Just out of curiosity: Would the RTF::TEXT::Converter module work instead? Have not used it myself, but was theorizing that it might be simpler to process plain text output from this module...?

Different approach... Just a thought...

Update:

I became curious about this so tried the following:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use Modern::Perl;
use RTF::TEXT::Converter;
my $string;
my $object = RTF::TEXT::Converter->new(output => \$string);
$object->parse_stream( "/home/wjw/tmp/RTF_test.rtf" );
chomp $string;
my @string = split("\n", $string);
foreach my $line (@string) {
    chomp $line;
    next if $line !~ /\w+/;
    next if $line =~ /^\_+\/\_+\/\_+$/;
    say $line;
}
[download]

.. which is in-complete and with a leaning toothpick eye-sore in the second regex, but gets one to the point of only having to deal with the text.

Output is as follows:

Use of uninitialized value $cstylename in string ne at /home/wjw/perl5
+/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.20.0/lib/site_perl/5.20.0/RTF/Control.pm line 
+1489, <GEN1> line 16.
Document #: 000    Version #: 1
Document Owner:  Someone    Date of Last Update: 10/15/2013
Written by: Someone    Status: Approved
General Description
Purpose
Definitions
Procedures
Sign-Off Approvals
Jane Doe, CEO                                Date
John Doe, CFO                                 Date
[download]

I did not dive into the warning issued. Note that the install of the referred to module actually depends on two others, one of which I think you were using already.

cpanm RTF::TEXT::Converter
--> Working on RTF::TEXT::Converter
Fetching http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/S/SA/SARGIE/RTF-Parser-1.12.ta
+r.gz ... OK
Configuring RTF-Parser-1.12 ... OK
==> Found dependencies: RTF::Tokenizer
--> Working on RTF::Tokenizer
Fetching http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/S/SA/SARGIE/RTF-Tokenizer-1.18
+.tar.gz ... OK
Configuring RTF-Tokenizer-1.18 ... OK
Building and testing RTF-Tokenizer-1.18 ... OK
Successfully installed RTF-Tokenizer-1.18
Building and testing RTF-Parser-1.12 ... OK
Successfully installed RTF-Parser-1.12
2 distributions installed
[download]

Hello wjw,

OMG, everyday that I keep reading posts here I discover so many new modules that Perl has that I can not even keep up. :)

It looks as possible solution though, thanks for sharing.

Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process...not there...yet!

I got it to work thanks to everyone's help.
I placed a # in front of "use warnings" in C:\Perl64\site\lib\RTF\Control.pm so I would not see a screen of warning about an uninitialized value in that file.
I have 3 warnings in the print statement for using of an initialized value.
Thank you very much!

Test code:


#!/usr/bin/perl
use Modern::Perl;
use RTF::TEXT::Converter;
my $string;
my $object = RTF::TEXT::Converter->new(output => \$string);
$object->parse_stream( '..\Policies\Test\000144028.rtf' );

chomp $string;
my @string = split("\n", $string);

my $number_of_sigs = 0;

foreach my $line (@string) {
    chomp $line;
    if ($line =~ m/Date of Last Update:(.*)/){
       my $date = $1;
       $date =~ s/^\s+//;
       my @date_of_last_update = split (/ /, $date);
       print "Date of last update is: $date_of_last_update[0]\n";
    }
    if ($line =~ m/Document #:(.*)/){
       print "\nDocument number is $1\n";
    }
    # Sign-Off Approvals  
    if ($line =~/_____\/_____\/_____/){
       # print $line;
       $number_of_sigs ++;
   }
}
print "\nnumber of signatures is $number_of_sigs \n";
[download]


Finished Code:


    use strict;
    use warnings;
    use HTTP::Date;
    use File::stat;
    use Time::localtime;
    use Modern::Perl;
    use RTF::TEXT::Converter;
    
    my $fullpath = my $dir = 'C:\Policies\\';
    my %hash;    
    
    my %months = (
        "Jan" => "1",
        "Feb" => "2",
        "Mar" => "3",
        "Apr" => "4",
        "May" => "5",
        "Jun" => "6",
        "Jul" => "7",
        "Aug" => "8",
        "Sep" => "9",
        "Oct" => "10",
        "Nov" => "11",
        "Dec" => "12"
    );
    
