To print one line from a file? Non-loop?

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

I'd like to do something such as: print <CHUNK>; --but have it only print one line at a time, not the whole file. And I don't want to use a

while (<CHUNK>) { print $_; }
[download]

I just want one line, then the next line later as I need it for whatever I am printing. Is there another way of doing this other than reading the file into an array and then using array elements as needed? Does it exist, what I am looking for?

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Re: To print one line from a file? Non-loop? by broquaint (Abbot) on May 24, 2002 at 12:48 UTC
You need to put the filehandle read into a scalar context to get a single line at a time, as by default `print()` is evaluated in a list context `print scalar <DATA>; __DATA__ the first line the second line` [download] This will output "the first line". Or if you decide you need to put the file into an array I'd recommend using Dominus' `Tie::File` module. HTH `_________ broquaint`	[reply] [d/l]
Re: To print one line from a file? Non-loop? by Molt (Chaplain) on May 24, 2002 at 12:40 UTC
Err.. have you tried doing `print <chunk>;` as you said? Just that should work, providing you with the first line and allowing you to get the rest later. I often use this to read things like headers, before `while`'ing away to read the rest. Update: Listen to Broquaint's advice below, I forgot `print` worked in a list context for a moment. Sorry, mental slip.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: To print one line from a file? Non-loop? by Nakko (Initiate) on May 24, 2002 at 12:51 UTC
Okay, now I have a username and stuff. Yay! No, when I do `print <CHUNK>;` it prints the whole dern file. It's a typical text file, just some HTML code I want a piece at a time, and I fill in the middle. I assume that it's because, like, when you assign an array equal to a filehandle, it throws all the lines into separate elements, but if you assign a scalar equal to a filehandle, it just grabs one line. So, since print accepts a list, it goes ahead and gives it a list. The whole file. Is it normally supposed to work the other way? It sure doesn't do that for me. Or, am I crazy?	[reply] [d/l]