[9145] in Perl-Users-Digest
Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 2763 Volume: 8
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Fri May 29 18:07:17 1998
Date: Fri, 29 May 98 15:00:38 -0700
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, 29 May 1998 Volume: 8 Number: 2763
Today's topics:
'use' a module conditonally <bjs@iti-oh.com>
Re: 'use' a module conditonally (Jonathan Stowe)
Re: A new comer to PERL <JKRY3025@comenius.ms.mff.cuni.cz>
Re: Beginner problems with Win32 Perl (Jonathan Stowe)
Re: CGI's slow/Sol2.6/Perl5 wkessler@my-dejanews.com
Re: Copylefting manuals (Tim Smith)
Does Perl5.0 for Netware exists??? Need help <rmurthy@viggen.com>
Re: Does Perl5.0 for Netware exists??? Need help (Jonathan Stowe)
Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL <lr@hpl.hp.com>
Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL (John Moreno)
Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL (I R A Aggie)
Email address checking (Andy Lester)
Re: Executing a script from html without an HTTP server <pearcec@fast.net>
Re: getpwnam, $gcos <aqumsieh@matrox.com>
Re: getpwnam, $gcos (brian d foy)
Re: GPL documentation == unspeakable evil <rra@stanford.edu>
Re: Have we got a good free Perl manual? (John Porter)
Re: HELP!!!!!! <pearcec@fast.net>
Re: Help, please, with ODBC and named ranges in Excel (Robert Watkins)
Re: How do I pass multiple parameters to a cgi script f (Andre L.)
Re: how to init three dimentional array using perl (John Porter)
Re: How to read AND write to a programm? <captain@NOSPAM.pirate.de>
Re: How to read AND write to a programm? (brian d foy)
Re: parentheses throwing RE match? (Andre L.)
Re: parentheses throwing RE match? (Charles DeRykus)
Re: Perl DBI and MySQL (Mike Heins)
Perl for Win32 - Loading a hive file scrivo_robert@jpmorgan.com
Re: Perl question abotu Leap year <merlyn@stonehenge.com>
Perl Standard In/Out/Error on NT Jahan@PriceCut.com
Perl Standard In/Out/Error on NT Jahan@PriceCut.com
Re: perl's idea of version numbers <mgregory@asc.sps.mot.com>
Re: perlish idiom for substitute in many files, only w <brianm@kodak.com>
Problem with multiple file access's <Justin.Hardman@bbs.hkis.edu.hk>
Re: read and write (Ilya Zakharevich)
Re: Statistics for comp.lang.perl.misc <merlyn@stonehenge.com>
Re: Wanted: info on passing args to functions in perl5 (Dean Karres)
Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 8 Mar 97) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:49:56 -0400
From: "Brian J. Sayatovic" <bjs@iti-oh.com>
Subject: 'use' a module conditonally
Message-Id: <6kn79f$d4u$1@malgudi.oar.net>
I'm trying to write a UNIX/WinNT perl script so that I don't have to
maintain two different ones. One problem I've encountered is a conditional
use of a module...
if($NT) {
use NTModule;
} else {
use UNIXModule;
}
However, this doesn't seem to be working. Both platforms are trying to use
both modules. This causes fatal problems when the script runs because it
can't find the NTModule on UNIX and vice-versa. Is there a proper way to
make it so only one of the modules is included depending on the platform?
Brian Sayatovic.
mailto:bjs@iti-oh.DONTSPAM.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:56:24 GMT
From: Gellyfish@btinternet.com (Jonathan Stowe)
Subject: Re: 'use' a module conditonally
Message-Id: <356f2942.39267695@news.btinternet.com>
On Fri, 29 May 1998 16:49:56 -0400, Brian J. Sayatovic wrote :
>I'm trying to write a UNIX/WinNT perl script so that I don't have to
>maintain two different ones. One problem I've encountered is a conditional
>use of a module...
>
>if($NT) {
> use NTModule;
>} else {
> use UNIXModule;
>}
>
You should check out the use documentation.
The "use" is evaluated at compile time *before* the run-time
condition.
Because use is equivalent to the following:
BEGIN {
require Module;
}
(Assuming no names are being imported.)
You could do something like this:
BEGIN {
if ( $^O =~ /Win/ )
{
require NTModule ;
}
else
{
require UnixModule;
}
}
/J\
Jonathan Stowe
Some of your questions answered:
<URL:http://www.btinternet.com/~gellyfish/resources/wwwfaq.htm>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 22:27:17 -0700
From: Jan Krynicky <JKRY3025@comenius.ms.mff.cuni.cz>
Subject: Re: A new comer to PERL
Message-Id: <356F98B5.6DA2@comenius.ms.mff.cuni.cz>
Ellen Cohn wrote:
>
> I am working for the Mitre Corporation in Bedford, Ma. I was asked to
> setup a web-database application. I have been thinking SQL Server would
> be a good place to start but I cannot find any resources on connecting
> to a database from within a PERL script. I understand that to many this
> may seem easy but I am a new comer to the PERL language. Please respond
> to < npetty@mitre.org >. I will check in later.........
>
> Mustafa
Please use a meningfull header.
If you are on Windows you may use either
Win32::ODBC : http://www.roth.net/odbc/
or DBI::ODBC : http://www.perl.com/CPAN
I do not have experience with Unix databases, but CPAN
archive will help you.
