[30821] in Perl-Users-Digest
Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 2066 Volume: 11
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Fri Dec 19 14:09:42 2008
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:09:09 -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 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 Volume: 11 Number: 2066
Today's topics:
Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args m <jrwats@gmail.com>
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar (Kiss Gabor)
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar sln@netherlands.com
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim>
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar <1usa@llenroc.ude.invalid>
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar (Gary E. Ansok)
Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line ar <uri@stemsystems.com>
Free Games - play free online games <anubha9903@gmail.com>
opening the file at a specific line number. <rodbass63@gmail.com>
Re: opening the file at a specific line number. <smallpond@juno.com>
Re: opening the file at a specific line number. <jurgenex@hotmail.com>
Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: tadmc@seesig.invalid
Re: Rounding up in perl sln@netherlands.com
Re: Rounding up in perl <syscjm@sumire.gwu.edu>
Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 6 Apr 01) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:33:39 -0800 (PST)
From: jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com>
Subject: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>
Challenge:
3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
path)
2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
the helper script as its argument => (options)
The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
(--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
The following is what I did. I feel that someone, somewhere, somehow
can do better:
#!/usr/bin/perl
#perl test.pl -n 3 -flavor retail -debug -path /path/to/file first.dll
second.dll third.dll -options /matches:highlight
use strict;
my $strUsage = <<HEREDOC;
This is a heredoc string!
One day we'll have a real Usage string...
Usage:
-n {number} : Number of times to run
-flavor {flavor} : Flavor or build
-path {path/to/exe} : Exe path
-noupload: Do not upload results
-debug: Run in debugger
-options {options to pass}: Options to pass to cmd
HEREDOC
my @rgArgOptions = ('n', 'flavor', 'path'); #options taking one single
argument
my @rgFlagOptions = ('noupload', 'debug'); #options which take no
argument (flags)
my $strDLL = "";
my %hOpts;
for(my $nArg = 0; $nArg <= $#ARGV; ++$nArg ){
#Look for option prefix
if ($ARGV[$nArg] =~ m/^[\/-].*/ ) {
my $bFound = 0;
# if option matches an option requiring other input add that #
to the options hash and increment $nArg
map {
if (!$bFound && @ARGV[$nArg] =~ m/[\/-]$_/) { $bFound = 1;
$hOpts{$_} = $ARGV[++$nArg]; }
} @rgArgOptions;
# if option matches an option flag (not requiring any input) #
add that to the options hash and do NOT increment $nArg
map {
if (!$bFound && @ARGV[$nArg] =~ m/[\/-]$_/) { $bFound = 1;
$hOpts{$_} = $ARGV[$nArg]; }
} @rgFlagOptions;
if (!$bFound && @ARGV[$nArg] =~ m/[\/-]options/){
$hOpts{'options'} = join (' ', @ARGV[++$nArg .. $#ARGV]);
last; #analagous to 'break;' in C
}
if(!$bFound){
print $strUsage;
exit -1;
}
}else{
# if not an option, must be a DLL
$strDLL .= $ARGV[$nArg] . " ";
}
}
print "strDLL: $strDLL\n";
map { print "$_: $hOpts{$_}\n"} keys %hOpts;
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:48:06 +0000 (UTC)
From: kissg@niif.hu (Kiss Gabor)
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <gifn46$leh$1@turmix.ikk.sztaki.hu>
In article <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
> Challenge:
> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
> path)
> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
> 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
> the helper script as its argument => (options)
>
> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
> prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
> (--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
> the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
> store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
(change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
then I'd call Getopt::Long.
Gabor
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:06:55 GMT
From: sln@netherlands.com
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <puomk4ds2i2mmgt9g0d5cmkpc4nf70kpqu@4ax.com>
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:48:06 +0000 (UTC), kissg@niif.hu (Kiss Gabor) wrote:
>In article <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
> jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
>> Challenge:
>> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
>> path)
>> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
>> 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
>> the helper script as its argument => (options)
>>
>> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
>> prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
>> (--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
>> the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
>> store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
>
>If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
>(change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
>then I'd call Getopt::Long.
