I have a spreadsheet I wish to parse via Spreadsheet::ParseExcel. For the most part my parsing script works very well but I want to capture some additional information and need help with the best approach.

The spreadsheet is the output of my company's order entry application. Each device we sell grouped by a Device description cell followed by 5 to 15 lines of part numbers. The key word identifying a new device is "SYSTEM" which occurs in a specific column (2). I can locate that cell with a if statement and that works. What I want to do is iterate through the spreadsheet rows (currently a foreach statement) until I find the SYSTEM cell, then capture the part number rows. I can do that much already. However, I want to continue to capture the part number rows UNTIL I reach the next SYSTEM header and then start the process over. My goal is to capture the SYSTEM header or description and add it to the part number rows as I insert it into a mysql database. Here is how things look at a high level: 

Device description cell

SYSTEM

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Device description cell

SYSTEM

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Device description cell

SYSTEM

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

[download]
I would think I would call a subroutine which calls itself agian each time it encounters the SYSTEM key word. But I am not sure what kind of iterative loop would work best in this case. I am hoping the kind and wise Perl Monks can recommend the statement structure that would work best to address my objective.

Thank you!

Hagen

Boulder, CO

In reply to Iterative Subroutine Approach Question by Anonymous Monk

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