case & sleep_deprivation=$crap

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

i'm crying uncle - what am i doing wrong? the $lowercase variable will contain only one mixed-case word. have i created a hash by mistake or what? i've predeclared my variables but i'm getting an error message saying i haven't predeclared $lowercase:


my $lowercase = (ucfirst(lc$infodir1));

if $infodir1 = $lowercase { #this is line 55
print $lowercase;
}

here's the error message:
syntax error at d:\209.35.163.243\cgi-bin\getprods.pl line 55, near "i
+f $infodir1 "
Global symbol "%lowercase" requires explicit package name at d:\209.35
+.163.243\cgi-bin\getprods.pl line 55.
[download]

Comment on case & sleep_deprivation=$crap Download Code

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Re: case & sleep_deprivation=$crap by Dog and Pony (Priest) on Apr 07, 2002 at 22:22 UTC
Try: `if ($infodir1 eq $lowercase)` [download] If you meant numerical comparison, you would also need to use double equal signs, `==`, instead of just one. What you are doing now is an assignment. And thus, perl thinks that `$lowercase{ .... }` is meaning a hash element. You have moved into a dark place. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
You're missing () around $infodir by RMGir (Prior) on Apr 07, 2002 at 22:24 UTC
Missing parens... `if $infodir = $lowercase { print $lowercase; }` [download] is a conditional based on the value of a lookup in hash %lowercase (with the key being the return value of print, I think). It's also a numerical compare, as was pointed out above. `if($infodir eq $lowercase) {print $lowercase; }` [download] is what you want. The () let perl figure out that $lowercase is a scalar, and not the start of a hash lookup. Besides, the prefix form of if always needs parens, doesn't it? -- Mike (Edit: Missed the = part, I need a large code font I think... Time to learn CSS :))	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: case & sleep_deprivation=$crap by I0 (Priest) on Apr 07, 2002 at 22:25 UTC
Perhaps you meant: `if( $infodir1 eq $lowercase ){ print $lowercase; }` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: case & sleep_deprivation=$crap by Sweeper (Pilgrim) on Apr 08, 2002 at 05:41 UTC
Another possible answer is Wait for Perl 6!. In Perl 6, parentheses around conditional will be optional, but at the same time, whitespace between a hash name and the open brace is forbidden. It seems that you are already using that... Speaking for myself, I am used to surround conditions with parentheses, but I will gladly discard them when Perl 6 comes. See Apocalypse 4 http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2002/01/15/apo4.html?page=2#rfc 022: control flow: builtin switch statement (and do not be confused by the paragraph title, this paragraph is also about parentheses and braces).	[reply]
Re: case & sleep_deprivation=$crap by malaga (Pilgrim) on Apr 07, 2002 at 22:35 UTC
got it, thank you very much.	[reply]