Anyway the best place to start searching for anything
perlish is http://www.perl.com/
Eg. there is a page for databases in the Perl Reference
http://reference.perl.com/query.cgi?database
HTH, Jenda
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:21:42 GMT
From: Gellyfish@btinternet.com (Jonathan Stowe)
Subject: Re: Beginner problems with Win32 Perl
Message-Id: <356f11c3.33560712@news.btinternet.com>
On 29 May 1998 18:23:46 GMT, James S Kang wrote :
>Ok, I'm just starting to mess with perl, and I don't have a book right now.
>
But you do have plenty of dicumentation which came with your
distribution.
>I'm running a very simple hello world type script that's called by a form
>that has this script as its ACTION and uses the POST method.
>
Eh,oh
>Now, the first line of the script is supposed to have the location of the
>perl interpreter, right? Every example I've seen uses the regular unix
>interpreter, so the line looks something like "#! usr/bin/perl".
>
Not necessarily - some accursed systems dont support this invocation -
that said perl will nonetheless do some magical things with a #! line
if present.
>On this machine, the interpreter is located at C:\apps\Perl5\bin\perl.exe,
>so I put in "#! C:\apps\Perl5\bin\perl.exe". Is this right?
>
Well #!/apps/Perl5/bin/perl.exe probably but it doesnt do anything
unless you put some switches on the command line there. ( Except of
course if you are using some Unix-like shell).
>I never seem to be able to get it to run. Netscape keeps popping up a window
>that says it's going to download it as a file of type application/x-perl.
>
You need to do something to your server in order to get it to run your
script with the correct interpreter - this has nothing to do with the
shebang line. Consult the documentation for your server.
>Does this mean I'm not pointing to the interpreter correctly? If so, how do
>I do it?
>
Couldnt tell you without knowing what server you are using and even
then I might feel disinclined to do so as this is a Perl newsgroup.
>Please reply through e-mail (jkang@nwu.edu) if you can help.
>
/J\
Jonathan Stowe
Some of your questions answered:
<URL:http://www.btinternet.com/~gellyfish/resources/wwwfaq.htm>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:05:46 GMT
From: wkessler@my-dejanews.com
Subject: Re: CGI's slow/Sol2.6/Perl5
Message-Id: <6kn7vb$5ku$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
In article <6kk036$g6l$1@artemis.it.luc.edu>,
ggallag@admiral.ls.luc.edu (Greg Gallagher) wrote:
>
> wkessler@my-dejanews.com wrote::
> ::Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any suggestions? I've
> ::tried everything I can think of!
>
> Nope, but why don't you look into getting Modperl from CPAN. That should
> boot the performance significally , after you modify the scripts which are
> draining the most resources.
Thanks for replying! I am actually going to convert all the CGI's to
NSAPI_perl versions. This works for all the ones that don't socket; socketing
seems to crash Netscape NSAPI_perl modules. Otherwise, I can't recommend
NSAPI_Perl highly enough. Ben Sugars has done a great job on this.
Still, I'm worried about a Sun box that performs worse just because of an OS
upgrade. The former box was never tuned as far as network settings; I can't
believe the new box needs to be tuned to outperform the old one. What's up
with Solaris here?
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 13:03:31 -0700
From: tzs@halcyon.com (Tim Smith)
Subject: Re: Copylefting manuals
Message-Id: <6kn4aj$41r$1@halcyon.com>
In article <6kju89$mb3$1@Mercury.mcs.net>, Leslie Mikesell <les@MCS.COM> wrote:
>I don't understand why you would not want your code to be used as
>close to verbatim as possible. If people make arbitrary changes
>they are likely to screw it up, resulting in bad publicity about
>your code which isn't actually to blame. Unless, of course, you
>publish something without actually testing it first...
Taken to the logical conclusion, the best way to publish your code,
then, is binary only. That stops all but the most determined people
from making arbitrary changes.
--Tim Smith
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:41:21 -0700
From: Rama Murthy <rmurthy@viggen.com>
Subject: Does Perl5.0 for Netware exists??? Need help
Message-Id: <356F47A1.3F305284@viggen.com>
Could any one tell me if Perl 5.0 for Netware exists??. Appreciate any
help. You can email me rmurthy@viggen.com
Rama
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:56:26 GMT
From: Gellyfish@btinternet.com (Jonathan Stowe)
Subject: Re: Does Perl5.0 for Netware exists??? Need help
Message-Id: <356f2d24.40220314@news.btinternet.com>
On Fri, 29 May 1998 16:41:21 -0700, Rama Murthy wrote :
>Could any one tell me if Perl 5.0 for Netware exists??. Appreciate any
>help. You can email me rmurthy@viggen.com
>
The Novell Webserver 3.0 for IntraNetware had a perl 5 NLM of unknown
revision level (unknown because I have never been that inclined to
discover what it is ). I say *had* because Novell have ditched this
product in favour of the Novonyx web server essentially a scaled down
version of the Netscape Enterprise server.
The Novell Perl has no documentation, none or few modules and is
basically a pain in the ass that makes using NT a relatively painless
choice. Of course you can always get the 4.036 port from CPAN.
/J\
Jonathan Stowe
Some of your questions answered:
<URL:http://www.btinternet.com/~gellyfish/resources/wwwfaq.htm>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:20:41 -0700
From: "Larry Rosler" <lr@hpl.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL
Message-Id: <6kn5af$4sq@hplntx.hpl.hp.com>
[posted and emailed]
I R A Aggie wrote in message ...
>In article <6kmv23$2m4@hplntx.hpl.hp.com>, "Larry Rosler"
<lr@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>
>+ Wowee! Now PLEASE tell me how I was supposed to find that out if all
I
>+ had available was my Windows NT, Windows 95 or Windows CE systems???
>
>Many of those systems will generate a "paranoid" warning about crypt().
