Odd behavior of file test

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

I'm having a problem executing code based on the result of a simple file test (-e) of a file I know exists.

if (-e "/music/data/$ArtistName/$cdTitle/$Cover") {
print(qq{<p><img src='/music/data/$ArtistName/$cdTitle/$Cover' alt="$A
+rtistName-$cdTitle" style="height:240px;width:240px;padding-right:100
+px;float:right"><br clear="right"/></p>});
}
[download]

I'm running on an iMac with Apache set up correctly as far as I know - all other scripts work. However the Apache error log tells me this: Cannot serve directory /Users/user/Documents/httpd/public/local/music/data/Ahmad Jamal/Digital Works/: No matching DirectoryIndex So it seems perl interprets the variables up to 'Digital Works' and stops there. It doesn't seem to even see $Cover, and is therefore looking for an 'index.html'. And yes, $Cover is assigned earlier to a file that does exist in the directory. I'm stumped after trying to get this to work, so could someone shed some light on this please?

Comment on Odd behavior of file test Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Odd behavior of file test by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Oct 04, 2017 at 00:41 UTC
You are testing for a file on the filesystem in `/music/data/` but a webserver is not a filesystem and is typically configured to serve files from relative locations so when you go to request `http://localhost/music/data/` the path is being resolved/normalized to the webroot and ends up `/Users/user/Documents/httpd/public/local/music/data/`. You need to copy the files into that path or add a symbolic link or adjust your apache config.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Odd behavior of file test by Trudge (Acolyte) on Oct 04, 2017 at 16:59 UTC
I believe you have it. I changed my request to `if (-e "/Users/user/Documents/httpd/public/local/music/data/$ArtistNam +e/$cdTitle/$Cover") { print qq{<p><img src="/music/data/$ArtistName/$cdTitle/$Cover" alt="$A +rtistName-$cdTitle" style="height:240px;width:240px;padding-right:100 +px;float:right"><br clear="right"/></p>}; }` [download] So I need a full system path in my test, but I can use the Apache path to do the print statement (which does show me the image). Many thanks for the solution and hopefully others will benefit as well.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Odd behavior of file test by soonix (Canon) on Oct 04, 2017 at 05:25 UTC
Another possibility is Apache (or whichever component) having difficulties with spaces in file (or folder) names, in your case the space between "Ahmad" and "Jamal" (and the other one between "Digital" and "Works").	[reply]
Re: Odd behavior of file test by golux (Chaplain) on Oct 03, 2017 at 23:34 UTC
Hi Trudge, You'll need to post more of your code (like where you assign to `$Cover`) for us to be sure, but it certainly looks like `$Cover` is not getting assigned the way you expect. If you're reticent to post code, you can always print out the expected value of `$Cover`, at various lines, with: `printf "Now at line %d: \$Cover = '%s'\n", __LINE__, $Cover;` [download] and see where it's not assigned to the expected value. Does that help? say substr+lc crypt(qw $i3 SI$),4,5	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Odd behavior of file test by Trudge (Acolyte) on Oct 04, 2017 at 00:41 UTC
OK, I've tried your suggestion in several places and it all comes back correctly with 'cover.jpg'. There was a section containing a function call, and I was able to print correctly before, during, and after the function. Also tried it in my file-test block and no joy! There is definitely something wonky going on.	[reply]
Re^2: Odd behavior of file test by Trudge (Acolyte) on Oct 04, 2017 at 00:25 UTC
Hi golux, and thank you for a quick response. Here is where I assign $Cover ... `my $Cover="cover.jpg";` [download] which is quite a bit ahead of this section of the script. And I checked again to make sure the file exists - which it does. I will take your suggestion and try printing $Cover in various places and post results here.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Odd behavior of file test by Anonymous Monk on Oct 04, 2017 at 00:34 UTC
Hi, use sub Fudge , might be a simple permissions issue `my $file = '/music.....'; if( -e $file ){ ... } else { printf "<pre>%s</pre>", escapeHTML( Fudge($file) ); }` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
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