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Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 2934 Volume: 11

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Fri May 7 14:09:48 2010

Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 11:09:24 -0700 (PDT)
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, 7 May 2010     Volume: 11 Number: 2934

Today's topics:
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <geoff@invalid.invalid>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <tadmc@seesig.invalid>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <geoff@invalid.invalid>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <john@castleamber.com>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <geoff@invalid.invalid>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <uri@StemSystems.com>
    Re: find/copy most recent version of file? <john@castleamber.com>
    Re: help me to write better code <news@lawshouse.org>
    Re: help me to write better code <news@lawshouse.org>
    Re: help me to write better code <ben@morrow.me.uk>
        how do i find the max value out of an array? <balaji.draj@gmail.com>
    Re: how do i find the max value out of an array? <jurgenex@hotmail.com>
        Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision:  tadmc@seesig.invalid
        Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 6 Apr 01) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 08:49:21 +0100
From: Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <3fh7u59n12eagl7ddnjhj84nn9qicmtiav@4ax.com>

On Thu, 06 May 2010 21:54:04 -0700, Jürgen Exner
<jurgenex@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>On Thu, 06 May 2010 20:25:50 -0500, Tad McClellan
>><tadmc@seesig.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>By assigning a value to it, as in:
>>>
>>>    my $new = '';
>>>
>>>I expect you were wanting an answer to a different question.
>>>
>>>If so, then you should *ask* a different question...
>>
>>Not sure what you mean?!
>>
>>I did use 
>>
>>my $new = '';
>>
>>and see a list of paths/file names from
>>
>>print foreach values %file_full;
>>
>>but
>>
>>}   print "Latest File name is $new\n";
>>
>>gives a blank.
>
>Well, what _DO_ you expect to happen is you never assign any other value
>but the empty string to $new?

Exactly - I cannot now even see where that line came from!

Geoff


>
>jue


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 07:36:13 -0500
From: Tad McClellan <tadmc@seesig.invalid>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <slrnhu820a.cf5.tadmc@tadbox.sbcglobal.net>

Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 6 May 2010 23:26:15 +0100, Ben Morrow <ben@morrow.me.uk>
> wrote:
>
>
>>This is such a fundamental question there's really no way to answer it
>>with less than a two-week course on basic programming. Usenet is not the
>>place for that: you need to find yourself a (*good*) beginners' book on
>>Perl. 'Learning Perl' is the usual recommendation; full details are in
>>perldoc -q book.
>
> I have used
>
> my $new = '';
>
> which is what I expected was necessary to initialise $new 


And you are correct. $new has been initialized.


> but $new is
> not used again until the print on the last line 


Exactly so. That is your problem. $new *should* be used again 
(assigned to) somewhere if you expect it to contain something
other than its initial value.

I do not know what you expect it to contain, so I cannot help
with what or where the additional assignment should happen.

> so is something
> missing?


Yes! You are missing an assignment to $new.


-- 
Tad McClellan
email: perl -le "print scalar reverse qq/moc.liamg\100cm.j.dat/"
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 18:12:38 +0100
From: Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <pbi8u5dhh8e1bedrb26sfjruv3afm8fnqe@4ax.com>

On Fri, 07 May 2010 07:36:13 -0500, Tad McClellan
<tadmc@seesig.invalid> wrote:

Tad,

I'm a bit nearer I think!

The code below finds and prints out the latest files if I use

print "$file_name \n";

but when I change to 

copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name");

the files are not copied to the c:/a-temp3 folder.

Can you see the error?

Cheers

Geoff


#!/usr/bin/perl -l

use strict;
use warnings;
use File::Find;
use File::Copy;

my $file_name ='';
my %file_access;
my %file_full;
die "dirs required\n" unless @ARGV;

find(\&wanted, @ARGV);

foreach $file_name (values %file_full) {
	#print "$file_name \n";
	copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name");
}

sub wanted {
    return unless /^video_c1_\d+\.mp4$/;
    my $access_time = (stat($_))[9];
    return if ($file_access{$_} and $access_time < $file_access{$_});
    $file_full{$_} = $File::Find::name;
    $file_access{$_} = $access_time;
}


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 12:32:09 -0500
From: John Bokma <john@castleamber.com>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <87vdazwrc6.fsf@castleamber.com>

Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> writes:

> but when I change to 
>
> copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name");
>
> the files are not copied to the c:/a-temp3 folder.
>
> Can you see the error?