It is reasonable to assume that the person who asked what the purpose of
the 'salt' argument was had crypt available.
>+ It sounds as though I would be out of "Good luck".
>
>Without an operational crypt() routine, that's exactly what would be.
This is perl, version 5.003 with DEBUGGING MULTIPLICITY
built under Windows_NT at Sep 24 1997 00:36:07
+ suidperl security patch
Copyright 1987-1996, Larry Wall
Win32 port Copyright 1996 by Mortice Kern Systems Inc.
MKS version 6.1 build 209
Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License
or the
GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5.0 source
kit.
>+ Please, folks. Get your heads out of the Unix sandbox. Continued
blind
>+ Unix-centrism will hinder Perl, not help it.
>
>Much of perl *is* unix based. It can't be helped == "You can take the
>boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy".
And you can't take the buggy whip out of his hands, either.
>That said, the orginal question would have been answered with a simple
>"perldoc -f crypt":
>
>"Note that crypt is intended to be a one-way function, much like
breaking
>eggs to make an omelette. There is no (known) corresponding decrypt
>function. As a result, this function isn't all that useful for
>cryptography. (For that, see your nearby CPAN mirror.)"
>
>That information should be available with every decent version of perl.
Yes. But *this* is the follow-up question we have been discussing:
: Kevin Buhr <buhr@stat.wisc.edu> wrote:
:
: > > result = crypt(plaintext , salt) ;
: >
: > What you call "plaintext" is actually the DES *key*. (The real
: > plaintext is the known string of 8 zeroes). There is no known
"easy"
: > way to recover a DES key from such a small sample of ciphertext,
even
: > when you know the plaintext, like you do here.
:
: What is the purpose of the salt?
:
: --
: Kevin Reid. | Macintosh.
: "I'm me." | Think different.
This question is *not* answered on the `perldoc -f crypt` page. It
shows how to generate it (inefficiently, as it happens), and how to use
it, but not what its purpose is. It also says 'exactly like the
crypt(3) function in the C library', which is how we got into this mess
in the first place.
--
Larry Rosler
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
lr@hpl.hp.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:43:59 GMT
From: phenix@interpath.com (John Moreno)
Subject: Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL
Message-Id: <1d9stxm.10o8t8m15hjr2eN@roxboro0-055.dyn.interpath.net>
Larry Rosler <lr@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
> [posted and emailed]
>
> brian d foy wrote ...
> ...
> >i have no sympathy for people that can't learn to find things on
> >their own. the unix man pages can be read over the web, and are
> >quite easy to find with something like Yahoo. once found, one
> >has a resource that one can use again, rather than having to
> >ask another question. once found, one has the definative answers
> >to one's questions rather than the half-guesses of the responses
> >that typify usenet.
> >
> >it's much more instructive for someone to find documentation on their
> >own. persons who often use libraries know the deal - ask a librarian
> >about something and they'll show you how to find it, but they won't
> >bother to find the resource, photocopy and edit it, then hand deliver
> >it to you for all but the most esoteric bits of information. *and*
> >they get *paid* to do their job.
>
> >
> ...<succeeding rant clipped>
>
> I presume you would be careful enough to test code snippets before
> posting them. I think the same care should be applied to this kind of
> response.
>
> Following your advice, I did this:
>
> I followed the Yahoo! trail down to
> <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Operating_Syst
> ems/Unix/>. Faced with 31 categories below that, I tried using the
> "Search just this category" facility for 'crypt' and got no matches. So
> I tried "Search all of Yahoo!" and got 10 category matches and 262 site
> matches with crypt.*, none of which had anythoing to do with the C
> library function 'crypt'. Dead end!!!
>
> I don't find this exercise "much more instructive" than being given a
> URL that works (whether or not I have Unix available), or even a simple
> single sentence of explanation in courteous response to the question.
Well, yahoo not being my favorite starting place I did tried lycos
searching for "unix man pages" and picked the second of the ten listed
matches. That page had a 4 links - a mailto and 3 links for different
versions, I picked the first which gave a search page, entering
"crypt(3)" worked -- total time, 4 minutes (I wasn't online when I
started). Searching is always better.
> --
> Larry Rosler
> Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
> lr@hpl.hp.com
The sigdash includes a space that follows the two dashes.
--
John Moreno
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 17:21:54 -0500
From: fl_aggie@thepentagon.com (I R A Aggie)
Subject: Re: Don't Know how to decrypt using PERL
Message-Id: <fl_aggie-2905981721540001@aggie.coaps.fsu.edu>
In article <6kn5af$4sq@hplntx.hpl.hp.com>, "Larry Rosler" <lr@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
+ I R A Aggie wrote in message ...
+ >Many of those systems will generate a "paranoid" warning about crypt().
+ It is reasonable to assume that the person who asked what the purpose of
+ the 'salt' argument was had crypt available.
In which case, they have the on-line documentation for the library
question...again, the problem isn't the documentation so much as
people being unaware or too lazy of how to find the information...
Unless he doesn't have documentation available, in which case the
complaints should be directed at the person responsible for not
installing them.
James
--
Consulting Minister for Consultants, DNRC
The Bill of Rights is paid in Responsibilities - Jean McGuire
To cure your perl CGI problems, please look at:
<url:http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/doc/FAQs/cgi/idiots-guide.html>
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 21:42:32 GMT
From: petdance@maxx.mc.net (Andy Lester)
Subject: Email address checking
Message-Id: <6kna48$g23$1@supernews.com>
The issue of semantics and "what is checking for validity" and so on is a
time-honored\b\b\b\b\b\b\bloathed topic here in clpm, so I figure I should
bring it up again.
