in reply to Re: @ARGV Manipulation
in thread @ARGV Manipulation

Ok, one more time. Here is a very direct question that would really help me get started. How do I parse the elements of: 
merge.pl file_1 a,b,c file_2 d,e,f

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so that: 
file_1 a,b,c

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gets placed in a hash where: 
keys = "a", "b", "c"

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and: 
key values = /$aref_a, /$aref_b, /$aref_c

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and: file_2 d, e, f </CODE> gets placed in another hash where: 
keys = "d", "e", "f"

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and: 
key values = /$aref_d, /$aref_e, /$aref_f

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I believe that I can figure out the rest. This has just been a sticking point for me. Obviously. And regarding your "hire a programmer" comment. Look. I am NOT a programmer. I am a network engineer, tasked with writing some tools for my group. I have stated in just about every one of my posts that I am new to Perl. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone if I am having trouble expressing ideas in a programming context. Would you tell a 2 year old, who is just learning to speak, to "hire a tutor" before asking you a question? At any rate, I don't mean to sound ungrateful for everyone's help, nor do I want anyone to do my work for me. Just a little direction would be great.

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RE: RE: Re: @ARGV Manipulation
by merlyn (Sage) on Sep 16, 2000 at 05:33 UTC
    I'm lost about where you're lost. Here's the things that I think you'll need to know to do this task, but I'm not sure which of these you know and which you don't.
    • how to look at @ARGV
    • how to walk through an array with a foreach loop
    • how to assign things to a hash
    • what a hash can contain
    • the difference between \ and / as it applies to Perl
    • how to recognize the difference between file_1 and a,b,c on the command line
    • how to turn a,b,c into a 3-element list
    • how to populate an arrayref
    • how to read a file into an arrayref
    • how to recognize the things from the file to figure out where they'll go
    • other things that I didn't think of when I was coming up with this list
    I enjoy helping people. But I keep wondering "help you with WHAT?" on each post. Ask a more specific question, perhaps any of the above. If it's all of the above, then I suggest you need a good book or two, or spend some time with Perl tutorials.

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

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      AHA! Thank you! I DON'T know: 
      how to recognize the difference between file_1 and a b c, other than p
+ositionally.
Which is of no help, because a b c can change, depending on which
fields I want to read!

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      That's precisely it! I caan figure the rest out! I have 4 books, which have been helpful, thus far. Thank you, thank you, thankyou, for helping to extract some clarity from me! Steven L. Sesar, Perl Infant
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[d/l]
        Well, I've got to kick that question back to you. How would you know, as a human being, which arguments on the command line are filenames, and which ones are columns within filenames?

        You can't teach a computer to do what you yourself cannot compute, or decide how to compute. So first, teach me, and I can help you figure out the code.

        For example, what rule can you use to distinguish a, the filename, from a, the column name?

        I think that the way you've stated your problem, it's intractable, which is why I keep kicking it back. You'll need to annotate the column names distinctly from the filenames somehow.

        -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

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In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom