comment on

Ok, you are transforming one data representation into another, a very common task for Perl. In your data above, I see that there are 2 collections of data, "2017 Position log :Fp379" which contains 3 tables and "2017 Review log :Gt149" which contains one table. What format does the data need to be in for whatever program consumes the output of your program? In other words, what happens to your output? Where does it go and what does that thing that it goes to do with it?

There are many ways to express the idea that N tables belong to a single "record". Ultimately what you generate will need to be parsed and understood by something else. Can you explain more?

Update: I think that the subroutine, finish_current_table() that decides which tables to "keep" would need to be modified. Perhaps with some state flag variable that indicates that we are within some 2017 year record? You keep talking about "pages". If you mean that these "pages" are separated by a form-feed (\f), that could potentially simplify the parsing situation. We could read an entire page at a time, then decide to keep or not the tables on that page? I personally don't like code or formats that depend upon "invisible" characters like \t or \f. But this could potentially be of help to simply the code. I am unsure. In any event, your code appears to be intended to transform a human understandable thing into a computer understandable thing. More detail about what this "computer understandable thing" is is appropriate.

Update: with your extra example DATA:


place and year data: 67

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|no.|  name | age  | place | year |
|_ _|_ _ _ _|_ _ _ | _ _ _ |  _ _ |
|1  |  sue  |33    | NY    | 2015 |
|2  |  mark |28    | cal   | 2106 |


work and language :65
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
|no.| name | languages | proficiency | time taken|
|_ _| _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |      
|1  | eliz | English   | good        | 24 hrs    |
|2  | susan| Spanish   | good        | 13 hrs    |
|3  | danny| Italian   | decent      | 21 hrs    |

Position log

   |   |      |Pos     |value   |   |bulk|lot|   prev| newest|
   |#  |Locker|(dfg)   |(no)    |nul|val |Id |   val |val    |
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   |  0|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      0|
   |  1|     9|  302836|   11.88|  9|   0|Pri|     10|      0|
   |  2|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  5|   3|Pri|     14|      4|
   |  3|     3|  302833|   11.88|  1|   0|sec|     12|      0|
   |  4|     6|  302837|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      3|

2017 Position log :Fp379
place: cal
time: 23:01:45


   |   |      |Pos     |value   |   |bulk|lot|   prev| newest|
   |#  |Locker|(dfg)   |(no)    |nul|val |Id |   val |val   |
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   |  0|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      0|
   |  1|     9|  302836|   11.88|  9|   0|Pri|     10|      0|
   |  2|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  5|   3|Pri|     14|      4|
   |  3|     3|  302833|   11.88|  1|   0|sec|     12|      0|
   |  4|     6|  302837|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      3|
   
   
Position log table 1349F.63
time  10:23:66
sequence = 39
range = 6678



   |   |      |Pos     |value   |   |bulk|lot|   prev| newest|
   |#  |Locker|(dfg)   |(no)    |nul|val |Id |   val |val   |
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   |  0|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      0|
   |  5|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  6|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  7|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  1|     9|  302836|   11.88|  9|   0|Pri|     10|      0|
   |  2|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  5|   3|Pri|     14|      4|
   |  5|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  6|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  7|      |        |        |   |   |    |       |       |
   |  3|     3|  302833|   11.88|  1|   0|sec|     12|      0|
   |  4|     6|  302837|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      3|
   

2017 Position log :Fp379
place: cal
time: 23:01:45


   |   |      |Pos     |value   |   |bulk|lot|   prev| newest|
   |#  |Locker|(dfg)   |(no)    |nul|val |Id |   val |val   |
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   |  0|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      0|
   |  1|     9|  302836|   11.88|  9|   0|Pri|     10|      0|
   |  2|     1|  302832|  -11.88|  5|   3|Pri|     14|      4|
   |  3|     3|  302833|   11.88|  1|   0|sec|     12|      0|
   |  4|     6|  302837|  -11.88|  1|   0|Pri|     16|      3|

language data:
time= 24hrs
|no.| name | languages | proficiency | time taken|
|_ _| _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |      
|1  | eliz | English   | good        | 24 hrs    |
|2  | susan| Spanish   | good        | 13 hrs    |
|3  | danny| Italian   | decent      | 21 hrs    |
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|no.|  name | age  | place | year |
|_ _|_ _ _ _|_ _ _ | _ _ _ |  _ _ |
|1  |  sue  |33    | NY    | 2015 |
|2  |  mark |28    | cal   | 2106 |