People come up with regexes, and TomC comes along and says "no, that won't
work". I suggest that there are any number of valid solutions for
sufficiently small values of "works".
On my signup page for the Chicago Shows List, I ask for the user's email
address so I can add them to the subscription list. I know full well
that you can't check an email address for validity, so I never
bothered.
After getting 3 or 4 submissions in a few weeks from AOLers who don't
realize that they need a "@aol.com" at the end of their address for the
rest of the world to know where they are, I put in some checking. My
first checking was along the lines of matching /.+@.+\..+/
It worked fine for a while, until I got a couple of AOLers who don't
realize that screen name is not equal to email address, because they'd
give their addresses as "kewl d00d@aol.com", and of course the space
makes things crap out. So now it has to be all non-whitespace, and all is
right with the world, except when someone signs up their buddy for the
List and their buddy says "what IS this crap? I don't want this!" Ain't a
regex in the world that will figure THAT one out.
I guess it all boils down to the classic maxim of YMMV. So many newbies
come in theinking that there's a pat solution to everything, and too many
Grizzled Old Farts waiting to jump on them and say "No, you can't do it!"
Not nearly enough analysis on ANYONE'S part.
xoxo,
Andy
--
--
Andy Lester: <andy@petdance.com> http://tezcat.com/~andy/
Chicago Shows List: <shows@ChicagoMusic.com> http://ChicagoMusic.com/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 18:01:11 -0400
From: Christian Pearce <pearcec@fast.net>
Subject: Re: Executing a script from html without an HTTP server
Message-Id: <356F3027.C4C8DC11@fast.net>
Scott wrote:
> You can load it directly into your friendly neighborhood web browser as a
> file/load command. They can parse html files from your hard drive just as
> easily as from the web.
>
> May I suggest Netscape?
>
I think we may be missing his point here. Do you want to create a
Web-based database type app without a webserver? I don't think that would
work at all. CGI scripts must go through the web server in order to set up
the CGI environment.
If I didn't answer this question be most specific.
> John Blackmon wrote in message <356EC7AC.1087A94@gate.net>...
> >Is it possible to execute a script (in Perl or any executable for that
> >matter) from local HTML on an unconnected machine?
> >I am looking at creating a product that would exist only in HTML and it
> >needs to access information from a database from information input into
> >HTML forms. From what I see, an HTTP server has to process the POST
> >method on the form. Does anyone know of a way to do this?
Christian Pearce
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 15:52:51 -0400
From: Ala Qumsieh <aqumsieh@matrox.com>
Subject: Re: getpwnam, $gcos
Message-Id: <356F1212.9835332D@matrox.com>
Phil R Lawrence wrote:
> This works:
> @passwd = getpwnam($<);
> $real_name = $passwd[6], "\n";
Hmmm.. does it?? I don't think so! getpwnam() takes a username as input.
You are supplying a user ID! Maybe you mean getpwuid() instead??
> but I want to do it in one line, like:
> $real_name = ${ getpwnam($<) }[6];
>
> That, of course, doesn't work. Anyone know how to do this?
Of course not ... do you know why?? Not only because you are using the
wrong function, but also because you are reading the value of
getpwnam() in a scalar context which returns the user name, which is a
scalar itself! You have to read the output of getpwnam() in an array
context and then extract the desired element.
$real_name = (getpwuid($<))[6];
Did you read the docs (or even try to run your own program) before
posting?
--
Ala Qumsieh | No .. not just another
ASIC Design Engineer | Perl Hacker!!!!!
Matrox Graphics Inc. |
Montreal, Quebec | (Not yet!)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:53:40 -0400
From: comdog@computerdog.com (brian d foy)
Subject: Re: getpwnam, $gcos
Message-Id: <comdog-ya02408000R2905981653400001@news.panix.com>
Keywords: from just another new york perl hacker
In article <356F1212.9835332D@matrox.com>, Ala Qumsieh <aqumsieh@matrox.com> posted:
>$real_name = (getpwuid($<))[6];
no need for all of the list stuff. getpwuid() returns the real_name
if called in the scalar context. the rest of these functions have
similar behaviour.
--
brian d foy <comdog@computerdog.com>
CGI Meta FAQ <URL:http://computerdog.com/CGI_MetaFAQ.html>
Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) <URL:http://www.perl.com>
Perl Mongers T-shirts! <URL:http://www.pm.org/tshirts.html>
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 14:16:37 -0700
From: Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: GPL documentation == unspeakable evil
Message-Id: <m3btsgn5fu.fsf@windlord.Stanford.EDU>
In comp.lang.perl.misc, jimbo <jimbo@soundiamges.co.uk> writes:
> Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu> writes:
>> Judging someone solely on the basis of Usenet posts is sometimes a
>> mistake. It definitely is in this case.
> Well, golly gee, that's all we 'see' of dear old Tom, is it not. He
> never calls, nevers writes, never etc... Where the hell else am I going
> to 'see' him. I'm using Usenet, after all. His postings are on Usenet.
Then why don't you limit your judgements to the postings, which you can
see, and refrain from judging the person, whom you cannot? If nothing
else, it keeps the arguments much less personal and lowers your blood
pressure.
> Frankly, if Tom has been 'shafted' in the past, I feel most empathic.
> However, his rantings and ravings, no matter how well grounded in logic
> and based on fact appear the work of an individual with minimal
> perspective.
People have different amounts of perception at different times on
different subjects depending on their emotional state and how near and
dear to the heart the subject is.
