $ARGV[0]);
open (my $fd, '>', $ARGV[1]);
my @list = join('',<$fs>) =~ /<(.*?)>/sg;
print $fd "------$_-------\n" for @list;
close $fd;
close $fs;
__END__
--
paduille.4060.mumia.w@earthlink.net
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:44:46 GMT
From: gooliver <gooliverNOSP@mlibero.it>
Subject: Multiline substitution
Message-Id: <op.tjc34uv8xr5pep@amilol1300>
I've this text on a TeX-file source.tex:
bla bla bla...
$$
some equation
$$
bla bla bla...
and i want convert source.tex in a file dest.tex where $$
are replaced from the couple \[...\]
bla bla bla...
\[
some equation
\]
bla bla bla...
but i've encountered most difficulties about pattern-matching
of the multiline string $$...$$ !!!
Have you some suggestion?
---
thanx in advance!!!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 05:42:14 GMT
From: merlyn@stonehenge.com (Randal Schwartz)
Subject: new CPAN modules on Tue Nov 21 2006
Message-Id: <J92FuE.158u@zorch.sf-bay.org>
The following modules have recently been added to or updated in the
Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). You can install them using the
instructions in the 'perlmodinstall' page included with your Perl
distribution.
CGI-Application-Plugin-CompressGzip-1.00
http://search.cpan.org/~rhesa/CGI-Application-Plugin-CompressGzip-1.00/
Add gzip compression to CGI::Application
----
CGI-Application-Plugin-DevPopup-0.951
http://search.cpan.org/~rhesa/CGI-Application-Plugin-DevPopup-0.951/
Runtime cgiapp info in a popup window
----
CGI-Application-Plugin-HtmlTidy-1.00
http://search.cpan.org/~rhesa/CGI-Application-Plugin-HtmlTidy-1.00/
Add HTML::Tidy support to CGI::Application
----
Cache-Simple-TimedExpiry-0.27
http://search.cpan.org/~jesse/Cache-Simple-TimedExpiry-0.27/
----
Class-Gomor-1.01
http://search.cpan.org/~gomor/Class-Gomor-1.01/
another class and object builder
----
DBIx-Counter-0.03
http://search.cpan.org/~rhesa/DBIx-Counter-0.03/
Manipulate named counters stored in a database
----
DBIx-Log4perl-0.08
http://search.cpan.org/~mjevans/DBIx-Log4perl-0.08/
Perl extension for DBI to selectively log SQL, parameters, result-sets, transactions etc to a Log::Log4perl handle.
----
DateTime-Locale-0.32
http://search.cpan.org/~drolsky/DateTime-Locale-0.32/
Localization support for DateTime.pm
----
ExtUtils-ParseXS-2.17
http://search.cpan.org/~kwilliams/ExtUtils-ParseXS-2.17/
converts Perl XS code into C code
----
Image-ExifTool-6.57
http://search.cpan.org/~exiftool/Image-ExifTool-6.57/
Read and write meta information
----
Image-VisualConfirmation-0.03
http://search.cpan.org/~arthas/Image-VisualConfirmation-0.03/
Add anti-spam visual confirmation/challenge to your web forms
----
InSilicoSpectro-Databanks-0.0.16
http://search.cpan.org/~alexmass/InSilicoSpectro-Databanks-0.0.16/
parsing protein/nucleotides sequence databanks (fasta, uniprot...)
----
InlineX-C2XS-0.08
http://search.cpan.org/~sisyphus/InlineX-C2XS-0.08/
create an XS file from Inline C code.
----
Lingua-PT-PLNbase-0.16
http://search.cpan.org/~ambs/Lingua-PT-PLNbase-0.16/
Perl extension for NLP of the Portuguese
----
Net-CIDR-MobileJP-0.06
http://search.cpan.org/~tokuhirom/Net-CIDR-MobileJP-0.06/
mobile ip address in Japan
----
POE-Component-CPAN-YACSmoke-0.02
http://search.cpan.org/~bingos/POE-Component-CPAN-YACSmoke-0.02/
bringing the power of POE to CPAN smoke testing.