No, but /you/ can:

perldoc File::Copy

read the first line that has a copy example...
read up on what $! is (and why you must report if the function you call
fails, and gives it a value).

-- 
John Bokma                                                               j3b

Hacking & Hiking in Mexico -  http://johnbokma.com/
http://castleamber.com/ - Perl & Python Development


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 18:42:10 +0100
From: Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <t1k8u55s00froaqdh7bjutn4do19d553aa@4ax.com>

On Fri, 07 May 2010 12:32:09 -0500, John Bokma <john@castleamber.com>
wrote:

>Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> writes:
>
>> but when I change to 
>>
>> copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name");
>>
>> the files are not copied to the c:/a-temp3 folder.
>>
>> Can you see the error?
>
>No, but /you/ can:
>
>perldoc File::Copy
>
>read the first line that has a copy example...
>read up on what $! is (and why you must report if the function you call
>fails, and gives it a value).

Thanks John.

I have used

copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name") or die "Copy failed: $!";

and get "no such file or directory".

Now, there is a directory called c:\a-temp3

and presumably there are files which fit as the print "$file_name \n";
works OK, so is the syntax in 

copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name")

wrong?

Geoff







------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 13:53:30 -0400
From: "Uri Guttman" <uri@StemSystems.com>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <87wrvfegyt.fsf@quad.sysarch.com>

>>>>> "G" == Geoff  <geoff@invalid.invalid> writes:

i hate having to jump into this thread. but i must.

  G> Thanks John.

  G> I have used

  G> copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name") or die "Copy failed: $!";

  G> and get "no such file or directory".

  G> Now, there is a directory called c:\a-temp3

AND WHAT IS IN $FILE_NAME????

think for a second. i know it will be hard given what i have seen. sorry
for the snarkiness but you are amazing.

  G> and presumably there are files which fit as the print "$file_name \n";
  G> works OK, so is the syntax in 

  G> copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name")

try printing out the actuall target (the second argument as you need to
have everything spelled out for you). 

print "c:/a-temp3/$file_name\n" ;

and LOOK AT THAT string. it is not what you think it is because you
don't think. $file_name is a FULL PATH. so it will be APPENDED ON TO
your target dir. which means ALL THOSE subdirs under a-temp3 MUST BE
THERE. but they aren't which is what copy is reporting as an error. you
use the same value on both sides of the copy WHICH IS WRONG. don't loop
over the values of the hash, you need both the path AND THE SHORT NAME
for the target.

jeez.

programming just isn't for everyone.

snarkiness over.

uri

-- 
Uri Guttman  ------  uri@stemsystems.com  --------  http://www.sysarch.com --
-----  Perl Code Review , Architecture, Development, Training, Support ------
---------  Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix  ----  http://bestfriendscocoa.com ---------


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 13:05:49 -0500
From: John Bokma <john@castleamber.com>
Subject: Re: find/copy most recent version of file?
Message-Id: <87r5lnwps2.fsf@castleamber.com>

Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> writes:

> I have used
>
> copy("$file_name","c:/a-temp3/$file_name") or die "Copy failed: $!";

I would've used:

my $destiny = "c:/a-temp3/$file_name";
copy( $file_name, $destiny )
    or die "Copy of '$filename' to '$destiny' failed: $!";

Note that there is /no/ reason (here) to put $file_name between "".

Note that it's important that die gives as much information as possible.

I am just here, but I guess Uri is correct that $filename is a path, and
not just a filename.

In that case you want to break $file_name into the directories that lead
up to it, and just the filename without path.

You could do this with File::Spec:

my ( $volume, $directories, $file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path );

Next, you must make sure that the directories in your destination are
there, otherwise make them, using File::Path:

my $dest_dir = "c:/a-temp3/$directories";
make_path( $dest_dir ); # read the documentation for error reporting
copy( $file_name, "$dest_dir/$file" )
      or die as before

Disclaimer: all untested, check the documentation for modules mentioned.

-- 
John Bokma                                                               j3b

Hacking & Hiking in Mexico -  http://johnbokma.com/
http://castleamber.com/ - Perl & Python Development


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 09:08:04 +0100
From: Henry Law <news@lawshouse.org>
Subject: Re: help me to write better code
Message-Id: <RJednbn1nrv5V37WnZ2dnUVZ8n1i4p2d@giganews.com>

Ben Morrow wrote:
> I think that in general I would write
> 
>     CONDITION or ACTION;
> 
> if I expected CONDITION to usually be true (so ACTION is usually not
> executed), but
> 
>     ACTION unless CONDITION;
> 
> if I expected it to usually be false 

> This is all, of course, purely personal style. There is no reason you
> should change what you do here.

