how can I input different files as an argument while I am running my perl program?

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

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Re: how can I input different files as an argument while I am running my perl program? by plaid (Chaplain) on Jul 12, 2000 at 00:27 UTC
When you run your program, just specify the filename as an argument on the command line: `./program.pl file1.txt <optionally more files>` [download] The filenames can then be found inside the script in the global array @ARGV.	[reply] [d/l]
RE: Re: how can I input different files as an argument while I am running my perl program? by Anonymous Monk on Jul 12, 2000 at 01:01 UTC
Thanks very much for the reply. However, does that mean that in my perl program, I should include the following line: open (INFILE, @ARGV); in order for me to input different textfiles when I type in the command line? btw is it necessary for me to include -x when I specify the path?	[reply]
Re: how can I input different files as an argument while I am running my perl program? by ZZamboni (Curate) on Jul 12, 2000 at 01:16 UTC
Just specify the files as arguments. The file names will be available in the @ARGV array. If you want to input data from those files, you can do several things, depending on how you need to use the data from them: If you need to process their data sequentially, you could simply use the <> "magic" construct, which will read data from all the files given as arguments (or from standard input if no files are given). It will appear as if all the files have been concatenated. If you need to differentiate between the different files, you could use eof as described in its documentation, to test at each iteration if it's the end of the current file. If you need to get data simultaneously from different files, you can explicitly open them by accessing the @ARGV array. --ZZamboni	[reply]
Re: how can I input different files as an argument while I am running my perl program? by mrmick (Curate) on Jul 12, 2000 at 01:01 UTC
As plaid said, just add the filename(s) as arguments (space delimited) after the program name. Example: `program.pl file1 file2 file3` [download] The array @ARGV contains the command line arguments intended for the program. To get the filename or filenames you simply get it from your @ARGV array as follows: `my $file = shift(@ARGV); # for one file` [download] or `my @files = @ARGV; # for more than one file` [download] You can then do whatever you need to with the file names.	[reply] [d/l] [select]