----
PathTools-3.24
http://search.cpan.org/~kwilliams/PathTools-3.24/
----
REST-Application-0.97
http://search.cpan.org/~moconnor/REST-Application-0.97/
A framework for building RESTful web-applications.
----
SVN-Dump-0.03
http://search.cpan.org/~book/SVN-Dump-0.03/
A Perl interface to Subversion dumps
----
SVN-Notify-Mirror-0.03403
http://search.cpan.org/~jpeacock/SVN-Notify-Mirror-0.03403/
Keep a mirrored working copy of a repository path
----
Statistics-SDT-0.02
http://search.cpan.org/~rgarton/Statistics-SDT-0.02/
Signal detection theory measures of sensitivity and response-bias
----
String-Diff-0.02
http://search.cpan.org/~yappo/String-Diff-0.02/
Simple diff to String
----
Text-Netstring-0.06
http://search.cpan.org/~jraftery/Text-Netstring-0.06/
Perl module for manipulation of netstrings
----
Text-Netstring-0.07
http://search.cpan.org/~jraftery/Text-Netstring-0.07/
Perl module for manipulation of netstrings
----
URI-ParseSearchString-0.8
http://search.cpan.org/~sden/URI-ParseSearchString-0.8/
parse Apache refferer logs and extract search engine query strings.
----
WWW-Translate-interNOSTRUM-0.06
http://search.cpan.org/~enell/WWW-Translate-interNOSTRUM-0.06/
Catalan < > Spanish machine translation
----
WebService-Geograph-API-0.03
http://search.cpan.org/~sden/WebService-Geograph-API-0.03/
Perl interface to the Geograph.co.uk API
----
Yahoo-Marketing-0.08
http://search.cpan.org/~jlavallee/Yahoo-Marketing-0.08/
an interface for Yahoo! Search Marketing's Web Services.
If you're an author of one of these modules, please submit a detailed
announcement to comp.lang.perl.announce, and we'll pass it along.
This message was generated by a Perl program described in my Linux
Magazine column, which can be found on-line (along with more than
200 other freely available past column articles) at
http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/LinuxMag/col82.html
print "Just another Perl hacker," # the original
--
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn@stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!
------------------------------
Date: 21 Nov 2006 01:17:13 -0800
From: "robertospara" <robertospara@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Perl is worth nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Message-Id: <1164100633.136578.197780@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
I will be with you guys to the end of the world.
Are you happy
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
------------------------------
Date: 21 Nov 2006 08:10:14 GMT
From: tadmc@augustmail.com
Subject: Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: 1.7 $)
Message-Id: <4562b465$0$81350$ae4e5890@news.nationwide.net>
Outline
Before posting to comp.lang.perl.misc
Must
- Check the Perl Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Check the other standard Perl docs (*.pod)
Really Really Should
- Lurk for a while before posting
- Search a Usenet archive
If You Like
- Check Other Resources
Posting to comp.lang.perl.misc
Is there a better place to ask your question?
- Question should be about Perl, not about the application area
How to participate (post) in the clpmisc community
- Carefully choose the contents of your Subject header
- Use an effective followup style
- Speak Perl rather than English, when possible
- Ask perl to help you
- Do not re-type Perl code
- Provide enough information
- Do not provide too much information
- Do not post binaries, HTML, or MIME
Social faux pas to avoid
- Asking a Frequently Asked Question
- Asking a question easily answered by a cursory doc search
- Asking for emailed answers
- Beware of saying "doesn't work"
- Sending a "stealth" Cc copy
Be extra cautious when you get upset
- Count to ten before composing a followup when you are upset
- Count to ten after composing and before posting when you are upset
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: 1.7 $)
This newsgroup, commonly called clpmisc, is a technical newsgroup
intended to be used for discussion of Perl related issues (except job
postings), whether it be comments or questions.
As you would expect, clpmisc discussions are usually very technical in
nature and there are conventions for conduct in technical newsgroups
going somewhat beyond those in non-technical newsgroups.
The article at:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
describes how to get answers from technical people in general.