>
>Gabor
Can you just pay money instead of flowery bullshit 'coding challenge'
crapola?
sln
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:35:34 +0000
From: bugbear <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim>
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <sIydnQ0GZOF699bUnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@posted.plusnet>
sln@netherlands.com wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:48:06 +0000 (UTC), kissg@niif.hu (Kiss Gabor) wrote:
>
>> In article <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
>> jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
>>> Challenge:
>>> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
>>> path)
>>> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
>>> 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
>>> the helper script as its argument => (options)
>>>
>>> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
>>> prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
>>> (--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
>>> the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
>>> store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
>> If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
>> (change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
>> then I'd call Getopt::Long.
>>
>> Gabor
> Can you just pay money instead of flowery bullshit 'coding challenge'
> crapola?
>
> sln
>
Since the poster has working code, I imagine (for once)
this is genuine, and not an attempt to get a project on the cheap.
BugBear
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:27:38 GMT
From: "A. Sinan Unur" <1usa@llenroc.ude.invalid>
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <Xns9B7988EC05830asu1cornelledu@127.0.0.1>
Uri Guttman <uri@stemsystems.com> wrote in
news:x7tz90gij8.fsf@stemsystems.com:
>>>>>> "KG" == Kiss Gabor <kissg@niif.hu> writes:
>
> KG> In article
> <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
> KG> jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
> >> Challenge:
> >> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n,
> >> flavor, path)
> >> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload,
> >> debug) 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows)
> >> to pass to the helper script as its argument => (options)
> >>
> >> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line
> >> option prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes
...
> KG> If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
> KG> (change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
> KG> then I'd call Getopt::Long.
...
> that said, the OP's code is horrible. but i am not in the mood to
> recode it or even make snarky comments. this smells like homework
> again. who in their right mind would request this for real world work?
Well, I had half an hour to kill so here is a version that seems to
work. As usual, I would love for you to rip it apart (if you have the
time) so i can learn:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
use Readonly;
Readonly::Hash my %WITH_VALUE => map { $_ => 1 } qw( n flavor path );
Readonly::Hash my %SWITCHES => map { $_ => 1 } qw( upload debug );
Readonly::Hash my %TO_SLURP => map { $_ => 1 } qw( options );
my @argv = qw(
-n 3
-flavor retail
-debug
-path /path/to/file first.dll second.dll third.dll
-options /matches:highlight
);
print Dumper( parse(@argv) );
sub parse {
my @argv = @_;
my %args;
while ( @argv ) {
my $x = shift @argv;
if ( $x =~ m{^([-/])(.+)} ) {
my ($char, $name) = ($1, $2);
if ( exists $WITH_VALUE{$name} ) {
VALUE:
while ( my $y = shift @argv ) {
if ( $y =~ m{^\Q$char} ) {
unshift @argv, $y;
last VALUE;
}
push @{ $args{$name} }, $y;
}
}
elsif ( exists $SWITCHES{$name} ) {
$args{$name} = $name;
}
elsif ( exists $TO_SLURP{$name} ) {
$args{$name} = join q{ }, @argv;
last;
}
else {
warn "unrecognized: '$name'\n";
}
}
}
return \%args;
}
__END__
Sinan
--
A. Sinan Unur <1usa@llenroc.ude.invalid>
(remove .invalid and reverse each component for email address)
comp.lang.perl.misc guidelines on the WWW:
http://www.rehabitation.com/clpmisc/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:57:03 +0000 (UTC)
From: ansok@alumni.caltech.edu (Gary E. Ansok)
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <gigqpv$ip0$1@naig.caltech.edu>
In article <gifn46$leh$1@turmix.ikk.sztaki.hu>,
Kiss Gabor <kissg@niif.hu> wrote:
>In article <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
> jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
>> Challenge:
>> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
>> path)
>> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
>> 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
>> the helper script as its argument => (options)
>>
>> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
>> prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
>> (--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
>> the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
>> store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
>
>If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
>(change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
>then I'd call Getopt::Long.