    #print "full path is $fullpath \n";
    
    opendir (DIR, $dir) or die $!;
    #print "dir is $dir \n";
    while (my $dir = readdir(DIR)) {
        my $file = $fullpath = 'C:\Policies\\' . $dir; 
                
        opendir (FILE, $file) or die $!;
        while (my $file = readdir(FILE)){
            # print "7 reading $file\n";
            if (($file =~/RTF/ || $file =~/rtf/ )&& $file !~/^~/ ){
                my $path_file = $fullpath . '\\'. $file;
                #print '\nfullpath = ' . $fullpath . '\\' . $file . '\
+n';
                my $string;
                my $object = RTF::TEXT::Converter->new(output => \$str
+ing);
                $object->parse_stream( $path_file );
                # print ctime(stat($fullpath . '\\' . $file)->mtime);
                my ($wday, $mon, $day, $time, $yr ) = split (/\s+/, ct
+ime(stat($fullpath . '\\' . $file)->mtime)  ); # split on space
                # print "\n$wday, $mon, $day, $time, $yr \n";
                # print "file is $file my date is $months{$mon}/$day/$
+yr\n\n" ;
                $hash{$dir}{$file}{UPLOAD_DATE} = $months{$mon} . "/" 
+. $day . "/" .$yr;
                chomp $string;
                my @string = split("\n", $string);
                my $line_num =0;
                foreach my $line (@string) {
                    $line_num ++;
                       #print "Reading line number $line_num in $file\
+n";
                    chomp $line;
                    if ($line =~ m/Date of Last Update:(.*)/){
                       my $date = $1;
                       $date =~ s/^\s+//;
                       my @last_update_date = split (/ /, $date);
                       #print "Date of last update is: $last_update_da
+te[0] line number $line_num\n";
                       $hash{$dir}{$file}{LAST_UPDATE_DATE} = $last_up
+date_date[0];
                    }
                    # print "5 line is $line \n";
                    if ($line =~ m/Document #:(.*)/){ # not needed bec
+ause the file name is the policy number
                        #print "Document number is $1 line number $lin
+e_num\n";
                        my $Policy_number = $1; 
                        $Policy_number =~ s/\t+/ /g; # replace all tab
+s with spaces
                        $Policy_number =~ s/^\s+//; # remove leading s
+paces
                        my @arr = split (/ /, $Policy_number );
                        $hash{$dir}{$file}{DOC_NUM_AND_VERSION} = $arr
+[0];
                        # print "array is @arr and element 0 is $arr[0
+]\n";
                        #print "line is $line \n";
                        #print "1Path is $fullpath " . "\\" . "$file\n
+";
                    }
                    # Sign-Off Approvals  
                    if ($line =~/_____\/_____\/_____/){
                        #print $line;
                        $hash{$dir}{$file}{NUM_OF_SIGS} ++;
                    }
                }
                #print "$hash{$dir}{$file}{NUM_OF_SIGS}\n";
            }
        }
        #print "dir is $dir\n";
    }
    closedir(DIR); 
    closedir(FILE);
    
    print_data (\%hash);
    
    sub print_data { 
        my ($h_ref) = @_; 
    
        open (OUT, '> C:\Dev\Policy_upload_dates.csv') or die ("Can't 
+open the output file $!");
        
        print OUT "Department,File_Name,Date_of_Last_Update,Upload_Dat
+e,Policy_Number,Number_of_Signatures\n";
        foreach my $dir (keys %$h_ref){
            foreach my $file (keys $h_ref->{$dir}){
                printf OUT "%s,%s, %s,%s, %s,%s\n",
                    $dir,
                    $file,
                    $h_ref->{$dir}{$file}{LAST_UPDATE_DATE},
                    $h_ref->{$dir}{$file}{UPLOAD_DATE},
                    $h_ref->{$dir}{$file}{DOC_NUM_AND_VERSION},
                    $h_ref->{$dir}{$file}{NUM_OF_SIGS}                
                ;
            }
        }        
    }
[download]


One of many input files:


COMPUTER APPLICATION SELECTION
Policy and Procedure                                  

    Document #: 123.456.789    Version #: 6
    Document Owner:     Date of Last Update: 04/22/2003
    Written by: INFORMATION SYSTEMS    Status: Approved
 

General Description  

Purpose

To establish guidelines for computer application selection.  

Policy


GENERAL INFORMATION

RESPONSIBILITY

Procedure

A.    Pages of text …


DEAPRTMENT – INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Document Control  

Revision History  

Ver. 1    02/01/1996     INITIAL  
                      


Sign-Off Approvals  
The person responsible for this document must verify accuracy and that
+ the steps for this procedure or work instruction have been tested an
+d validated.  After you have approved this document, please sign and 
+date below.  