> Tom's faq's are enourmously helpful. That copyright rests soley with the
> author cannot be in dispute. Tom's faq's do not form the basis of the
> documentation. A perusal of pod reveals ONLY the faq's (is that subject
> to Tom's sole use as well? Was there a common use of faq or FAQ or FaQ
> or FAq or fAQ or fAq before the appearance of the current debate?)
> contain Tom's copyright notice.
My understanding is that Tom is the primary author of most (if not nearly
all) of the documentation distributed with Perl. I know that at least
some of the man pages are nearly entirely his writing. The FAQ is simply
the only part of the documentation that as yet has the copyright notice
attached.
--
#!/usr/bin/perl -- Russ Allbery, Just Another Perl Hacker
$^=q;@!>~|{>krw>yn{u<$$<[~||<Juukn{=,<S~|}<Jwx}qn{<Yn{u<Qjltn{ > 0gFzD gD,
00Fz, 0,,( 0hF 0g)F/=, 0> "L$/GEIFewe{,$/ 0C$~> "@=,m,|,(e 0.), 01,pnn,y{
rw} >;,$0=q,$,,($_=$^)=~y,$/ C-~><@=\n\r,-~$:-u/ #y,d,s,(\$.),$1,gee,print
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:42:07 GMT
From: jdporter@min.net (John Porter)
Subject: Re: Have we got a good free Perl manual?
Message-Id: <MPG.fd8f77f6a9442f9896fd@news.min.net>
On 28 May 1998 22:02:52 -0400,
in article <sd7k975zvek.fsf@mescaline.gnu.org>,
rms@gnu.org (Richard Stallman) wrote:
>
> Once upon a time, I thought I would learn Perl. I got a copy of a
> free manual, but I found it simply unreadable, and gave up. Perl
> users told me that there were better manuals, but they were not free.
So all this time we've been arguing about the definition of "free",
we should have been arguing about the definition of "good".
John Porter
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 17:47:17 -0400
From: Christian Pearce <pearcec@fast.net>
Subject: Re: HELP!!!!!!
Message-Id: <356F2CE4.EFAB173B@fast.net>
Brian Mathis wrote:
> [posted and emailed]
>
> Rafkin wrote:
> >
> > Hi, I'm a sort of newbie to Perl cgi scripting.. Though i do gather a lot
> > of how it's done..
> > One thing I am having problems with is this. The server where i host (or
> > will host) my cgi's on does not allow telnet access. I have to upload the
> > cgi to my cgi-bin and then use the ws_ftp chmod command to make it
> > executable (755)
>
> Find a new place to host your site. Most of the time, ISPs that don't allow
> telnet access are doing it because of a perceived security risk. However,
> providing you with CGI access is just as "risky" was a shell account (as in, not
> very risky). My guess is, that your ISP likes to tell everyone that they think
> they know what they are doing, but really don't.
Well before you go and change ISP's you could also get perl for win95 and debug
on the command with CGI.pm as Tom suggested. Were I work we don't offer telnet
access becuase not everyone needs it but if people ask we will give it out. Try
asking again. There is also a module CGI-Out-96.081401 it puts a kind of wrapper
around all the ways of exiting perl. Good or bad and buffers the output so it will
give you a debuged response. It is kinda annoying how you have to use out instead
of print but it could work out in the mean time. I would suggest getting another
box and running Linux. You could do all you testing locally which would be very
fast and then upload it to the server when it works.
Christian Pearce
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:24:21 GMT
From: r-watkinsNOSPAM@worldnet.att.net (Robert Watkins)
Subject: Re: Help, please, with ODBC and named ranges in Excel
Message-Id: <6kn9a9$e6e@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net>
In article <6kmle2$9cg@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net>, r-watkinsNOSPAM@worldnet.att.net (Robert Watkins) wrote:
>I'm using Win32::ODBC to read and write to an Excel spreasheet via a CGI
>script (Perl 5.004.02 standard win32 port on NT). The spreadsheet is a
>directory of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
>
>While I can read with no problem, I've encountered something I can't figure
>out when I write to the spreadsheet. I can add a record to the spreadsheet
>alright, but the record is added just below the named range. As such, I cannot
>then read this added record as the DSN looks only to the "table" which, if I
>am not mistaken, is simulated by the named range. My INSERT command in SQL
>does indeed "INSERT INTO <table name> ...", but it just writes to the file,
>not to the "table".
>
>Any ideas?
>
I believe I found my error, which I still don't fully understand, but it might
be of use to someone else.
I was observing the spreadsheet as records were being added. As long as the
spreadsheet was open, records would be added but outside the named range. Once
I closed the spreadsheet, records were added exactly where they should be!
(Now all I need to do is deal with leading zeros in some of the number fields:
I made the feilds "text" in Excel, but it seems SQL only wants to add them as
numbers, so I lose any leading zeros. Something for me to do over the
weekend.)
-- Robert Watkins
r-watkins@worldnet.att.net
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:54:02 -0500
From: alecler@cam.org (Andre L.)
Subject: Re: How do I pass multiple parameters to a cgi script from the browser?
Message-Id: <alecler-2905981654020001@dialup-524.hip.cam.org>
In article <356E7590.F14DD96F@nortel.co.uk>, "F.Quednau"
<quednauf@nortel.co.uk> wrote:
> Eliot wrote:
>
> > I fail to see how this statement helps me when you could have posted an
> > excerpt from or a URL for a FAQ. If you don't want to help, please
> > don't waste bandwidth with "Go somewhere else".
>
> You are really in no position to complain, but it is Friday, and the weather
> starts to get
>
nice:http://www.sillydomainname.com/cgi-crap/numbscript.pl?philosopher=plato+dictator=castro+impatience=eliot
>
> 3 parameters, all with a definite meaning :) Flame me if I am wrong.