Getopt::Long has options to change the option prefix, see its documentation
for more details (look for configuration options prefix, prefix_pattern,
and long_prefix_pattern).
I think calling Getopt::Long::configure('prefix_pattern=-|\/') before
calling GetOptions might allow the OP to do what he wants using
Getopt::Long. However, I haven't used these options myself, so I'm
not able to be more specific.
Gary Ansok
--
Rule #87: If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15
seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.
-- www.skippyslist.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:51:39 -0500
From: Uri Guttman <uri@stemsystems.com>
Subject: Re: Coding challenge: Can you parse the command line args more elegantly?
Message-Id: <x7tz90gij8.fsf@stemsystems.com>
>>>>> "KG" == Kiss Gabor <kissg@niif.hu> writes:
KG> In article <c3b3a4f1-0544-4f6b-9488-b4aab15b9834@o40g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
KG> jrwats <jrwats@gmail.com> writes:
>> Challenge:
>> 3 options that take an arbitrary parameter afterwards => (n, flavor,
>> path)
>> 2 options that serve as flags (take no params) => (noupload, debug)
>> 1 option that takes in everything (no matter what follows) to pass to
>> the helper script as its argument => (options)
>>
>> The spec requires handling of DOS and UNIX style command line option
>> prefixes (/ and - respectively). Note that double dashes for prefixes
>> (--) are not handled. I'm created a hash with the option as key and
>> the optional param(s) as its value. If the option had no value I just
>> store the option as the value as well for boolean's sake.
KG> If I were you first I would transform @ARGV
KG> (change dashes and slashes to double dash in general)
KG> then I'd call Getopt::Long.
that won't work in all cases. what if the argument for an option started
with / or -? you wouldn't know if you blindly converted them all to
--. you do need to scan @ARGV to find which args are the option names
and which are the values.
that said, the OP's code is horrible. but i am not in the mood to recode
it or even make snarky comments. this smells like homework again. who in
their right mind would request this for real world work?
uri
--
Uri Guttman ------ uri@stemsystems.com -------- http://www.sysarch.com --
----- Perl Code Review , Architecture, Development, Training, Support ------
--------- Free Perl Training --- http://perlhunter.com/college.html ---------
--------- Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix ---- http://bestfriendscocoa.com ---------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:05:08 -0800 (PST)
From: Anubha Sarkar <anubha9903@gmail.com>
Subject: Free Games - play free online games
Message-Id: <f5c94d5d-5c67-46d1-a2b6-a348e245e871@r10g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
Free Games - play free online games
Play more than 1500 free games, include shooting games, arcade games,
racing games, dressup games and much more, we add new free games every
day!
http://www.playonlineordownload.blogspot.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:02:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Nene <rodbass63@gmail.com>
Subject: opening the file at a specific line number.
Message-Id: <60ea5a63-5e3d-46a7-951a-0919bc5b8422@j35g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>
Hello,
I have a script that runs every 5 minutes and greps for errors in a
log file. Througout the day, the log file gets bigger and bigger. Is
there a way to open the file from a specific line number. My objective
is that when the scripts runs, it will will get the last line number
of the file, when it runs again in 5 minutes, I want it to start from
the last line from the last time the script ran.
I checked FAQ, they had articles similar to what I'm looking for but
according to FAQ "How do I change, delete, or insert a line in a file,
or append to the beginning of a file?" It said, "Perl doesn't provide
random access to lines (especially since the record input separator,
$/ , is mutable)..."
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Nene
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:13:31 -0800 (PST)
From: smallpond <smallpond@juno.com>
Subject: Re: opening the file at a specific line number.