________________________________________________________________ _____
+/_____/_____ 



________________________________________________________________ _____
+/_____/_____
[download]


Output:


Department,File_Name,Date_of_Last_Update,Upload_Date,Policy_Number,Num
+ber_of_Signatures
Test,000777012.rtf, 08/23/2007,3/29/2010, 000.777.012,3
Test,000777034.rtf, 3/27/2013,6/5/2013, 000.777.034,3
Test,000777056.rtf, 05/10/2013,6/4/2013, 000.777.056,3
Test,000777078.rtf, 3/28/2013,6/13/2013, 000.777.078,3
[download]

use File::Slurp;

my $file = read_file( "file.rtf" );
$match = "Date of Last Update: ";

if ($file =~ /$match/){
                        
open my $file, "<", "file.rtf";

my $startpos = "@-"+2;    #if date is 8 chars then change to "@-"+1 
seek $file, $startpos, 0;
read $file, my $calender_date, 31;    #if date is 8 chars change to 30

print $calender_date;

}
[download]

use File::Slurp;

my $file = read_file( "1.rtf" );

$match0 = "Date of Last Update: ";
$match1 = "Sign-Off Approvals";
$match2 = "Jane Doe, CEO";

if ($file =~ /$match0/){
                        
open my $file, "<", "1.rtf";

my $startpos0 = "@-";    
seek $file, $startpos0 +2, 0;
read $file, my $calender_date, 29;    

if ($calender_date =~ /\\/){
seek $file, $startpos0 +2, 0;
read $file, my $calender_date, 31;
print "\n";
print "$calender_date\n\n";
    } 
    else {

print "\n";
print "$calender_date\n\n";

}
}
if ($file =~ /$match1/){
                        
open my $file, "<", "1.rtf";

my $startpos1 = "@+";

seek $file, $startpos1 +42, 0;
read $file, my $first_sig, 66;

print "$first_sig\n";
print "Jane Doe\n\n";

}
if ($file =~ /$match2/){
                        
open my $file, "<", "1.rtf";

my $startpos2 = "@+";

seek $file, $startpos2 +82, 0;
read $file, my $second_sig, 67;

print "$second_sig\n";
print "John Doe\n\n";

}



prints:
C:\Users\guy\Desktop\tests>test.pl

Date of Last Update: 10/15/2013

______________________________________________________/_____/_____
Jane Doe


______________________________________________________/_____/_____
John Doe
[download]

if (first_sig = "_____________________________________________________
+_/_____/_____"){
print "There is no first signature";
}
else{
print "Document has a first signature";
}

if (second_sig = "____________________________________________________
+__/_____/_____"){
print "There is no second signature\n";
}
else{
print "Document has a second signature\n";
}
[download]

Thanks. I almost have this working. I dont know how the index works in the code above. I need to do more searching for @- and @+.

I'm scanning the documents on a windows OS because the dates will change if I transfer to linux. the documents might also have several pages of text between the "Date of Last Update" and signatures. I'm on a team of a few people trying to determine why policies take so long to get signed. I have not used perl extensively for several years. Thanks for your help. I'll update the page with the code and 2 sample files when I am done.



#!/usr/bin/perl
use Modern::Perl;
use RTF::TEXT::Converter;
my $string;
my $object = RTF::TEXT::Converter->new(output => \$string);
$object->parse_stream( '..\Policies\Test\000144027.rtf' );



chomp $string;
my @string = split("\n", $string);

my $number_of_sigs = 0;

foreach my $line (@string) {
    chomp $line;
    if ($line =~ m/Date of Last Update:(.*)/){
       my $date_of_last_update = $1;
       $date_of_last_update =~ s/^\s+//;
       print "Date of last update is: $date_of_last_update\n";
    }
    if ($line =~ m/Document #:(.*)/){
       print "\nDocument number is $1\n";
    }
    # Sign-Off Approvals  
    if ($line =~/'Sign-Off Approvals'/){
       print $line;
       $number_of_sigs ++;
    }
    # next;
    #next if $line !~ /\w+/;
    #next if $line =~ /^\_+\/\_+\/\_+$/;
    #say $line;
}
print "number of signatures is $number_of_sigs \n";
[download]

honestly it shouldnt matter if there are 400 pages between dat and signature. as long as they are all in the same document and there is never another instance of it. also with the code i posted, it shouldnt matter if the dates change at all. they can be 01/01/0001, or 1/1/0001, you can add an extra elsif and add to include if dat is 1/1/01 as well

and its just a simple pattern match then it will seek so many characters at the beginning or the end of the match. i put in the code i posted @- and @+ to show you how its used. if you want to see how it works, open the file in HxD editor and look on the text side (right side) and compare with the script.

