Thanks all, you point about use of CGI is well taken.

Now can we get back to the *central* question storing and retrieving data using Storable module. Attached is my revised code (less GGI ) and the example (as a starting point) from,"Programming the Perl DBI" Chapter 2, pages 25-28.

Keeping in mind that there is more than one path to "Perl enlightenment", but only one path to true englightenment.

Objective: Use Perl write; to verify data is being stored correctly.

First my code: 

 #!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use diagnostics;
use Storable qw( nfreeze thaw );
die "USAGE: hashbrowns.pl <server></server> <ipaddress> <function>\n"
   unless @ARGV == 3;

my $server = $ARGV[0];
my $ipaddr = $ARGV[1];
my $funct  = $ARGV[2];
#
open SERVERS, ">>homefries.db"
   or die "Hold on there buckaroo: $!\n";
my $boxen = {
   'host' => "$server",
   'address'=> "$ipaddr",
   'funct' => "$funct",
};
my $sirinfo = nfreeze( $boxen );
   $_ = unpack("H*", $sirinfo) ."\n";
print SERVERS $_;
print "$boxen->{host}\n";
print "$boxen->{address}\n";
print "$boxen->{funct}\n";
#
close SERVERS;
exit;

[download]
=========================

From Perl DBI book:


#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#
# ch02/marshal/update_storable: Updates the given megalith data file
#                               for a given site. Uses Storable data
#                               and updates the map reference field.

use Storable qw( nfreeze thaw );

die "Usage: updatemegadata <data file> <site name> <new map reference>
+\n"
    unless @ARGV == 3;

my $megalithFile = $ARGV[0];
my $siteName     = $ARGV[1];
my $siteMapRef   = $ARGV[2];
my $tempFile     = "tmp.$$";

open MEGADATA, "<$megalithFile"
    or die "Can't open $megalithFile: $!\n";

open TMPMEGADATA, ">$tempFile"
    or die "Can't open temporary file $tempFile: $!\n";

while ( <MEGADATA> ) {

    my $frozen = pack "H*", $_;
    my $fields = thaw( $frozen );
    my ( $name, $location, $mapref, $type, $description ) = @$fields;
    next unless $siteName eq $name;
    $fields = [ $name, $location, $siteMapRef, $type, $description ];
    $frozen = nfreeze( $fields );
    $_ = unpack( "H*", $frozen ) . "\n";
}
continue {
    print TMPMEGADATA $_
        or die "Error writing $tempFile: $!\n";
}

close MEGADATA;
close TMPMEGADATA
    or die "Error closing $tempFile: $!\n";
unlink $megalithFile
    or die "Can't delete old $megalithFile: $!\n";
rename $tempFile, $megalithFile
    or die "Can't rename '$tempFile' to '$megalithFile': $!\n";
exit 0;

[download]

Edit Petruchio Tue Oct 16 10:56:13 UTC 2001 - removed PRE tags, adjusted markup slightly.

In reply to Revised: Storable data retrieval by david.jackson

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