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

foreach(@ARGV)
{
 if($_ eq "complete")
 {
  $change = "cmplt";
 } 
 else if($_ eq "srces")               #syntax error 1
 {
  $change = "src";
 }
 else                                 #syntax error 2
 {
  push($printof{$change},$_);
 }
}

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my compiler insists, that there are syntax errors at the commented positions - are there?. i would appreciate any help on this topic, for i tried it to often to be able to see the obviously...

with kindest regards ;)
m.t.minded

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: i cant see whats wrong with this:
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Aug 30, 2002 at 08:57 UTC
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      really? i used the  if(cond){block}else if(...){...} construction in several perlscripts and there, they worked just fine.
      but i'll try it your way. thx...
      --> it seems to work....
[reply]
[d/l]

        Directly from perlman:perlsyntax manual. 

        The following compound statements may be used to control flow:

    if (EXPR) BLOCK
    if (EXPR) BLOCK else BLOCK
    if (EXPR) BLOCK elsif (EXPR) BLOCK ... else BLOCK
    LABEL while (EXPR) BLOCK
    LABEL while (EXPR) BLOCK continue BLOCK
    LABEL for (EXPR; EXPR; EXPR) BLOCK
    LABEL foreach VAR (LIST) BLOCK
    LABEL foreach VAR (LIST) BLOCK continue BLOCK
    LABEL BLOCK continue BLOCK

        [download]

        Do you see a syntax diagram for

        if(cond){...} else if(cond) {...} else {...} there anywhere?

        Sorry! I don't know what language you were using, but it wasn't Perl!

        Well It's better than the Abottoire, but Yorkshire!
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[d/l]
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Re: i cant see whats wrong with this:
by tommyw (Hermit) on Aug 30, 2002 at 09:09 UTC

    The syntax of else specifies that it must be followed by a block.

    So 

    foreach (@ARGV) {
  if ($_ eq "complete") {
    $change="cmplt";
  } else {
    if ($_ eq "srces") {
      $change="src";
    } else {
      push ($printof{$change}, $_);
    }
  }
}

    [download]
    would be legal, if horrible. Otherwise you need to use elsif. A more scalable solution would be to use a hash instead.

    Of course, if the argument is neither "complete" nor "srces" then $change is not being initialised (in the code shown), so that default push may not be doing the right thing anyway...

    --
    Tommy
    Too stupid to live.
    Too stubborn to die.

[reply]
[d/l]
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Re: i cant see whats wrong with this:
by LeGo (Chaplain) on Aug 30, 2002 at 12:35 UTC
    The problem is simple. You are using "else if" it should be "elsif".

    LeGo

[reply]

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