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

Hi

I have the following strings in a file: 
       "HP LaserJet IIISi" {set model "net_ljx000"}
       "HP PaintJet XL300" {set model "net_dsnj"} 
       "HP LaserJet 4 Plus / 4M Plus" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5L" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5MP" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5P" {set model "net_lj4x"}

[download]
*note the spaces in front of the string I want to print it out as: 
modelCombo.addItem("HP LaserJet IIISi");
modelCombo.addItem("HP PaintJet XL300");
modelCombo.addItem("HP LaserJet 4 Plus / 4M Plus");
modelCombo.addItem("HP LaserJet 5L");
modelCombo.addItem("HP LaserJet 5MP");
modelCombo.addItem("HP LaserJet 5P");

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I tried with the following: 
open( IN, "print_tools.txt" )or die("Cannot open print_tools.txt for r
+eading: $!" );

while(<IN>) {
      print "modelCombo.addItem($_)\n" if s/{\w+\W+\w+\W+\w+\W?}//g;  
+    
 }

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What I got was: 
modelLabel.addItem(       "HP LaserJet IIISi"
)modelLabel.addItem(       "HP PaintJet XL300"
)modelLabel.addItem(       "HP LaserJet 4 Plus / 4M Plus"
)modelLabel.addItem(       "HP LaserJet 5L"
)modelLabel.addItem(       "HP LaserJet 5MP"
)modelLabel.addItem(       "HP LaserJet 5P"
)

[download]
Any suggestions on how I could fix my code.

--kirk123

Edit: Added <code> tags. larsen

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Problem with string manipulation
by tachyon (Chancellor) on Jan 03, 2003 at 22:45 UTC

    If you stand back from the problem what you want to match is the entire string between the first pair or " chars ie m/"([^"]+)"/ so all you need is: 

    while ( my $line = <DATA> ) {
    print qq!modelCombo.addItem("$1");\n! if $line =~ m/"([^"]+)"/;
}

__DATA__
       "HP LaserJet IIISi" {set model "net_ljx000"}
       "HP PaintJet XL300" {set model "net_dsnj"} 
       "HP LaserJet 4 Plus / 4M Plus" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5L" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5MP" {set model "net_lj4x"}
       "HP LaserJet 5P" {set model "net_lj4x"}<p>

    [download]

    If the space has some significance and you have other format records, or you want to capture the second part as well you could make that m/^\s+"([^"]+)"\s*\{set model "([^"]+)"\}/ which is rather more specific for that record structure.

    cheers

    tachyon

    s&&rsenoyhcatreve&&&s&n.+t&"$'$`$\"$\&"&ee&&y&srve&&d&&print

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[d/l]
[select]
Re: Problem with string manipulation
by gjb (Vicar) on Jan 03, 2003 at 22:50 UTC

    Or even shorter if you're sure the model names don't contains escaped quotes: 

    while (<DATA>) {
  print "modelCombo.addItem($1);\n" if /^\s*(\"[^\"]+\")/;
}

    [download]

    Hope this helps, -gjb-

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Problem with string manipulation
by fruiture (Curate) on Jan 03, 2003 at 22:43 UTC

    I'd use Text::ParseWords. Maybe it's to good for the purpose, but at will never be too bad for it.

    use Text::ParseWords 'shellwords';

open my $infh , '<' , 'print_tools.txt' or die "... $!";

while( <$infh> ){
   my $printer = ( shellwords($_) )[0];
   print qq{modelCombo.addItem("$printer")\n};
}

close $infh;

    [download]
    --
    http://fruiture.de
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Problem with string manipulation
by Mr. Muskrat (Canon) on Jan 03, 2003 at 22:25 UTC
    This should do the trick: 
    open(IN, "<", "print_tools.txt") or die "Cannot open print_tools.txt f
+or reading, $!";
while(<IN>){
  chomp;
  s/^\s+//;
  s/\s+{.*}//;
  print "modelCombo.addItem($_);\n";
}

    [download]

    Updated to fully satisfy OP's requirements.

[reply]
[d/l]
      Or, omitting the substitutions and keeping the original string intact, 
      open( IN, "<", "print_tools.txt" )or die("Cannot open print_tools.txt 
+for reading: $!" );

while(<IN>) {
  /("[^"]+")/;
  print "modelCombo.addItem($1);\n";
}

close IN;

      [download]

      PCS
[reply]
[d/l]
      I still got space after the string otherwise its ok. thanks. --kirk123
[reply]

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