Well, you _are_ wrong, but boiling as I am in this humid, smog-poisoned El
Nino air, I'm in no mood to flame anyone. ,,8-[
......./numbscript.pl?philosopher=plato&dictator=castro&impatience=eliot
+ is the code for the space character.
Cheers,
A.L.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:46:40 GMT
From: jdporter@min.net (John Porter)
Subject: Re: how to init three dimentional array using perl
Message-Id: <MPG.fd8f8919dabace59896fe@news.min.net>
On Fri, 29 May 1998 08:33:46 -0400,
in article <356EAB2A.69624225@synnet.com>,
toml@synnet.com (Tom Lynch) wrote:
>
> I have a follow up question here. Don't you need to do
>
> if ( exists $isarray[$in][$shop][$trans] ) {
>
> This always gets me. You need to check the existents of the
> element first before you access. Got this form the Advanced
> Perl Programming book. This hash of hashes is what always
> gets me. I never get it right the first, second , third.....
No, for the simple reason that 'exists' is hash-specific;
it is not meant to be used (doesn't work) for arrays.
Second simple reason: we want to test each item for "truth",
which in our case is a non-zero value. I could have said:
if ( $isarray[$in][$shop][$trans] != 0 ) {
and I guess I probably should have.
John Porter
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 22:01:56 +0200
From: Mark Seuffert <captain@NOSPAM.pirate.de>
Subject: Re: How to read AND write to a programm?
Message-Id: <356F1434.DBD@NOSPAM.pirate.de>
Larry Rosler wrote:
> Look for `` (backquotes) or qx() in the Perl documentation.
This is what I usually do. But how do I give the programm
some more lines when it is started... that was my question.
So I execute the programm, but then it wants some input lines.
These lines are seperated with newlines... how to write this in
perl?
`program\nextraline1\nextraline2` ???
--
/Moak (delete "nospam" in emailadress)
http://home.pages.de/~irc ~html ~unix
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:28:00 -0400
From: comdog@computerdog.com (brian d foy)
Subject: Re: How to read AND write to a programm?
Message-Id: <comdog-ya02408000R2905981628000001@news.panix.com>
Keywords: from just another new york perl hacker
In article <356F1434.DBD@NOSPAM.pirate.de>, Mark Seuffert <captain@NOSPAM.pirate.de> posted:
>Larry Rosler wrote:
>> Look for `` (backquotes) or qx() in the Perl documentation.
>
>This is what I usually do. But how do I give the programm
>some more lines when it is started... that was my question.
>So I execute the programm, but then it wants some input lines.
>These lines are seperated with newlines... how to write this in
>perl?
>
>`program\nextraline1\nextraline2` ???
see the perlipc man page. you may have to resort to IPC::Open2
which will allow you to read and write to your command. the
modules has examples.
[NB: the perlipc man page comes with the standard Perl distribution.
that's probably not enough info to help larry find it though]
--
brian d foy <comdog@computerdog.com>
CGI Meta FAQ <URL:http://computerdog.com/CGI_MetaFAQ.html>
Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) <URL:http://www.perl.com>
Perl Mongers T-shirts! <URL:http://www.pm.org/tshirts.html>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:10:37 -0500
From: alecler@cam.org (Andre L.)
Subject: Re: parentheses throwing RE match?
Message-Id: <alecler-2905981610370001@dialup-524.hip.cam.org>
In article <356F0BF6.740CCFA9@corp.home.net>, James Davis
<james.davis@corp.home.net> wrote:
> Am attempting to perform the following:
>
> $key = "Texta (textb)"
> $string = "This string contains Texta (textb) and textc"
> if ($string =~ /$key/) {
> print "KEY found in STRING.";
> }
>
> ..doesn't seem to work "correctly." Will the parentheses in $key throw
> the matching? If so, is there any workaround?
Yes and yes:
if ($string =~ /\Q$key/) { }
(See document "perlre".)
HTH,
A.L.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:19:06 GMT
From: ced@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Charles DeRykus)
Subject: Re: parentheses throwing RE match?
Message-Id: <EtqJ3u.CK7@news.boeing.com>
In article <356F0BF6.740CCFA9@corp.home.net>,
James Davis <james.davis@corp.home.net> wrote:
>Am attempting to perform the following:
>
>$key = "Texta (textb)"
>$string = "This string contains Texta (textb) and textc"
>if ($string =~ /$key/) {
> print "KEY found in STRING.";
> }
>
/\Q$key/ # man perlop or perlre and look for \Q
HTH,
--
Charles DeRykus
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 16:42:34 -0500
From: mikeh@minivend.com (Mike Heins)
Subject: Re: Perl DBI and MySQL
Message-Id: <356f1dba.0@news.one.net>
Matt Knecht <hex@voicenet.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 29 May 1998 00:30:04 -0500, dippity <dippitydog@hotspot.com> wrote:
>>The following script fails with must import package name for $username, and
>>the same error for $dbh.
>>#!/usr/bin/perl
>>use DBI;
>>use strict;
> ^^^^^^^^^^
>>my $database = "contacts";
>>my $data_source = "DBI:mysql:$database"
>>my $username = "fty";
>>my $password = "password";
>>my $dbh = DBI->connect( $data_source, $username, $password)
>>or die "Can't connect to $data_source: $dbh->errstr\n";
>>$dbh->disconnect;
>>exit(0);
> Since you 'used strict', you have to tell Perl exactly what variables
> you want to use, and where they're from.