Wow. Thanks for all of the replies. I was offline for most of the day but I'll read / try these and let you know how it worked! Thanks so much. Kevin

Hello Kevyt,

I am not really familiar with RTF Files but I created a few solutions that I think is exactly what you need.

I have tested them on a file test.rtf that I create. Based on what I see all solutions work fine.

Forgot to wright, never forget to use the or die (function) when opening and closing files. They have saved me several times.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

sub regex {
    my $file = 'test.rtf';
    my $substr = 'Date of Last Update:';

    open( my $in ,"<", $file) 
    or die "Can not open file: ".$file.": $!\n";

    while ( <$in> ) {
    chomp($_);
    # Solution: 1 substring
    # if (index($_, $substr) != -1) {
    # Solution: 2 regex string{times,} at least string 1s
    # if( $_ =~ /(?:$substr){1,}/) {
    # Solution: 3 regex match string or more times: +
    # if( $_ =~ /(?:$substr)+/ ) {
    # Solution: 4 quotemeta match string
    if( $_ =~ /\Q$substr\E/ ) {
        chop($_); # I use chop to remove the last trailing character (
+})
        print $_ . "\n";
        push(@_,$_);
        next;
    }
    }
    # Count the number of signature lines

    print "I found the string: ".@_." time(s)!\n";
    close ($in)
    or die "Can not close file: ".$file.": $!\n";
}

regex();

sub my_grep {

    # Solution 5: grep in perl!!!! (My favorite)
    my $file = 'test.rtf';
    my $substr = 'Date of Last Update:';

    open(my $in ,"<", $file) 
    or die "Can not open file: ".$file.": $!\n";

    @_ = <$in>;

    chomp @_;

    my @out = grep { $_ =~ /Date of Last Update:/ } @_;

    print "I found the string: ".@out." time(s)!\n";
    close ($in)
    or die "Can not close file: ".$file.": $!\n";
}

# &my_grep();
[download]

I hope this solves your problems.

I'm absent-minded, so instead of trying to remember to add a "die" to every operation that might need it, I just keep "use autodie;" in the standard boilerplate I put at the top of every script and module I write. For my purposes it does the trick fine.

The autodie module and pragma on CPAN

A couple of suggestions for your code:

1. Although it works, open(IN, ,"<", $file) has an extra comma in it. Also lexical filehandles are generally considered to be better (e.g. open my $in, '<', $file or die $!;)
2. You use the array @_ in your subs for storing data. While that's possible, @_ is generally only used to access the arguments passed into a sub, and using it the way you're doing is very likely to confuse others working with your code.
3. Although I'm not sure what your intentions were, I suspect the regex /Date of Last Update:+/ is not doing what you expect: It'll match the string "Date of Last Update" followed by one or more colons. If you want to match the string itself multiple times, you need a group: /(?:Date of Last Update:)+/, although I'm not sure if the input file will ever contain the string "Date of Last Update:Date of Last Update:". Also, {1,} is equivalent to +.
4. You can use your variable $substr in your regular expressions, e.g. /\Q$substr\E/ (for the meaning of \Q...\E see quotemeta).
5. Naming a sub the same as a Perl keyword, in this case "grep", is generally a bad idea - the only exception is when you're actually trying to replace the built-in grep - because it will create much confusion as to which function is supposed to be called when, both for the readers of your code and for Perl. This confusion is why you had to call your "grep" as &grep();. Also, inside your "grep", you're calling Perl's grep, any slight mistake in syntax may call your "grep" instead and create infinite recursion.
6. A small hint: grep { $_ =~ /Date of Last Update:/ } can be written as grep { /Date of Last Update:/ } and "... file: ".$file.": $!\n"; can be written as "... file: $file: $!\n";
7. On style: If you find yourself using $_ a lot, over multiple lines, then usually it's better to use a lexical variable instead. $_ is global and can (accidentally) be manipulated by other code, especially code that someone else inserts later. You can use something like while (my $line = <$in>) { instead.

Hello Anonymous Monk,

Well I am not an expert I consider my self just a beginner, so any suggestions for improvement are always welcome. :D

Thank you for your time and effort to write these comments. :D

Seeking for Perl wisdom...on the process...not there...yet!

There are over 1000 files.

... So, automate.

A few lines (using Win::OLE or even a system call to whatever RTF-capable editor you have) to begin your processing with the "save as text" operation shouldn't add more than a trivial coding job, and should incur only a small time penalty.




check Ln42!