This article describes things that you should, and should not, do to
increase your chances of getting an answer to your Perl question. It is
available in POD, HTML and plain text formats at:
http://www.augustmail.com/~tadmc/clpmisc.shtml
For more information about netiquette in general, see the "Netiquette
Guidelines" at:
http://andrew2.andrew.cmu.edu/rfc/rfc1855.html
A note to newsgroup "regulars":
Do not use these guidelines as a "license to flame" or other
meanness. It is possible that a poster is unaware of things
discussed here. Give them the benefit of the doubt, and just
help them learn how to post, rather than assume that they do
know and are being the "bad kind" of Lazy.
A note about technical terms used here:
In this document, we use words like "must" and "should" as
they're used in technical conversation (such as you will
encounter in this newsgroup). When we say that you *must* do
something, we mean that if you don't do that something, then
it's unlikely that you will benefit much from this group.
We're not bossing you around; we're making the point without
lots of words.
Do *NOT* send email to the maintainer of these guidelines. It will be
discarded unread. The guidelines belong to the newsgroup so all
discussion should appear in the newsgroup. I am just the secretary that
writes down the consensus of the group.
Before posting to comp.lang.perl.misc
Must
This section describes things that you *must* do before posting to
clpmisc, in order to maximize your chances of getting meaningful replies
to your inquiry and to avoid getting flamed for being lazy and trying to
have others do your work.
The perl distribution includes documentation that is copied to your hard
drive when you install perl. Also installed is a program for looking
things up in that (and other) documentation named 'perldoc'.
You should either find out where the docs got installed on your system,
or use perldoc to find them for you. Type "perldoc perldoc" to learn how
to use perldoc itself. Type "perldoc perl" to start reading Perl's
standard documentation.
Check the Perl Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Checking the FAQ before posting is required in Big 8 newsgroups in
general, there is nothing clpmisc-specific about this requirement.
You are expected to do this in nearly all newsgroups.
You can use the "-q" switch with perldoc to do a word search of the
questions in the Perl FAQs.
Check the other standard Perl docs (*.pod)
The perl distribution comes with much more documentation than is
available for most other newsgroups, so in clpmisc you should also
see if you can find an answer in the other (non-FAQ) standard docs
before posting.
It is *not* required, or even expected, that you actually *read* all of
Perl's standard docs, only that you spend a few minutes searching them
before posting.
Try doing a word-search in the standard docs for some words/phrases
taken from your problem statement or from your very carefully worded
"Subject:" header.
Really Really Should
This section describes things that you *really should* do before posting
to clpmisc.
Lurk for a while before posting
This is very important and expected in all newsgroups. Lurking means
to monitor a newsgroup for a period to become familiar with local
customs. Each newsgroup has specific customs and rituals. Knowing
these before you participate will help avoid embarrassing social
situations. Consider yourself to be a foreigner at first!
Search a Usenet archive
There are tens of thousands of Perl programmers. It is very likely
that your question has already been asked (and answered). See if you
can find where it has already been answered.
One such searchable archive is:
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search
If You Like
This section describes things that you *can* do before posting to
clpmisc.
Check Other Resources
You may want to check in books or on web sites to see if you can
find the answer to your question.
But you need to consider the source of such information: there are a
lot of very poor Perl books and web sites, and several good ones
too, of course.
Posting to comp.lang.perl.misc
There can be 200 messages in clpmisc in a single day. Nobody is going to
read every article. They must decide somehow which articles they are
going to read, and which they will skip.
Your post is in competition with 199 other posts. You need to "win"
before a person who can help you will even read your question.
These sections describe how you can help keep your article from being
one of the "skipped" ones.
Is there a better place to ask your question?
Question should be about Perl, not about the application area
It can be difficult to separate out where your problem really is,
but you should make a conscious effort to post to the most
applicable newsgroup. That is, after all, where you are the most
likely to find the people who know how to answer your question.
Being able to "partition" a problem is an essential skill for
effectively troubleshooting programming problems. If you don't get
that right, you end up looking for answers in the wrong places.
It should be understood that you may not know that the root of your
problem is not Perl-related (the two most frequent ones are CGI and
Operating System related), so off-topic postings will happen from
time to time. Be gracious when someone helps you find a better place
to ask your question by pointing you to a more applicable newsgroup.