> So, you have to declare you variables before they are used. Something
> like "my ($database, $data_source, $username ... etc...)". For
> variable that come your way by using a module, you don't want to
> declare them (Since the module does). You have to add a line like:
> use vars qw($dbh);
> Check out 'perldoc strict' and look for 'strict vars'.
Actually, the problem is that $dbh is referenced on the right-hand
side of the connect. A simple
my $dbh;
$dbh = DBI->connect( $data_source, $username, $password)
or die "Can't connect to $data_source: $dbh->errstr\n";
will correct that problem.
(There is also a missing semicolon on line 5.)
--
Mike Heins http://www.minivend.com/ ___
Internet Robotics |_ _|____
Just because something is 131 Willow Lane, Floor 2 | || _ \
obviously happening doesn't Oxford, OH 45056 | || |_) |
mean something obvious is <mikeh@minivend.com> |___| _ <
happening. --Larry Wall 513.523.7621 FAX 7501 |_| \_\
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:37:49 GMT
From: scrivo_robert@jpmorgan.com
Subject: Perl for Win32 - Loading a hive file
Message-Id: <6kn6au$2oa$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
I have been trying to load a hive file using the following code:
use Win32::Registry;
my $Register = "";
my $subkey = "MyHomeKey";
$HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->Open($Register,$hkey)|| die $!;
$hkey->Load($subkey,"c:\\temp\\hive.reg")|| die $!;
$hkey->Close();
This returns "No such file or directory at load.pl line 6." even though the
file exists as specified. Any thought on what I'm doing wrong would be greatly
appreciated???
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 21:04:03 GMT
From: Randal Schwartz <merlyn@stonehenge.com>
Subject: Re: Perl question abotu Leap year
Message-Id: <8czpg04wn7.fsf@gadget.cscaper.com>
>>>>> "pinetree" == pinetree <pinetree@my-dejanews.com> writes:
pinetree> Actually, the rule for leap years is a bit more detailed.
pinetree> A year is a leap year if:
pinetree> 1. It is divisible by 4 (1996 was a leap year) and
pinetree> 2. It is not a multiple of 100 (2100 will NOT be a leap year)unless
pinetree> 3. It is divisible by 400 (2000 WILL be a leap year).
for $year (qw(1900 1950 1980 1999 2000 2001 2100 2200 2400)) {
$isleap = (! ($year % 4)) && ($year % 100 || ! ($year % 400));
print "$year is", !$isleap && " not", " a leap year\n";
}
There... compact enough? Can we move on now? :-)
print "Just another Perl hacker," # but not what the media calls "hacker!" :-)
## legal fund: $20,990.69 collected, $186,159.85 spent; just 94 more days
## before I go to *prison* for 90 days; email fund@stonehenge.com for details
--
Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095
Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying
Email: <merlyn@stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@teleport.com)
Web: <A HREF="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/">My Home Page!</A>
Quote: "I'm telling you, if I could have five lines in my .sig, I would!" -- me
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:56:45 GMT
From: Jahan@PriceCut.com
Subject: Perl Standard In/Out/Error on NT
Message-Id: <6kn7ed$4m5$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
Hello.
I am trying to implement a ksh script in perl on NT similar as
% program < input_data > output_data
where my program is the executable that takes user input
the input_data is data that is piped in the program
and the output_data is the result of the program which will be captured in the
outout_data file.
I am trying to write a perl script to execute "program" for me and pipe the
input_data to it and capture the output of the "program".
How do I accomplish this using perl on windows NT?
Thank you
-Jahan
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:57:35 GMT
From: Jahan@PriceCut.com
Subject: Perl Standard In/Out/Error on NT
Message-Id: <6kn7fv$4mh$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
Hello.
I am trying to implement a ksh script in perl on NT similar as
% program < input_data > output_data
where my program is the executable that takes user input
the input_data is data that is piped in the program
and the output_data is the result of the program which will be captured in the
outout_data file.
I am trying to write a perl script to execute "program" for me and pipe the
input_data to it and capture the output of the "program".
How do I accomplish this using perl on windows NT?
Thank you
-Jahan
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 14:26:51 +0930
From: Martin Gregory <mgregory@asc.sps.mot.com>
Subject: Re: perl's idea of version numbers
Message-Id: <r8pvgxd698.fsf@asc.sps.mot.com>
Tom Christiansen writes:
>In comp.lang.perl.misc, Martin Gregory <mgregory@asc.sps.mot.com> writes:
> :This is an interesting, and internally consistent, definition of what
> :a version number is.
>
>We aim to please.
:-) I wasn't all that pleased...
>:It is a real shame that it does not match the definition used by most
>:conventional Version Control tools.
>
>Did you read what I wrote about this in perlmod?
>
> # the must be all one line if you're using MakeMaker
> $VERSION = do { my @r = (q$Revision: 2.21 $ =~ /\d+/g); sprintf "%d."."%02d" x $#r, @r };
.. but now I am!
Mea Culpa. Humble appologies - I did not. I got my original (broken)
code from elsewhere and thought 'Gee - this is neat' until it didn't
work. Then I complained. Oops.
Thanks for the neat fix. The business of using q$ is wonderful.
(The point that perl doesn't follow the lead of usual version control
practice remains, but I have to admit that those practices are
variable, and the solution above, which 'unifies' some of them,
really puts paid to that argument).
So I goofed, but I learned something - maybe someone else did too.
Martin.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 16:27:31 -0400
From: Brian Mathis <brianm@kodak.com>
To: Michael Friendly <friendly@hotspur.psych.yorku.ca>
Subject: Re: perlish idiom for substitute in many files, only when pattern found
Message-Id: <356F1A33.D6669EDA@kodak.com>
Michael Friendly wrote:
>
> I often use
>
> perl -pi~ -e s/old/new/ *
>
> To make global changes in all files in a directory, but this changes
> all the time stamps, even if the /old/ re is not found.
