Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument

ChrisCK has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I want to pass in an argument so that the script only looks for a certain pattern. This is not working for me. Something about my 'If' statements is erroring.

If I remove all the options and 'IF' statement, the actual printing of the error message works but I want to choose what it will be searching for.

use strict;
use warnings;

my $file = $ARGV[0]; 
my $purpose = $ARGV[1];

open( FILE, "$file" ) or die "Can't open $file: $!";

while ( <FILE> ) 
{
If ($purpose = "sqlerrors")

    {
           print if ( /SQL Error:/i .. m{^\s*$});
    }

If ($purpose = "othererrors")

    {
           print if ( /OTHER Error:/i .. m{^\s*$});
    }

If ($purpose = "missingfile")

    {
           print if ( /Missing File:/i .. m{^\s*$});
    }


}
close FILE;
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Re: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument
by davido (Cardinal) on Jan 22, 2016 at 00:17 UTC

In each case of:

If ($foo = "bar") {...}

...there are two errors.

It should be spelled "if", not "If".
It uses "=", which assigns a value to $purpose when it should be using ~~"=="~~ "eq", which compares a string value to $purpose.

Update: Fixed the == vs eq problem. Thanks for those who pointed it out.

Dave

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Re^2: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument

by Athanasius (Archbishop) on Jan 22, 2016 at 02:40 UTC

when it should be using "=="

Since the value to be compared with $purpose is a string, I think you mean eq. :-)

Athanasius <°(((>< contra mundum Iustus alius egestas vitae, eros Piratica,

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Re^3: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument

by davido (Cardinal) on Jan 22, 2016 at 05:27 UTC

Absolutely. Good catch. :)

Dave

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Re: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument
by vinoth.ree (Monsignor) on Jan 22, 2016 at 04:00 UTC

Hi,

If you use '==' to compare strings you will get error as below

Argument "sqlerrors" isn't numeric in numeric eq (==) at args.pl line 11, <FILE> line 1.
Argument "sqlerrors" isn't numeric in numeric eq (==) at args.pl line 11, <FILE> line 1.
Argument "othererrors" isn't numeric in numeric eq (==) at args.pl line 17, <FILE> line 1.
Argument "missingfile" isn't numeric in numeric eq (==) at args.pl line 23, <FILE> line 1.

eq is for comparing strings; == is for comparing numbers.

== does a numeric comparison: it converts both arguments to a number and then compares them.

eq does a string comparison: the two arguments must match lexically (case-sensitive)

All is well. I learn by answering your questions...

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Re^2: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument

by afoken (Chancellor) on Jan 22, 2016 at 05:00 UTC

How to remember that

Alexander

--
Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)

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Re: Process File Different Way Based on Passed in Argument
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 22, 2016 at 15:36 UTC

Thank you all for your help, so simple but I wouldn't have thought of it! Thanks again!!!

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