perl stdin to array

casperdaghost · 05-20-2011, 02:52 AM

I want to load an array from the command line
which is pretty easy

@array = <STDIN>

however you have to hit ctrl - d to get out of it.
none of the users get that.

I was trying to write something that would stop loading the array once a blank line was entered

I came up with this

@array = <STDIN>
LINE: while (<STDIN>) {last LINE if /^$/; }
print "@array";

which does not work - I still have to hit ctrl-d to get to the print array part.

i just want the array to stop loading upon entering a blank line.

colucix · 05-20-2011, 03:45 AM

This works if the user is prompted to write all the elements of the array onto one line. Pressing enter terminates the input:

Code:

my @arr = split(/\s+/, <>);
foreach (@arr) {
  printf "%s\n", $_;
}

colucix · 05-20-2011, 04:10 AM

For a multiline input, if the user leaves a blank line to terminate, use a loop instead:

Code:

my @arr = ();
while (<STDIN>) {
  chomp($_);
  last if ($_ eq '');
  push(@arr, $_);
}

foreach (@arr) {
  printf "%s\n", $_;
}

printf "Number of elements in \@arr: %d\n", scalar(@arr);

The chomp function strips the trailing newline from the input, before pushing it into the array.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Programming and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.