>
> Is there an easy way to make perl revert the ~ file to the original
> if no changes are made? Or, how to pipe the list of files (say, from
> grep) to perl?
>
> --
> Michael Friendly Internet: friendly@hotspur.psych.yorku.ca (NeXTmail OK)
well, you could give perl a list of files by simply specifying them on the
command line:
perl -pi~ -e 's/old/new/' *.txt [Tt]ext.txt
Brian Mathis
--
$_="
,.,,,.,,.,,.,,,,..,,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,..,..,,.,,,,,,,,,
";s/\s//gs; tr/,./05/; @a=split(//); $_=<DATA>; tr/~`'"^/0-4/;map{$o.=
$a[$i]+$_;$i++} split(//); map{$o[++$#o]=substr($o,$j,3);$j+=3}@a;map{
print chr($_)}@o; __DATA__ # Brian Mathis, Just another perl hacker.
~'^``'``~```~"'~^'``~```````~^`~```^~"'``'`~```^`~"~"'`~^~^'~^^`~'`~```^~`~
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 23:55:59 +0800
From: "Justin Hardman" <Justin.Hardman@bbs.hkis.edu.hk>
Subject: Problem with multiple file access's
Message-Id: <6kk1it$bhe$1@m5.att.net.hk>
I have a problem with a database program that will be storing simple text
data. The file will both be read from and written to. How can I overcome
problems with more than one person writing to the file at the same time?
Will there be any problems
Thanks
(reply by e-mail if possible)
--
-Justin Hardman - jhardman@att.net.hk
All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular
positions.
Adlai E. Stevenson
(1900-1965)
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 20:37:40 GMT
From: ilya@math.ohio-state.edu (Ilya Zakharevich)
Subject: Re: read and write
Message-Id: <6kn6ak$akd$1@mathserv.mps.ohio-state.edu>
[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to Chip Salzenberg
<chip@mail.atlantic.net>],
who wrote in article <6kn242$1p5$1@cyprus.atlantic.net>:
> According to ilya@math.ohio-state.edu (Ilya Zakharevich):
> >It is just that it will not signal EOF on the first iteration.
>
> Why not? Aren't you at the end of file on the first iteration?
> Isn't the current position beyond any file contents on the first
> iteration? Why act differently?
I will answer the last question only, and it will imply answers to
other questions too. (This answer did already appear in this thread.)
I want
open FOO, 'foo' or die;
$/ = undef;
$contents = <FOO>;
close FOO or die;
to make $contents into contents of 'foo'. Currently it will not if
'foo' is empty.
(And do not tell me that on some filesystems 0-length files have no
storage allocated, I know, and I do not care. ;-)
This smells like a bad initial choice when C library functions were
first defined.
Ilya
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 20:54:50 GMT
From: Randal Schwartz <merlyn@stonehenge.com>
Subject: Re: Statistics for comp.lang.perl.misc
Message-Id: <8c4sy86bmz.fsf@gadget.cscaper.com>
>>>>> "jimbo" == jimbo <jimbo@soundimages.co.uk> writes:
jimbo> You hit the nail on the head, CONTROL. YOU, and YOU alone believe you
jimbo> are qualified to determine what is relevant and what is not. Thanks,
jimbo> but no thanks. We've done the Hitler, Mussolini thing before. 1984 is
jimbo> not dead, not with you and your mentality running free and wild and
jimbo> unfettered.
Godwin's law, proving itself again.
I guess it's time I killfiled this thread as well. :-)
>>poof<<
print "Just another Perl hacker," # but not what the media calls "hacker!" :-)
## legal fund: $20,990.69 collected, $186,159.85 spent; just 94 more days
## before I go to *prison* for 90 days; email fund@stonehenge.com for details
--
Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095
Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying
Email: <merlyn@stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@teleport.com)
Web: <A HREF="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/">My Home Page!</A>
Quote: "I'm telling you, if I could have five lines in my .sig, I would!" -- me
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 1998 21:46:42 GMT
From: karres@southwind.net (Dean Karres)
Subject: Re: Wanted: info on passing args to functions in perl5
Message-Id: <6knac2$4vr$1@opal.southwind.net>
Perfect! This is exactly what I needed. Thank you sir.
Dean...K...
In <eq0vhqq9wtb.fsf@gb.swissbank.com> David Cross-cmt <Dave.Cross@gb.swissbank.com> writes:
>You're passing in four scalar values (three of which are references) and
>your subroutine is expecting three scalars and a hash. The last reference
>(\%acpRecord) is being assigned to a hash (%acpRecord) which creates a
>hash with only one element (the ref) and one is an odd number.
>
>To correct it, change the sub to expect four scalars and treat the last
>one as a reference to a hash (which is, after all, what it is). i.e.
>
>my ($dir, $DB_method, $Tree, $acpRecord) = @_;
>
>$acpRecord->{field} = 'something';
--
Dean Karres | http://www2.southwind.net/~karres
karres@southwind.net |
Southwind Internet Access | Programmer / Systems Administrator
Wichita, KS | <Troll 2nd Class /w Clusters>
------------------------------
Date: 8 Mar 97 21:33:47 GMT (Last modified)
From: Perl-Request@ruby.oce.orst.edu (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
Subject: Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 8 Mar 97)
Message-Id: <null>
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------------------------------
End of Perl-Users Digest V8 Issue 2763
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