Message-Id: <83029286-ea90-43ed-b1aa-051574d26319@20g2000yqt.googlegroups.com>
On Dec 19, 1:02 pm, Nene <rodbas...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a script that runs every 5 minutes and greps for errors in a
> log file. Througout the day, the log file gets bigger and bigger. Is
> there a way to open the file from a specific line number. My objective
> is that when the scripts runs, it will will get the last line number
> of the file, when it runs again in 5 minutes, I want it to start from
> the last line from the last time the script ran.
>
> I checked FAQ, they had articles similar to what I'm looking for but
> according to FAQ "How do I change, delete, or insert a line in a file,
> or append to the beginning of a file?" It said, "Perl doesn't provide
> random access to lines (especially since the record input separator,
> $/ , is mutable)..."
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Nene
You can either leave the file open and keep reading, or tell your
position and seek to it after reopening. Both are explained in
this doc:
perldoc -q tail
How do I do a "tail -f" in perl?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:15:09 -0800
From: Jürgen Exner <jurgenex@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: opening the file at a specific line number.
Message-Id: <pvonk4d6oi9952icivn0eqb6prk29cjd3r@4ax.com>
Nene <rodbass63@gmail.com> wrote:
>I have a script that runs every 5 minutes and greps for errors in a
>log file. Througout the day, the log file gets bigger and bigger. Is
>there a way to open the file from a specific line number.
No.
>My objective
>is that when the scripts runs, it will will get the last line number
>of the file, when it runs again in 5 minutes, I want it to start from
>the last line from the last time the script ran.
But you can use seek() to jump directly to a specific location in the
file.
jue
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:16:16 GMT
From: tadmc@seesig.invalid
Subject: Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: 1.8 $)
Message-Id: <kLI2l.7075$pr6.248@flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com>
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: 1.8 $)
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
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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
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For more information about netiquette in general, see the "Netiquette
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A note to newsgroup "regulars":
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Must
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Check the other standard Perl docs (*.pod)
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Try doing a word-search in the standard docs for some words/phrases
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Lurk for a while before posting
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Search a Usenet archive
There are tens of thousands of Perl programmers. It is very likely
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One such searchable archive is:
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If You Like
This section describes things that you *can* do before posting to
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Check Other Resources
You may want to check in books or on web sites to see if you can
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But you need to consider the source of such information: there are a
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Posting to comp.lang.perl.misc
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Is there a better place to ask your question?
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You have 40 precious characters of Subject to win out and be one of
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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 and many others on the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup.
--
Tad McClellan
email: perl -le "print scalar reverse qq/moc.noitatibaher\100cmdat/"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:26:09 GMT
From: sln@netherlands.com
Subject: Re: Rounding up in perl
Message-Id: <pammk4dmgel70v5epb22h8k7ih1bll8acj@4ax.com>
On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:52:30 -0600, Tad J McClellan <tadmc@seesig.invalid> wrote:
>sln@netherlands.com <sln@netherlands.com> wrote:
>
>> taking into account that
>> int() does not use the sign in its process of rounding.
>
>
>That is because int() does not *have* a process of rounding.
>
>int() does not do rounding.
This is the last comment I am going to make on this
subject.
The documentation is misleading. This truncating towards 0 is
bull. There is no such thing. Truncating is truncating, period.
It may look like truncating but its not so.
int() rounds DOWN when a positive number and rounds UP when a
negative number. It can't be interpreted in any other fashion.
End of discussion !!
sln
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:09:24 -0600
From: Chris Mattern <syscjm@sumire.gwu.edu>
Subject: Re: Rounding up in perl
Message-Id: <slrngknaok.ili.syscjm@sumire.gwu.edu>
On 2008-12-19, sln@netherlands.com <sln@netherlands.com> wrote:
>
> It says it should not be used for rounding, for TWO reasons.
> Thats two references to ROUNDING you say it doesen't use.
>
> sln
>
Um, yeah. It says DON'T use it for rounding. Isn't that evidence
that is doesn't round? If it rounded, it would say you COULD use
it for rounding.
--
Christopher Mattern
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Date: 6 Apr 2001 21:33:47 GMT (Last modified)
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Subject: Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 6 Apr 01)
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