Hello all,

I need to parse property files that might have multiline entries (otherwise a simple regexp would do) and I need to process comments and maintain order (otherwise Config::Properties would do)

I thought to use a positive lookahead to define a var=val pair to start with ^var= and end just before the next ^var=

I am probably needing a nudge in using either the skip directive, or the proper pattern modifier....but here is sample code:

use strict;
use Parse::RecDescent;

$::TestGrammar = <<'TG';

  Output: PropLine(s) /\Z/

  PropLine: CommentLine | SimpleProp | LastProp

  CommentLine: /\#.*\n/ { print "RULE: $item{__RULE__}\n"; 
                          print "MATCH: $item{__PATTERN1__}\n";
                        }

  SimpleProp: VAR EQ VAL ...LastProp { print "RULE: $item{__RULE__}\n"
+;
                                       print "VAR: $item{VAR}\n";
                                       print "EQ: $item{EQ}\n";
                                       print "VAL: $item{VAL}\n\n"; }

  LastProp: VAR EQ VAL { print "RULE: $item{__RULE__}\n";
                         print "VAR: $item{VAR}\n";
                         print "EQ: $item{EQ}\n";
                         print "VAL: $item{VAL}\n\n"; }

  VAR: /[^=]+/

  EQ: '='

  VAL: /.*/

TG

undef $/;
my $foo = <>;

my $parser = Parse::RecDescent->new($::TestGrammar);

defined $parser->Output($foo) or die "FAILURE";

__END__

When I run this using this file:
===================
# Comment Line
# Comment #2
foo=this is property one but 
bar=does it grab this one too?
baz=snark
===================

I see this, as expected:
===================
RULE: CommentLine
MATCH: # Comment Line

RULE: CommentLine
MATCH: # Comment #2

RULE: SimpleProp
VAR: foo
EQ: =
VAL: this is property one but

RULE: SimpleProp
VAR: bar
EQ: =
VAL: does it grab this one too?

RULE: LastProp
VAR: baz
EQ: =
VAL: snark
===================

However, if I make one of the props multiline:
===================
# Comment Line
# Comment #2
foo=this is property 
one but 
bar=does it grab this one too?
baz=snark
===================

I see this:
===================
RULE: CommentLine
MATCH: # Comment Line

RULE: CommentLine
MATCH: # Comment #2

RULE: SimpleProp
VAR: foo
EQ: =
VAL: this is property   <----the rest of this VAL becomes
                             part of the next VAR.  no joy.
RULE: SimpleProp
VAR: one but
bar
EQ: =
VAL: does it grab this one too?

RULE: LastProp
VAR: baz
EQ: =
VAL: snark
===================
[download]

I am trying things like changing VAR: to /^[^=]+/m and such but have yet to find the right combination.
Thank you in advance for any comments you can make.

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