2017 Review log :Gt149
place: NY
time: 13:31:15
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|no.|  name |level | dist  | year |
|_ _|_ _ _ _|_ _ _ | _ _ _ |  _ _ |
|1  |  sue  |96    | Gl    | 2015 |
|2  |  mark |67    | Yt   | 2106 |
place and year data: 67

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|no.|  name | age  | place | year |
|_ _|_ _ _ _|_ _ _ | _ _ _ |  _ _ |
|1  |  sue  |33    | NY    | 2015 |
|2  |  mark |28    | cal   | 2106 |


work and language :65
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
|no.| name | languages | proficiency | time taken|
|_ _| _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |_ _ _ _ _ _ _| _ _ _ _ _ |      
|1  | eliz | English   | good        | 24 hrs    |
|2  | susan| Spanish   | good        | 13 hrs    |
|3  | danny| Italian   | decent      | 21 hrs    |
[download]

my code produces:

TABLE: place and year data: 67
Record_Start: 3
Record_End: 10
COLUMNS: no.,name,age,place,year
1,sue,33,NY,2015
2,mark,28,cal,2106

TABLE: work and language :65
Record_Start: 12
Record_End: 19
COLUMNS: no.,name,languages,proficiency,time taken
1,eliz,English,good,24 hrs
2,susan,Spanish,good,13 hrs
3,danny,Italian,decent,21 hrs

TABLE: Position log
Record_Start: 20
Record_End: 30
COLUMNS: #,Locker,Pos (dfg),value (no),nul,bulk val,lot Id,prev val,ne
+west val
0,1,302832,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,0
1,9,302836,11.88,9,0,Pri,10,0
2,1,302832,-11.88,5,3,Pri,14,4
3,3,302833,11.88,1,0,sec,12,0
4,6,302837,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,3

TABLE: 2017 Position log :Fp379
place: cal
time: 23:01:45
Record_Start: 31
Record_End: 44
COLUMNS: #,Locker,Pos (dfg),value (no),nul,bulk val,lot Id,prev val,ne
+west val
0,1,302832,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,0
1,9,302836,11.88,9,0,Pri,10,0
2,1,302832,-11.88,5,3,Pri,14,4
3,3,302833,11.88,1,0,sec,12,0
4,6,302837,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,3

TABLE: Position log table 1349F.63
time  10:23:66
sequence = 39
range = 6678
Record_Start: 46
Record_End: 67
COLUMNS: #,Locker,Pos (dfg),value (no),nul,bulk val,lot Id,prev val,ne
+west val
0,1,302832,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,0
5,,,,,,,,
6,,,,,,,,
7,,,,,,,,
1,9,302836,11.88,9,0,Pri,10,0
2,1,302832,-11.88,5,3,Pri,14,4
5,,,,,,,,
6,,,,,,,,
7,,,,,,,,
3,3,302833,11.88,1,0,sec,12,0
4,6,302837,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,3

TABLE: 2017 Position log :Fp379
place: cal
time: 23:01:45
Record_Start: 69
Record_End: 82
COLUMNS: #,Locker,Pos (dfg),value (no),nul,bulk val,lot Id,prev val,ne
+west val
0,1,302832,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,0
1,9,302836,11.88,9,0,Pri,10,0
2,1,302832,-11.88,5,3,Pri,14,4
3,3,302833,11.88,1,0,sec,12,0
4,6,302837,-11.88,1,0,Pri,16,3

TABLE: language data:
time= 24hrs
Record_Start: 83
Record_End: 90
COLUMNS: no.,name,languages,proficiency,time taken
1,eliz,English,good,24 hrs
2,susan,Spanish,good,13 hrs
3,danny,Italian,decent,21 hrs

TABLE: Record_Start: 91
Record_End: 95
COLUMNS: no.,name,age,place,year
1,sue,33,NY,2015
2,mark,28,cal,2106

TABLE: 2017 Review log :Gt149
place: NY
time: 13:31:15
Record_Start: 96
Record_End: 104
COLUMNS: no.,name,level,dist,year
1,sue,96,Gl,2015
2,mark,67,Yt,2106

TABLE: Record_Start: 105
Record_End: 111
COLUMNS: no.,name,age,place,year
1,sue,33,NY,2015
2,mark,28,cal,2106

TABLE: work and language :65
Record_Start: 113
Record_End: 119
COLUMNS: no.,name,languages,proficiency,time taken
1,eliz,English,good,24 hrs
2,susan,Spanish,good,13 hrs
3,danny,Italian,decent,21 hrs
[download]

In reply to Re^9: Parsing .txt into arrays by Marshall
in thread Parsing .txt into arrays by Fshah

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