__DATA__ in a Script

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

I've written a simple script to randomly print out a line from a file (it's a random error generator). I would like to store the contents of that file in the Perl script. I have investigated the use of the __DATA__ construct, but everything I've read discusses using it in a module. Is there any way to use it in a script? If so, how would that be done?

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Re: __DATA__ in a Script by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Dec 21, 2001 at 20:02 UTC
Just read from the `<DATA>` filehandle. :-) Something along the lines of: `while (<DATA>) { print "From Data: $_\n"; } __DATA__ This Is Lieutenant Data` [download] ------ We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age. Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: __DATA__ in a Script by mirod (Canon) on Dec 21, 2001 at 20:17 UTC
Note that if you need more than one "DATA" file or if you need to write back to it you can use one of my favorite modules: Inline::Files.	[reply]
Re: __DATA__ in a Script by JojoLinkyBob (Scribe) on Dec 21, 2001 at 23:01 UTC
Same idea, but shorter: `$count = @lines = <DATA>; print @lines[rand($count)];` [download] Desert coder	[reply] [d/l]