http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=270954


in reply to problem opening and reading from a file

This is just a guess, but I think read is a reserved word. Does the script work if you change READ to soemthing else, like READDATA?

Update: Added code markers.

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Re: What the @#%* lost again!
by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Jul 02, 2003 at 21:17 UTC
    READ isn't a reserved word in Perl, but read is. But it's fine to use filehandles with the same name as (some) all-caps words with a special meaning, as shown below: 
    #!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

open BEGIN, "/etc/passwd" or die;
print while <BEGIN>;
__END__

    [download]

    The program compiles and runs without problems.

    Abigail

[reply]
[d/l]
      Thanks for letting me know that Abigail. I didn't realize you could use reserved words in filehandles. I guess it's just more of a recommendation that you don't use them. Thanks again.
[reply]
        Well, I carefully worded it "all-caps words with a special meaning". BEGIN isn't a reserved word. However, you can use reserved words as file handles, as long as you quote them when appropriate: 
        #!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

open print => "/etc/passwd" or die;
print while <print>;

__END__

        [download]

        If you replace the => with a comma, the code above won't compile.

        Abigail

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
Re: Re: What the @#%* lost again!
by Anonymous Monk on Jul 02, 2003 at 21:07 UTC
    sure doesnt .. :( i dont get it? There is no crying in perl or I would!
[reply]

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