Hello guys,

Can any of you explain to me why perl won't print out any of the $item
variables after $item1 ?

But it DOES print out all of them if they are only numbers.


### START CODE ###


open(outfile,"<file.txt");
@data=<outfile>;
foreach $line (@data)
{($item1,$item2,$item3,$item4,$item5,$item6,$date,$name)=split(/:/,$line);
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item1</td></tr>";
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item2</td></tr>" unless $item2 == "";
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item3</td></tr>" unless $item3 == "";
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item4</td></tr>" unless $item4 == "";
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item5</td></tr>" unless $item5 == "";
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item6</td></tr>" unless $item6 == "";
}
close(outfile);

### END CODE ###

Thankyou.

Its weird because if I get rid of the <-- unless $item6 == ""; --> at the end of each line it will print out all the words as well as numbers...

But if one of $item() has no value then it prints out a blank line, which is not what I want.

So I need to be able to print out the html only if the $item() variable contains some characters.

I have now updated the code to look like this.

But it still doesn't print the variables.

Funnily enough though if i change 'if ($item2 != "0")' to 'if ($item2 != "1")' it will print the variable (and the blank lines for empty variables).

So it seems as though it assigns the number '0' to my variables......why??



#### START CODE ####

open(outfile,"<agenda_list.txt");
@data=<outfile>;
foreach $line (@data)
{($item1,$item2,$item3,$item4,$item5,$item6,$date,$name)=split(/:/,$line);
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item1</td></tr>";

if ($item2 != "0")
{
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item2</td></tr>";
}

if ($item3 != 0)
{
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item3</td></tr>";
}

if ($item4 != 0)
{
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item4</td></tr>";
}

if ($item5 != 0)
{
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item5</td></tr>";
}

if ($item6 != 0)
{
print "<tr><td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$date</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$name</td>
<td style='border: solid 1px #EAEAEA; font-size:10px; '>$item6</td></tr>";
}
}
close(outfile);


#### END CODE ####

I have now discovered that by putting a number in front of a string of letters it WILL print that variable.

for example if $itemX contains the characters "1test" then it WILL print.
BUT if $itemX contains the characters "test1" then it WONT print.

What on EARTH is going on here?!?

try to replace the if statements with somthing like this..

if ($item2 =~ /[^0]/)

or slightly more readable..
if(!($item2 =~ /0/))

Thankyou very much for your reply Xhi.

Your first example seems to work exactly how I need it to - THANKYOU!

But the second example still prints out empty variables to the html page.

I don't quite understand how this code works...does it basicly say:

if item2 does not contain '0' then print

or am I off the track?

If you have any good Perl resources for me to follow in this kind of depth it would be much appreciated.

Once again, thankyou VERY much for your reply and the solution.

P.S do you know why my solution wasn't working?

> But the second example still prints out empty variables to the html page.
yeh on second thought that is not a good example here.. it may possibly work if you did
if(!($item =~ /^0$/))
though there should be a prettier way but i cant think of it right now..

> don't quite understand how this code works...does it basicly say:
> if item2 does not contain '0' then print
yes the [^0] says that we do not want to match 0.. so if there is anything other than 0 it returns success..

> P.S do you know why my solution wasn't working?
comparing strings with operators does not work.. or is not always defined.. my perl is rusty at best.. i just always use matching to compare strings..

> If you have any good Perl resources for me to follow in this kind of depth it would be much appreciated.
this matching that i did is using regexes (regular expressions).. essential to know if you are going to use perl.. regexes are a huge part of perl.. just search google for perl regex or regular expressions and the like you will find plenty of info..

good luck.

You are using the wrong operator:
!= for numbers
ne for strings

Try these links:
http://perldoc.perl.org/
http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html#...or%2c-equality

lol, thanks for that one chrism01....

Now I feel really dumb.

Thankyou Xhi for your helpful reply's too.

I spent half a day on this one.

have you looked at the perl cgi module?

One trick to remember it, is that it's the opposite convention to shell operators ... sigh ... ie -ne for nums != for strings ...