How to participate (post) in the clpmisc community
Carefully choose the contents of your Subject header
You have 40 precious characters of Subject to win out and be one of
the posts that gets read. Don't waste them. Take care while
composing them, they are the key that opens the door to getting an
answer.
Spend them indicating what aspect of Perl others will find if they
should decide to read your article.
Do not spend them indicating "experience level" (guru, newbie...).
Do not spend them pleading (please read, urgent, help!...).
Do not spend them on non-Subjects (Perl question, one-word
Subject...)
For more information on choosing a Subject see "Choosing Good
Subject Lines":
http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/D/DM/DMR/subjects.post
Part of the beauty of newsgroup dynamics, is that you can contribute
to the community with your very first post! If your choice of
Subject leads a fellow Perler to find the thread you are starting,
then even asking a question helps us all.
Use an effective followup style
When composing a followup, quote only enough text to establish the
context for the comments that you will add. Always indicate who
wrote the quoted material. Never quote an entire article. Never
quote a .signature (unless that is what you are commenting on).
Intersperse your comments *following* each section of quoted text to
which they relate. Unappreciated followup styles are referred to as
"top-posting", "Jeopardy" (because the answer comes before the
question), or "TOFU" (Text Over, Fullquote Under).
Reversing the chronology of the dialog makes it much harder to
understand (some folks won't even read it if written in that style).
For more information on quoting style, see:
http://web.presby.edu/~nnqadmin/nnq/nquote.html
Speak Perl rather than English, when possible
Perl is much more precise than natural language. Saying it in Perl
instead will avoid misunderstanding your question or problem.
Do not say: I have variable with "foo\tbar" in it.
Instead say: I have $var = "foo\tbar", or I have $var = 'foo\tbar',
or I have $var = <DATA> (and show the data line).
Ask perl to help you
You can ask perl itself to help you find common programming mistakes
by doing two things: enable warnings (perldoc warnings) and enable
"strict"ures (perldoc strict).
You should not bother the hundreds/thousands of readers of the
newsgroup without first seeing if a machine can help you find your
problem. It is demeaning to be asked to do the work of a machine. It
will annoy the readers of your article.
You can look up any of the messages that perl might issue to find
out what the message means and how to resolve the potential mistake
(perldoc perldiag). If you would like perl to look them up for you,
you can put "use diagnostics;" near the top of your program.
Do not re-type Perl code
Use copy/paste or your editor's "import" function rather than
attempting to type in your code. If you make a typo you will get
followups about your typos instead of about the question you are
trying to get answered.
Provide enough information
If you do the things in this item, you will have an Extremely Good
chance of getting people to try and help you with your problem!
These features are a really big bonus toward your question winning
out over all of the other posts that you are competing with.
First make a short (less than 20-30 lines) and *complete* program
that illustrates the problem you are having. People should be able
to run your program by copy/pasting the code from your article. (You
will find that doing this step very often reveals your problem
directly. Leading to an answer much more quickly and reliably than
posting to Usenet.)
Describe *precisely* the input to your program. Also provide example
input data for your program. If you need to show file input, use the
__DATA__ token (perldata.pod) to provide the file contents inside of
your Perl program.
Show the output (including the verbatim text of any messages) of
your program.
Describe how you want the output to be different from what you are
getting.
If you have no idea at all of how to code up your situation, be sure
to at least describe the 2 things that you *do* know: input and
desired output.
Do not provide too much information
Do not just post your entire program for debugging. Most especially
do not post someone *else's* entire program.
Do not post binaries, HTML, or MIME
clpmisc is a text only newsgroup. If you have images or binaries
that explain your question, put them in a publically accessible
place (like a Web server) and provide a pointer to that location. If
you include code, cut and paste it directly in the message body.
Don't attach anything to the message. Don't post vcards or HTML.
Many people (and even some Usenet servers) will automatically filter
out such messages. Many people will not be able to easily read your
post. Plain text is something everyone can read.
Social faux pas to avoid
The first two below are symptoms of lots of FAQ asking here in clpmisc.
It happens so often that folks will assume that it is happening yet
again. If you have looked but not found, or found but didn't understand
the docs, say so in your article.
