Here's a place where assigning in a list context and using array slices is neato. You could try this: 

my  ($rpt_name, $desname, $btch, $record) = @ARGV[0..3];

[download]

which is a compact way of doing what your code already does.

Now, as to functional matters, the first thing I noticed is that the qw() does not interpolate, so all you'll ever get are the names of your arguments in there. So that qw()won't do.

Here's a good rule to live by: when you're generating strings and then passing them to system calls, print those strings out when you're not getting the behavior you desire, at least during development. If you'd done that, you'd notice that the command you're attempting to execute isn't going to work.

As for fixing that, you're better off with something like: 

# following the above
my @args= ("path/to/prog", "report=$rpt_name" , ...);

[download]

for creating the @args array.

However, when you put the double-quotes around that array, you're defeating the purpose of passing an array to system, because quoting turns the array into a string. So, if you follow the above advice, you should be making the call like so: 

#get rid of $retval, too, unless you need it
system(@args) and die "System failed: $?\n";

[download]

HTH!

In reply to Re: help with arrays by arturo
in thread help with arrays by Prince99

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.