in reply to Wierd funky problems with split

but it doesnt work right.

I got burned by this a couple of months ago. The first argument to split, with one exception, is a regular expression, whether it looks like one or not. And '|' has a special meaning in regular expressions. Change   ($pointer, $id, $title) = split("||"); to   ($pointer, $id, $title) = split "\|\|"; and you'll get better results.

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Re: Re: Wierd funky problems with split
by pg (Canon) on Jan 02, 2003 at 04:44 UTC
    Your answer is not quite right. test with this: 
    $a = "12||23||34||45";

@a = split("\|\|", $a);
print join(",", @a);

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    Instead of giving you, 
    12,23,34,45

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    It gives you 
    1,2,|,|,2,3,|,|,3,4,|,|,4,5

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    You have to say: 
    $a = "12||23||34||45";

@a = split(/\|\|/, $a);
print join(",", @a);

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    Or, if you want to use quots, say: 
    $a = "12||23||34||45";

@a = split("\\|\\|", $a);
print join(",", @a);

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    The reason is simple:
    1. For that "|", you need to escape it within regexp, but not within quots.
    2. For that "\", you have to escape it within quots.
    So if you say "\\|",
    1. First it is being intepreted by the quots as "\|",
    2. Then it is being further interpreted by the regexp as "|".
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Re: Re: Wierd funky problems with split
by jdporter (Paladin) on Jan 02, 2003 at 03:50 UTC
    Right on! And just to emphasize it in your own mind (and that of those who will come after you), you should always write it like a regex, e.g. split /\|\|/;

    Just a stylistic point...

    jdporter
    The 6th Rule of Perl Club is -- There is no Rule #6.

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