Indeed, but your explanation makes a lot of sense from the point of view 
of easy understanding of the logic by someone (maybe me) reading my code 
in the future.  I think I'll change my "accent" a little.

-- 

Henry Law            Manchester, England


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 09:12:37 +0100
From: Henry Law <news@lawshouse.org>
Subject: Re: help me to write better code
Message-Id: <FPGdncCF-qLrVn7WnZ2dnUVZ7qydnZ2d@giganews.com>

Dr.Ruud wrote:
> 
> But it all depends on what you want to stress,
> for example: the normal flow, or the exception.
> 
>   defined $upload or warn log("undef upload") and next;

Hmm; memo to self: "Must refresh my knowledge of operator precedence 
before trying that one".  But the general point of emphasising the 
normal flow seems right to me, as I said in my follow-up to Ben's post. 
  Thanks, Mynheer Doctor ...

-- 

Henry Law            Manchester, England


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 15:59:16 +0100
From: Ben Morrow <ben@morrow.me.uk>
Subject: Re: help me to write better code
Message-Id: <4fmdb7-ej22.ln1@osiris.mauzo.dyndns.org>


Quoth Henry Law <news@lawshouse.org>:
> Dr.Ruud wrote:
> > 
> > But it all depends on what you want to stress,
> > for example: the normal flow, or the exception.
> > 
> >   defined $upload or warn log("undef upload") and next;
> 
> Hmm; memo to self: "Must refresh my knowledge of operator precedence 
> before trying that one".

IMHO whenever you think that your next thought should be 'I need to
rewrite this more clearly'. In this case an unless block would be
clearer.

I've occasionally wondered about doing up a patch for a low-prec
equivalent to ?:, spelled

    defined $upload
        and  say "got an upload"
        else next;

but I suspect the current attitude on p5p would be 'and what exactly
does this get us over if/else?' (which is entirely reasonable).

Ben



------------------------------

Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 07:24:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: IJALAB <balaji.draj@gmail.com>
Subject: how do i find the max value out of an array?
Message-Id: <a9c82203-8a9f-4033-ac85-b5c0b11a469a@o14g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>

Hi,

i have a text file which is comma seperated and i have extracted few
values from the text in an array for example,
30, 1, 4,5, 31, 4, 2, 3, 32, 2,3,0, 38

my goal is to find the max of 30, 31, 32, 38 (i, i+4, i + 8, i+
12....so on)
i have put a split statement and in a loop and captured these 4
elements in an array. how do i find the max of these values, which is
in an array using perl?

thanks


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 07:48:01 -0700
From: Jürgen Exner <jurgenex@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: how do i find the max value out of an array?
Message-Id: <sk98u5dqn0e9jnl6843bpiqaco9e3666dn@4ax.com>

IJALAB <balaji.draj@gmail.com> wrote:
>i have a text file which is comma seperated and i have extracted few
>values from the text in an array for example,
>30, 1, 4,5, 31, 4, 2, 3, 32, 2,3,0, 38
>
>my goal is to find the max of 30, 31, 32, 38 (i, i+4, i + 8, i+
>12....so on)
>i have put a split statement and in a loop and captured these 4
>elements in an array. how do i find the max of these values, which is
>in an array using perl?

Is this some kind of homework? This kind of algorithm is usually an
introductory example when discussing complex data structures and their
algorithms.

Standard way it to loop through the array and remember the (so far)
largest element.. 

Or you simply use List::Util.

jue


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 02:15:08 -0500
From: tadmc@seesig.invalid
Subject: Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc ($Revision: 1.9 $)
Message-Id: <8pqdnZC7oZlhIH7WnZ2dnUVZ_qGdnZ2d@giganews.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
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       - Do not post binaries, HTML, or MIME
      Social faux pas to avoid
       - Asking a Frequently Asked Question
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       - 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------

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        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.liamg\100cm.j.dat/"
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.


------------------------------

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:

To submit articles to comp.lang.perl.announce, send your article to
clpa@perl.com.

Back issues are available via anonymous ftp from
ftp://cil-www.oce.orst.edu/pub/perl/old-digests. 

#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 V11 Issue 2934
***************************************


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