Asking a Frequently Asked Question
It should be understood that you may have missed the applicable FAQ
when you checked, which is not a big deal. But if the Frequently
Asked Question is worded similar to your question, folks will assume
that you did not look at all. Don't become indignant at pointers to
the FAQ, particularly if it solves your problem.
Asking a question easily answered by a cursory doc search
If folks think you have not even tried the obvious step of reading
the docs applicable to your problem, they are likely to become
annoyed.
If you are flamed for not checking when you *did* check, then just
shrug it off (and take the answer that you got).
Asking for emailed answers
Emailed answers benefit one person. Posted answers benefit the
entire community. If folks can take the time to answer your
question, then you can take the time to go get the answer in the
same place where you asked the question.
It is OK to ask for a *copy* of the answer to be emailed, but many
will ignore such requests anyway. If you munge your address, you
should never expect (or ask) to get email in response to a Usenet
post.
Ask the question here, get the answer here (maybe).
Beware of saying "doesn't work"
This is a "red flag" phrase. If you find yourself writing that,
pause and see if you can't describe what is not working without
saying "doesn't work". That is, describe how it is not what you
want.
Sending a "stealth" Cc copy
A "stealth Cc" is when you both email and post a reply without
indicating *in the body* that you are doing so.
Be extra cautious when you get upset
Count to ten before composing a followup when you are upset
This is recommended in all Usenet newsgroups. Here in clpmisc, most
flaming sub-threads are not about any feature of Perl at all! They
are most often for what was seen as a breach of netiquette. If you
have lurked for a bit, then you will know what is expected and won't
make such posts in the first place.
But if you get upset, wait a while before writing your followup. I
recommend waiting at least 30 minutes.
Count to ten after composing and before posting when you are upset
After you have written your followup, wait *another* 30 minutes
before committing yourself by posting it. You cannot take it back
once it has been said.
AUTHOR
Tad McClellan <tadmc@augustmail.com> and many others on the
comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 09:56:37 -0000
From: Justin C <justin.0511@purestblue.com>
Subject: Re: string assignment and concatenation
Message-Id: <slrnem5jal.9jl.justin.0511@stigmata.purestblue.com>
On 2006-11-21, dt <dt.news@mailnull.com> wrote:
>
> Quit sounding like an ungrateful sloth and accept the help in
> the spirit it was given.
I would have done had it helped!
Justin.
--
Justin C by the sea.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Nov 2006 22:51:00 -0800
From: "MoshiachNow" <lev.weissman@creo.com>
Subject: Re: Win32::Registry::File - update values in file
Message-Id: <1164091860.722970.55920@j44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
Any ideas ?
------------------------------
Date: 21 Nov 2006 01:57:28 -0800
From: "MoshiachNow" <lev.weissman@creo.com>
Subject: Win32::TieRegistry -- replace string in the whole HKLM
Message-Id: <1164103048.273024.222830@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com>
HI,
Using Win32::TieRegistry -- how would I replace a certain string (old
machine hostname) string in the whole HKLM with a new one ?
Thanks
------------------------------
Date: 6 Apr 2001 21:33:47 GMT (Last modified)
From: Perl-Users-Request@ruby.oce.orst.edu (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
Subject: Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 6 Apr 01)
Message-Id: <null>
Administrivia:
#The Perl-Users Digest is a retransmission of the USENET newsgroup
#comp.lang.perl.misc. For subscription or unsubscription requests, send
#the single line:
#
# subscribe perl-users
#or:
# unsubscribe perl-users
#
#to almanac@ruby.oce.orst.edu.
NOTE: due to the current flood of worm email banging on ruby, the smtp
server on ruby has been shut off until further notice.
To submit articles to comp.lang.perl.announce, send your article to
clpa@perl.com.
#To request back copies (available for a week or so), send your request
#to almanac@ruby.oce.orst.edu with the command "send perl-users x.y",
#where x is the volume number and y is the issue number.
#For other requests pertaining to the digest, send mail to
#perl-users-request@ruby.oce.orst.edu. Do not waste your time or mine
#sending perl questions to the -request address, I don't have time to
#answer them even if I did know the answer.
------------------------------
End of Perl-Users Digest V10 Issue 9991
***************************************
