Comparing and Counting Arrays Length

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

The SCRIPT BELOW works, when listing and comparing each array.

 
#list
  $array_lenth = @array = ("perl.a", "perl.b", "perl.c");
  $array_lenth = $array_lenth -1;
  for ($i = 0; $i <=$array_lenth; $i++) {
        $element = $array[$i];

        print "--value of $i element = $element \n";

#values to match
  @TheArray  = qw(perl.a perl.b perl.c);

   if (grep {$_ eq $element} @TheArray) {
     print qq(<td>Found '$element' element!</td>\n);
     $element =[$_];
   }
   else {
     print "NOT FOUND '$element' element!\n" ;
     $element =[$_];
   };

  }
[download]

HOWEVER, if the @array and @TheArray were substituted with the values of

 
    $dummy_a          = $input{'dummy_a'};
[download]

which is now

 
    $dummy_a          = "perl.a perl.b perl.c perl.d perl.e";
[download]

THEN, set as

    @array = $dummy_a; or @TheArray = $dummy_a;
[download]

THE list in $dummy_a is recognized as a value from one element only...Therefore I cannot count and compare the list. Why is that. c_lhee@yahoo.com

Comment on Comparing and Counting Arrays Length Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
•Re: Comparing and Counting Arrays Length by merlyn (Sage) on Apr 08, 2003 at 07:23 UTC
Perhaps you want: `@array = split ' ', $input{'dummy_a'};` [download] -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: •Re: Comparing and Counting Arrays Length by c_lhee (Novice) on Apr 08, 2003 at 09:00 UTC
it worked.. why do i have to include this statement --split ' ', ---what does this do. `@array1 = split ' ', $input{'dummy_a'}; $array_lenth = @array = (@array1);` [download] c_lhee@yahoo.com	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Comparing and Counting Arrays Length by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Apr 08, 2003 at 09:09 UTC
If you do: `@array1 = "foo bar baz";` [download] Then you have just one thing on the right hand side. Hence, you only get one thing on the left hand side, so `@array1` contains just one element. The `split` function, as documented in the manual page, takes a regex and a string as argument, and splits the string in several parts, based on the regex. An argument of `" "` is special, and splits the string on whitespace. Splitting `"foo bar baz"` on whitespace gives you a list of three strings, hence the array will contain three elements. Abigail	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Comparing and Counting Arrays Length by c_lhee (Novice) on Apr 08, 2003 at 09:07 UTC
it worked.. why do i have to include this statement --split ' ', ---what does this do. `@array1 = split ' ', $input{'dummy_a'}; $array_lenth = @array = (@array1);` [download] c_lhee@yahoo.com	[reply] [d/l]